News
BackAt the end of last week, a group of trade unions and civil society organisations from the employee, environmental and consumer protection sectors in Brussels agreed on a statement of principles on the “Better Regulation” Initiative of the Juncker Commission. The “Better Regulation Watchdog” will be established upon signature of the statements, which will take place in the coming days. Initiatives to “simplify” European Law, which in 2012 were combined under the name “REFIT” (Regulatory Fitness), have already been in existence for years. The most prominent so far was the “High Level Group of Independent Stakeholders on Administrative Burdens” under the chairmanship of Edmund Stoiber. The objective was to reduce the allegedly excessive bureaucracy, which would be a significant burden for SMEs. Finally, the Juncker Commission put the initiatives on top of the agenda: now with Frans Timmermans, the First Vice President has also become the “Commissioner for Better Regulation”, who will present his detailed programme in the first half of 2015.
However, AK and ÖGB, which are generally in support of simplifying the judicial system and bureaucracy respectively, fear that the Commission and influential business lobby groups will interpret “better regulation” as “deregulation”. During the course of REFIT, law-making initiatives to improve employee protection were not pursued any further (e.g. occupational health and safety in the hairdressing sector). The REFIT Work Programme of the current Commission notes some existing acts on “Consolidation”, “Simplification” or with regard to “Fitness Check”, among them also employee rights in case of collective redundancies and operational transfers and minimum standards in the food sector respectively.
On the other hand, the Commission continues to insist on proposals, which from the AK’s point of view do not add any value and only represent an unnecessary complication of the legal system, such as the proposal for the Directive in respect of private limited companies with a single member (SUP).
The planned “Watchdog” has been designed as a network, which enables participating organisations to exchange information quickly and to coordinate joint activities. It will therefore form a counterbalance to the dominant commercial influence by the private sector and pay particular attention to ensure that alleged optimisation measures by the Commission will not be introduced at the expense of the citizens.
However, AK and ÖGB, which are generally in support of simplifying the judicial system and bureaucracy respectively, fear that the Commission and influential business lobby groups will interpret “better regulation” as “deregulation”. During the course of REFIT, law-making initiatives to improve employee protection were not pursued any further (e.g. occupational health and safety in the hairdressing sector). The REFIT Work Programme of the current Commission notes some existing acts on “Consolidation”, “Simplification” or with regard to “Fitness Check”, among them also employee rights in case of collective redundancies and operational transfers and minimum standards in the food sector respectively.
On the other hand, the Commission continues to insist on proposals, which from the AK’s point of view do not add any value and only represent an unnecessary complication of the legal system, such as the proposal for the Directive in respect of private limited companies with a single member (SUP).
The planned “Watchdog” has been designed as a network, which enables participating organisations to exchange information quickly and to coordinate joint activities. It will therefore form a counterbalance to the dominant commercial influence by the private sector and pay particular attention to ensure that alleged optimisation measures by the Commission will not be introduced at the expense of the citizens.