Activities of Alexandra GEESE related to 2020/2262(INI)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION European Union regulatory fitness and subsidiarity and proportionality -----– report on Better Law Making covering the years 2017, 2018 and 2019
Amendments (8)
Amendment 2 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Recalls the importance, for a properly functioning and competitive internal market, of effective better law- making tools that take subsidiarity and proportionality fully into account when drawing up scientifically based and balanced legislationtransparent, balanced, clear and comprehensive legislation in order to allow each parties to understand their rights and obligations, including by designing appropriate reporting, monitoring and evaluation requirements, particularly for consumers and SMEs;
Amendment 13 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Reiterates that internal market objectives such as improving competitiveness, digitalisation, sustainability and consumer protection should be underpinned by the enhanced use of scrutiny instruments such as the regulatory fitness and performance programme (REFIT) and the Regulatory Scrutiny Board; highlights that such instruments should take into consideration economic, environmental, gender-related and social impacts in an integrated and balanced way and use both qualitative and quantitative analyses, as well as address the costs of non- harmonisation at EU level;
Amendment 14 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2a. Stresses furthermore that impact assessments are a tool to help reaching well-informed decisions in the legislative decision-making process and must not lead to undue delays in decision-making or hinder political decisions in a context of green and digital transition to answer global challenges; reiterates that it is crucial to ensure that any use of co- regulation or self-regulation is always consistent with EU core principles such as the precautionary principle, EU legislation in the field, and that criteria of transparency and accountability are met; calls for these mechanisms not to be applicable where consumer rights and safety are at stake;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines that SMEs in particular will continue to face serious repercussions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and need more flexibilitytargeted support to react quickly to the ever-changing demands of our economy; reiterates that cutting red tapesimplifying administrative processes so as to avoid unjustified burden in this respect, the ‘think small first’ principle and fostering a society that values entrepreneurship need to be priorities within internal market legislation while ensuring a high level of consumer protection;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Calls on the Member States’ authorities at national and regional level, and on relevant stakeholders to become more closely involved at an early stage of the decision-making process, with subsidiarity and proportionality checks and administrative burden assessments of EU legislat, such as consumer organisations, civil society, business representatives and environmental organisations, to become more closely involved at an early stage of the decision-making process to achieve clear, transparent and efficient obligations and stresses therefore the importance of participating in public consultations organised by the Commission; calls further on the Member States to ensure the swift and consistent transposition, implementation and enforcement of legislation, and to avoid ‘gold-plating’ that can undermine the smooth functioning of the internal market;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that, while additional unnecessary administrative burdens should be avoided in designing, transposing and implementing EU acts, this should not be translated into deregulation or “no-regulation” nor prevent Member States from maintaining or taking more ambitious measures and adopting higher social, environmental and consumer protection standards in cases where only minimum standards are defined by Union law;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. WarnNotes that legislation which increasesresulting in unnecessary administrative burdens greatlycould affects SMEs and consumers by hindering competitiveness and preventing the single market from unlocking its full potential; calls on the Commission; calls on the Commission to take better into account the impact of forthcoming legislation and administrative initiatives on SMEs, with a view to providing evideclear and balanced on the added value of EU action, and its costs and benefits, to strengthen the SME fitness check.bligations while identifying targeted support to be provided, and to implement the “think-small first principle” in its policy making to assess the impact of forthcoming legislation on SMEs;
Amendment 40 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5 a (new)
Paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Recalls that transparency and publicity of an ongoing legislative procedure are inherent to the legislative process and can therefore be applied to the access of documents for trilogues as stated by the CJEU in its case-law; adds furthermore that openness and transparency confer greater legitimacy and confidence in the democratic legislative process of the European Union;