EU Better Regulation Agenda: Contested Policy in Central European Perspective
EU Better Regulation Agenda: Contested Policy in Central European Perspective

Author(s): Zuzana Picková
Subject(s): EU-Approach / EU-Accession / EU-Development
Published by: EUROPEUM - Institut pro evropskou politiku
Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the current state of play of the European Commission’s Better Regulation Agenda (BRA) and highlight its key elements. Following the logic of the BRA, it looks at it primarily through the business lens while introducing the civil society viewpoint on the most contested issues. In addition, the perspective on the BRA of the Visegrád Group countries (V4) is explored and several policy recommendations suggested. The analysis is based on interviews with Brussels-based representatives of businesses and civil society organizations, with better regulation experts of the V4 governments and with independent experts, as well as on publicly available primary sources. The paper points to the fact that the most contentious characteristic of BRA is regulatory simplification – craved by businesses as a precondition for competitiveness and condemned by NGOs as a threat to social protections.

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