Regulatory Affairs Programme
The CEPS Regulatory Affairs Programme was launched in January 2005 with the aim of exploring policy and regulatory challenges in the following areas:
- Better regulation
- Internal Market
- Competition Policy
- Trade Developments and Policy [1]
- CEPS Digital Forum
Better Regulation
Since January 2006 the CEPS Regulatory Affairs Programme (RAP) is coordinating the European Network for Better Regulation (ENBR-, that started as a three-year programme funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme.) The network involves 21 European universities and research institutes.
The RAP team carried out several projects under a framework contract with the Europeam Commission (DG Enterprise and Industry) including impact assessment drafting and measuring administrative burdens. It was also the first group of researchers to provide coaching services on how to approach and draft Impact Assessment documents.
In addition the RAP unit completed an unprecedented scorecard analysis of all Impact Assessments published by the European Commission between 2003-2009. Work is ongoing to update the data for 2010 and 2011.
Senior Research Fellow Andrea Renda recently published the monograph "Law and Economics in the RIA World: Improving the use of economic analysis in public policy and legislation" You can obtain the publication at http://www.intersentia.com [2].
Competition Policy
On competition policy, in 2010 CEPS teamed up with the College of Europe to carry out a project for the European Commission, DG Competition, on the impact of national rules that are stricter than article 102 (TFEU).
Internal Market
Senior Reseach Fellow Jacques Pelkmans regularly publishes commentaries, policy briefs and working papers on the EU Single Market, which are extensively read in the Brussels community.
CEPS in cooperation with the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium) is undertaking a study to measure the uptake of Green Public Procurement (GPP) in the EU Member States for the Directorate General for the Environment of the European Commission. The aim of the study is to evaluate if and how public authorities are including environmental criteria in procurement processes. The results of the study will be taking into account for the development of future EU policies in this field.
[3]
The unit is deeply involved in a dynamic new initiative, the CEPS Digital Forum. The new venture opens with a burst of activities, starting with conferences on innovation policy, critical infrastructure protection, neutrality and diversity in the Internet ecosystem and a joint conference between CEPS and the International Telecommunications Society. Four ad hoc working groups will produce policy recommendations to be offered directly to EU institutions as the result of consensus reached via debate and exchange between key industry players. The first blog on the digital agenda will take off from the new website www.digitalforum.eu [3]. In delivering an insightful speech at CEPS, Robert Madelin – the Director General of DG INFSO, European Commission, defined the CEPS Digital Forum as a “colossally important” initiative for the future of the Digital Agenda. We want to be there to help Europe enter the digital age from the main door, and this is what we hope to achieve with the CEPS Digital Forum.