Briefing - Reforming the Better Regulation agenda: 'A simpler, clearer and better enforced EU rulebook' - 19-06-2026
Marking the first reform of the Better Regulation framework since 2021, the Commission communication – A simpler, clearer and better enforced EU rulebook – aligns the EU's regulatory policy framework with the Commission's overall political priorities for the current term and steps up and formalises certain practices. In this respect, the communication advances the EU's simplification agenda, adjusts lawmaking to the new political imperative of competitiveness and seeks to make the EU acquis leaner. While previous Better Regulation reforms were geared towards improving regulatory quality (by adjusting impact assessment, evaluation and stakeholder consultation processes), the present reform is much broader in scope. It targets the full life cycle of EU laws, placing a particular emphasis on the review and enforcement stages. The communication is expected to be followed by a revision of the Better Regulation guidelines and toolbox later this year. The communication's five headline ambitions span the different stages in the policy cycle, from the design of new legislation to implementation and enforcement. Regarding the latter, it notably commits to applying a more rigid approach to infringements and to stepping up measures against gold-plating. It introduces new concepts, such as 'simplicity by design' and 'regulatory deep cleaning' and envisages making greater use of legal techniques and tools such as codification, recast and sunset clauses. The communication contains several measures targeting single market improvements, which are largely inspired by the 2024 Letta report. These include prioritising full harmonisation of single market legislation, wherever possible. The communication introduces major changes to the impact assessment process. Above all, the Commission commits to carrying out 'more and more focused' impact assessments. Guided by proportionality considerations and based on a newly developed 'matrix of key impacts', it introduces a two-tier approach to impact assessments that differentiates between 'major' and 'more targeted' initiatives. Moreover, it sets out a pathway for integrating politically urgent initiatives into the Better Regulation framework, thereby committing to preparing lighter impact assessments wherever feasible or, at least, analytical staff working documents with clearly defined minimum requirements. The communication also presents, for certain cases, a new category of Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) opinions, namely opinions without qualification. Overall, the impact assessment reform seeks to achieve an increase in the number of files submitted to the RSB, while potentially weakening RSB scrutiny. The reform also envisages certain adjustments to stakeholder consultations but barely addresses the ex-post evaluation of EU policies. Instead, the communication introduces 'regulatory deep cleaning' as the new ex-post review instrument, in an effort to reduce the complexity and fragmentation of the EU acquis. It presents an associated action plan across 12 priority areas and mandates regular Commission progress reporting on the 'deep cleaning' exercise.
Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP
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