The interface between member states and the European Union

An increasing proportion of national regulations in EU member states originate at EU level. Whilst EU regulations1 have direct application in member states and do not have to be transposed into national regulations, EC directives need to be transposed, raising the issue of how to ensure that the regulations implementing EC law are fully coherent with the underlying policy objectives, do not create new barriers to the smooth functioning of the EU Single Market, avoid “gold plating” and the placing of unnecessary burdens on business and citizens. Transposition also needs to be timely, to minimise the risk of uncertainty as regards the state of the law, especially for business. The national (and subnational) perspective on how the production of regulations is managed in Brussels itself is important. Better Regulation policies, including impact assessment, have been put in place by the European Commission to improve the quality of EU law. The view from “below” on the effectiveness of these policies may be a valuable input to improving them.