"Legislative Review by the EC Commission: Revision Without Zeal"

Maher, Imelda. (1995) "Legislative Review by the EC Commission: Revision Without Zeal". In: UNSPECIFIED, Charleston, South Carolina. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

This paper examines the appropriateness of the tools used in the current Community legislative review from a legal perspective and how the review is shaped by institutional factors, in particular the change of Community culture engendered by the Maastricht process. There is a greater emphasis on accountability with the onus on the Community to justify its actions to Member States on whom it largely relies for implementation and enforcement. Rather than tackle this key issue of accountability through institutional reform which would weaken the positions of the indirectly accountable and secretive Council, the Member States have sought to resolve this issue through greater transparency and legislative review. Legislative review is being conducted under a number of initiatives, notably the Sutherland Report, the principle of subsidiarity and the Committee of Experts on simplification of legislation. The review is not a deregulation programme, rather a consolidation, clarification and simplification exercise with some repeal of legislation. and The paper looks at how and why review has come about before turning to an analysis of the nature of the review itself. It then discusses the impact of this review on the acquis communautaire and the institutional balance within the Community. It concludes that the review may lead to greater transparency but at the cost of acquis commaunuautaire with the inappropriate retroactive application of the subsidiarity principle to an existing body of law. At the same time, greater transparency may force the question of democratic accountability further up the political agenda.

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