Towards an Evidence-Based and Integrated Policy Cycle in the EU: A Review of the Debate on the Better Regulation Agenda

Abstract

Our aim is to provide an overview of the debate on the Better Regulation (BR) Agenda presented in 2015 by the European Commission. In addition to academic literature, we also consider studies and reports from Think Tanks, international organizations, and EU internal scrutinizing bodies. After presenting the main aspects of the debate on some overarching elements of the BR Agenda, we focus in particular on two highlights: evidence-based policymaking and the integrated policy cycle. We structure the discussion around main achievements, remaining critical aspects and suggestions about what could be further improved. Findings show that although the Commission remains a front-runner when it comes to Better Regulation, more efforts are needed to go the last mile when it comes to evidence-based policymaking and closing the policy cycle. We find that the great majority of arrticles welcome the ambition of the BR Agenda reform. At the same time, they also make clear that to effectively improve regulation, further methodological guidance and concrete efforts in implementation are needed. Another interesting finding is that the debate on the BR Agenda is extremely varied, covering normative as well as very technical aspects. It appears, though, to be confined within certain academic fields (namely political science, public administration, and law), while other fields that can be, in practice, also deeply linked to BR related activities are less represented.