The ‘variable geometry’ approach to ‘better legislation’

This Policy Brief takes the measure of the EU Commission's ‘better legislation’ programme, attempting not only to identify its general thrust but also to reveal its inner contradictions.

In the first three sections, the author examines aspects of the exercise taken as a whole, after which he illustrates his concerns by scrutinising one emblematic instance – evaluation of the social impact of the new support and stability programme for Greece – in an effort to assess the pertinence of the Commission’s real intentions in relation to impact analysis.

The conclusion, finally, shows that the EU is not merely a cost to be reduced but also an ambition to be developed in the light, above all, of the new challenges currently facing it.