Speech by Commissioner Dombrovskis at the annual conference of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board

Thank you, Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests,

It is my pleasure join you today for the eighth annual conference of the Regulatory Scrutiny Board.

We meet at a time of challenge and change. When the problems we face are increasingly complex and interconnected.

In an environment like this, the best response for policymakers is to go back to basics and ask some fundamental questions: 

Is a policy response at EU level really necessary?

Are new rules and new obligations really necessary?

And if so, what are the available options, their expected costs, benefits and trade-offs?

These questions may sound simple. Answering them well is not.

It requires sound evidence, reliable data and rigorous analysis.

And it requires us to understand the long-term and wide-ranging effects of what we propose.

Because once a law is adopted, it shapes the lives of our citizens, the operations of our businesses and the functioning of our markets. Sometimes for decades.

Unintended consequences and poorly understood trade-offs carry a real price.

They can stand in the way of what really matters. Jobs for our people. Growth for our economies. And the economic  strength that protects Europe.

That is why the European Commission has placed simplification at the heart of its competitiveness agenda.

We have now tabled twelve major Omnibus simplification proposals, alongside other simplification initiatives, across a broad range of policy areas.

Together, they could save European businesses and national administrations €22.3 billion per year, once fully implemented. 

Our simplification agenda is not all about looking back. But also how we will approach lawmaking and regulation in future.

Because having driven the simplification agenda forward, I can say this with confidence: It is always better to prevent unnecessary complexity in the first place than to remove it once it has become embedded in legislation.

To do so, policymakers must understand the full impact of our policy choices from day one.