ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how the Juncker Commission’s signature proposals of Better Regulation and Better Lawmaking included a more conscientious application of the principle of subsidiarity and expanded the opportunities for early engagement for non-privileged actors, including subnational authorities. The Commission identified early the need for making Better Regulation a shared responsibility with the other European Union institutions, as expressed since 1994 in successive Interinstitutional Agreements with the other institutions on Better Lawmaking. For subnational authorities to have sufficient incentive to meaningfully participate the Better Regulation/Better Lawmaking/pre-legislative consultation would need to have a structured mechanism tailored to them with sufficient accountability of the decisions taken as a result of their input. The Commission published a stocktake on the 2015 Better Regulation package, including the Interinstitutional Agreement, in October 2017. The fundamental problem with the Better Regulation package remains: t as it is a non-binding instrument it remains a matter of goodwill by the individual units of the Commission using these tools.
