Simplifying the Acceptance of Certain Public Documents in the EU: Initial Appraisal of the Commission's Impact Assessment

Briefing 15-01-2014

This note seeks to provide an initial analysis of the European Commission's Impact Assessment (IA) accompanying its proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on promoting the free movement of citizens and businesses by simplifying the acceptance of certain public documents in the European Union and amending Regulation (EU) 1024/2012 (COM (2013) 228), which was submitted in April 2013. It analyses whether the principal criteria laid down in the Commission’s own Impact Assessment Guidelines, as well as additional factors identified by the Parliament in its Impact Assessment Handbook, appear to be met by the IA. It does not attempt to deal with the substance of the proposal.