Author: Magnus Erlandsson*

Improved quality of regulation and legislation is now a pronounced objective at European as well as national level. The European Commission have for some years now tried to convince EU member states to reduce the administrative burdens – especially for companies – and make regulatory impact assessment an integrated part of their regulatory process. But despite considerable efforts, the results have so far been rather modest.

In the SIEPS report Regelförenkling genom konsekvensutredningar, political scientist Magnus Erlandsson argues that Sweden is one of the lagging countries when it comes to regulatory impact assessment.

Author: Jorge Núñez Ferrer

The European Union has committed itself to a number of ambitious targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, renewable energy use and energy efficiency. But it has been has unable to play a central role in the climate negotiations in Copenhagen, due to a lack of internal coordination and a EU budget that is not fully adapted to the climate goals.

Editors: Nadège Chambon and Jonas Eriksson*

The European Commission recently launched a discussion on the architecture of direct payments, with a view to rethinking the philosophy of agricultural regulation within the EU. The debate has been pursued under the Swedish EU Presidency. The European Commission will present a communication to launch a public debate on this theme during the summer or early autumn of 2010.

Notre Europe and SIEPS therefore invited specialists, policy-makers, Commission officials and researchers to a seminar in Stockholm on 16 September 2009, to discuss the question, “Which Common Policy for Agriculture and Rural Areas beyond 2013?” As regards substance the report follows the structure and content of the seminar: Rolf Eriksson, State Secretary at the Swedish Ministry of Agriculture, outlined the Swedish Presidency’s work on CAP reform, after which a morning panel discussed the role of the CAP in European integration. A second panel concluded the seminar by discussing how to improve the regulation of agriculture beyond 2013.

Author: Per Lundborg*

Circular migration has become a central concept for the future EU migration policy, implying that migrants should be encouraged to move repeatedly between the country of origin and the host country. The basic purpose is to utilise international labour mobility to make both countries’ economies more efficient. The author discusses problems of specific migration policies to stimulate mobility based on a review of the relevant literature.