smart regulation consultation July 5, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation , add a commentThe Commission asks some useful questions in its consultation on smart regulation (deadline for comments is September 21). For example:
13. Stakeholders should be consulted on the right issues and in the right ways. From your experience: (i) Are you generally consulted on all relevant elements of impact assessment (i.e. problem definition, objectives, policy options and their impacts)? (ii) Are consultation documents clear and complete? (iii) Is the mix of targeted and open consultations used by the Commission appropriate? If not, could you explain why and provide specific examples? …
14. Early consultation has the greatest potential to influence policy reflections but suffers from the lack of well-defined policy ideas. Conversely, when policy reflections are advanced, stakeholders can be consulted on the specificities of a proposal but may be unable to exert much influence on its overall need and design. From your experience: (i) Do Roadmaps facilitate your involvement? What use do you make of them? (ii) Are your views usually sought at the right moments in the process of policy formulation? (iii) Should open consultations preferably take place in one go or in separate stages? In the latter case, how could excessive costs (for the public and the Commission) be avoided and minimum standards respected?…
15. How do you generally become aware of consultations? Are you satisfied with this? If not, how would you like to learn about upcoming or current consultations?
16. Reaching all affected stakeholders and facilitating high-quality input is essential for ensuring the benefits of consultations: (i) How do you think the coverage of Commission consultation could be further extended in a cost-effective manner? (ii) How could consultation channels in Member States be mobilised to this end? (iii) Can the use of internet-based applications be improved?
17. What is your experience with consultations targeted to specific stakeholders (including public hearings)?
18. Are you aware of any good practices in the Member States or elsewhere on how to assess the representativeness of different respondents to a public consultation?…
19. The Commission provides information on the results of public consultation and their impact on policy choices in its public summary of the consultation, in impact assessment reports and in the explanatory memorandum accompanying final initiatives. (i) Are you satisfied with the quality and transparency of this information? (ii) As a participating stakeholder, would you want to be automatically alerted to the publication of these documents?…
20. Do you think current consultation practices ensure the effective and transparent participation of all relevant stakeholders? Do they lead to improved policy-making?
consultation: public libraries? June 22, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation, transparency , add a commentThe Manchester Central Library’s website describes the library as “[o]ne of Manchester’s most famous and best-loved landmarks”. But the library is now being criticized for a programme of book-pulping which has been going on for some time and seems to be related to the renovation of the library buildings (“designed to give the city a flagship library of which it can be proud”). The library’s description of its policy (accessible here) is not very informative. A letter criticizing the pulping policy complains of a lack of transparency and argues that subject specialists and the people of Manchester should have been consulted. The letter thus advocates two seemingly rather distinct ideas of consultation, although expert and citizen consultation are often lumped together. The argument for consulting citizens is rather eloquent:
The books at central library are not owned by the council; they are owned by the people of Manchester. It is they, not politicians and bureaucrats, who need to have a say in what happens to this valuable Mancunian treasure.
eu banking consultation May 9, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation , add a commentThe “High Level Expert Group” on reforming the structure of the EU banking sector began a consultation nearly a week ago which has now hit the Commission’s “Your Voice in Europe” page. The closing date is June 1. The announcement states that:
We welcome contributions from citizens, organisations and public authorities.
But whereas the consultation document phrases the questions to banks and to corporate customers as direct questions to the entities themselves, the questions supposedly asked of retail customers are phrased rather differently. For example, one of the questions to corporate customers is:
What are the main banking services and products that you seek from your bank?
There is no such question for retail customers. The document asks corporate customers:
What are your views with respect to structural reform of banking in general and in particular with respect to the structural reform proposals to date (e.g. US Volcker Rule, UK ICB proposal)?
In the retail customers section of the document there is a similar question but it is drafted very differently:
What are the views of retail customers with respect to structural reform of banking in general and in particular with respect to the structural reform proposals to date (e.g. US Volcker Rule, UK ICB proposal)? What structural reforms would be desirable from their point of view?
Retail customers are not interrogated directly, others are to speak on their behalf. And the phrasing of the questions seems to imply that those who wish to speak on behalf of retail customers should only bother responding if they are able to speak about the views and situation of retail customers generally.
Perhaps we should have some low level expert groups on this sort of issue.
europe day: citizens’ initiative, citizens rights consultation May 9, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation, governance , add a commentAs European citizens are grumbling about austerity measures, the Commission consults citizens on the issues that concern them:
In 2013, EU citizenship will celebrate its 20th birthday since its introduction with the entry into force of the Treaty of Maastricht. The European Commission wants to mark this occasion by further developing and strengthening the Citizens’ Agenda and making sure you can enjoy your EU rights in your daily life. The European Commission will present a new EU Citizenship Report in 2013 with further measures responding to issues raised by EU citizens. The Commission has also proposed to make 2013 the European Year of Citizens and intends to take a series of initiatives, putting the citizen at the heart of its action.
We want to hear from you!
Your contribution to the 2013 Citizenship Report is paramount. The European Commission would like to hear your views about the issues that concern you.
You can send us your views from 9 May until 9 September 2012. The Commission will prepare a consolidated and anonymous analysis of all responses to the questionnaire and publish it online.
And there’s an open citizens’ initiative: Fraternité 2020.
scottish referendum question May 8, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation , add a commentThe Scottish Affairs Committee of the UK Parliament writes:
Based on the evidence, we have no choice but to conclude that the question:
Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?
is biased. Experts told us that this was a leading question, biased towards a ‘yes’ answer.
sec consultation on jobs act implementation April 11, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation, transparency , add a commentThe SEC invites public comment on implementation of the JOBS Act:
Under a process first utilized with the Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the public will be able to comment before the agency even proposes its regulatory reform rules and amendments.
The SEC is generally required by law to establish a public comment period at the time it proposes rules or rule amendments. However, similar to the Commission’s action with the Dodd-Frank Act, the public will have an opportunity to voice its views before rules or amendments are proposed under the JOBS Act. The public also will be able to see what others are saying to the agency about these issues.
There are separate web comment forms with respect to different titles of the Act, which are available here. The forms don’t include questions which might influence the responses, which is a good thing, but responding by means of the forms really requires some knowledge of the statute. The SEC does provide a link to the statute but the language in which it is drafted is pretty impenetrable to those who aren’t familiar with the federal securities laws. This does raise some questions about what the SEC thinks it is achieving by asking for public comment.
only limited consultation necessary on freezing and confiscation of proceeds of crime March 30, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation , add a commentThat is what the EU Commission seems to think. The explanatory memorandum for the recent proposal for a directive on freezing and confiscation of the proceeds of crime states:
The proposal has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s better regulation principles. Minimum standards for consultation of interested parties have been met in the preparation of this proposal and the impact assessment.
Wide consultations and discussions with experts were carried out in the Camden Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network Plenary meeting (September 2010) and in eight meetings of the EU informal Asset Recovery Offices’ Platform between 2009 and 2011.
No open Internet consultation was carried out, as confiscation is a specialised topic where limited expertise is available. Contacts were established with civil society, notably with organisations promoting legality, the fight against organised crime and the protection of the victims of crime.
eu commission seeks views on shadow banking and bank accounts March 20, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation , add a commentTwo new consultations: today’s on bank accounts, which focuses on whether there should be EU measures with respect to the lack of transparency and comparability of bank fees, high switching costs, and difficulties of access to basic banking services, and yesterday’s via a green paper on shadow banking.
eu commission asks for examples of double non-taxation March 5, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation , add a commentThis is a “fact-finding public consultation” (responses to be submitted here) according to the staff working paper which states:
It is undesirable that in the EU Internal Market a taxpayer is subject to double non-taxation on his/her cross-border activity as this gives the taxpayer a competitive advantage compared to other taxpayers who are subject to ordinary taxation. Our aim is to obtain a better picture of the real problem and, if possible, of its financial impact. You are also invited to provide any suggestions you might have for ways in which the different cases of double non-taxation could be tackled, for instance by legislative approaches, increased information measures or good governance rules.
esma short selling consultation February 15, 2012
Posted by Bradley in : consultation, transparency , add a commentThe responses are in and you can see them here. A number of the responses comment on the very short time for consultation. Today there’s a new consultation on technical advice relating to the same regulation which closes on March 9. The Consultation document says:
Who should read this paper
This paper may be specifically of interest to investors that take short positions, hedge funds, investment
firms whose clients hold short positions or engage in CDS activity, securities lending firms, hedge funds,
prime brokers, custodians, settlement systems, national debt management agencies and issuers.
But they still only get just over 3 weeks to respond.
There will be an open hearing on 29 February 2012.
Meanwhile I have been working on a paper on transparency and financial regulation in the EU.