The Fit for Future Platform plenary approved two opinions by CoR rapporteurs Karjalainen and Speich on topics of particular importance for local and regional authorities: interoperability of data systems between different levels of governance and clear rules for end-of-life vehicles.
Local and regional authorities make EU law happen. Therefore their feedback on how EU rules are implemented on the ground to make them simpler, fewer and less bureaucratic is essential: this was the message of the CoR at the
Fit for Future (F4F) Platform
plenary on 5 December – a tool established by the European Commission for better and less burdensome EU legislation. Two opinions drafted by CoR members Mark Speich (DE/EPP) and Anne Karjalainen (FI/PSE) on topics that are of great relevance for local and regional authorities – interoperability of data systems and clear rules for end-of-life vehicles - were adopted.
Local and regional authorities implement 70% of EU laws and since the
creation of the
Fit for Future (F4F) platform
by the European Commission, the CoR has continuously strengthened its
contribution to shaping better laws in the European Union.
Karl-Heinz Lambertz (BE/PES),
Chair of the CoR Better Regulation and Active Subsidiarity Steering Group,
who represented the CoR at the F4F platform plenary meeting stated:
"The Fit for Future (F4F) platform and the EU's better regulation
strategy are not easy to sell to the wider public. They represent
demanding, technical and sometimes ungrateful backstage work in the
EU's legislative machinery room. Nonetheless, by providing 20% of the
F4F's output, mobilising its local and regional networks and in
particular its RegHub network, the European Committee of the Regions
has proven and will continue to be a key partner for ensuring better EU
regulation in partnership with all levels of governance - European,
national, regional and local – and for guaranteeing that active
subsidiarity is applied to European legislation throughout its full
life-cycle."
The opinion on the Revision of the end-of-life vehicles directive and the
directive on the type-approval of motor vehicles from
Mark Speich (DE/EPP), Secretary of State for European and International Affairs and Media for
the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia, was adopted at the F4F plenary. It
suggests to merge two laws in one in order to cover the whole life-cycle of
the automotive sector instead as well as to use one single online tool for
registration of vehicles that would reduce administrative burden for local
and regional authorities that use these tools on a daily basis. Mark Speich
commented:
“With the establishment of the Fit for Future platform, the European
Commission has taken an important step towards reducing bureaucracy and
simplifying EU legislation. I am pleased that my opinion on the EU
End-of-Life Vehicles Directive was adopted in the plenary session of
the platform and that the CoR was thus able to play its part in this
endeavor. It is very important that the perspective and expertise of
European regions and cities on the implementation of EU legislation
remains central to the work of this platform. I am looking forward to
continuing this work.”
The other opinion adopted in the F4F plenary was drafted by
Anne Karjalainen (FI/PSE),
Kerava City Councillor on the Governments Interoperability Strategy, which
aims at setting up interoperable digital public services at local, national
and EU level to ensure better cross-border coordination. Mr Karjalainen
commented:
"I strongly believe that interoperability is an inextricable part of
efforts to modernise public administrations. Local and regional
authorities, which are closest to citizens in terms of interaction with
public authorities, should be properly involved in the interoperability
governance in order to optimise the provision of efficient and
effective public services and to lift barriers to the much-needed
cross-border, cross-domain data flows and the sharing and reuse of
digital solutions."
On behalf of the CoR, Karl-Heinz Lambertz suggested three EU laws to be
scrutinized for the 2023 F4F Platform work programme:
The Working Time Directive, the Public Passenger Transport Services
Regulation and the Digital Europe Programme.
Background:
The CoR is the most actively engaged F4F Platform member. In the last two
years, the CoR has delivered five opinions which were adopted by the
Platform on following topics: public procurement, INSPIRE directive,
patients' rights in cross-border healthcare, governments interoperability
strategy and end-of-life vehicles directive. The F4F opinions can be found
on the
F4F Platform website
.
The CoR Better Regulation and Active Subsidiarity Steering Group - BRASS-G
coordinates the CoR contribution to improve the quality of EU legislation
by making EU laws simple, efficient, evidence-based, future-proof and
inclusive. It was launched on 11 November at the
Subsidiarity Conference
in Valencia.
The
CoR's Network of Regional Hubs (RegHub)
with 46 contact points across the EU is a sub-group of the F4F platform.
The network provides feedback on implementation of EU laws on the ground in
line with the work programme of the platform. The network thus adds the
local and regional perspective to EU policymaking and enlarges its evidence
base.
The F4F platform is the main instrument of the
Better regulation agenda
of the European Commission designed to simplify and modernise EU laws to
better tackle future challenges, while cutting red tape. The CoR is present
in the Platform at both levels of revising and evaluating existing EU
legislation. It therefore represents not only the local and regional
authorities but also citizens and businesses which implement EU law on
daily basis. This stronger involvement in the EU law making process is the
one of the achievements of the CoR work in the
Task force on Subsidiarity and Proportionality.
The Platform has more than 50 members (incl. representatives from the 27
Member States). The Fit for Future Platform work programme follows the
priorities of the Europe Commission annual work programme.