The European Union and its member states are investing in ambitious programmes for 'better regulation' and targets of regulatory quality. This book, available in paperback for the first time, lifts the veil of excessively optimistic propositions covering the whole better regulation agenda. It provides an innovative conceptual framework to handle the political complexity of regulatory governance. It approaches better regulation as an emerging public policy, with its own political context, actors, problems, rules of interaction, instruments, activities and impacts. Focusing on the key tools of impact assessment, consultation, simplification, and access to legislation, the authors provide fresh empirical evidence on the progress made in the member states and in Brussels, drawing on an extensive research project and an original survey of directors of better regulation programmes in Europe. Radaelli and De Francesco show how indicators define, measure, and appraise better regulation policy, linking measures to policy processes in which the stakeholders learn by monitoring. Although better regulation is a top priority for competitiveness in Europe and the legitimacy of EU policy, the level of commitment and the development of tools vary considerably. The major challenge for better regulation is institutionalisation - this calls for clear choices in terms of what the EU wants from better regulation.

Essential reading for academics (political scientists, lawyers, and public economists) and policy-makers in charge of regulatory reforms in governments and international organisations.

Reviews

'The whole 'better regulation movement' may amount to little unless effective ways are found to measure regulatory quality. This book, accordingly, will be essential and timely reading for policymakers as well as academics - it will offer particularly valuable and informed discussions of regulatory impact assessments and other new tools of regulatory governance.'
Robert Baldwin, Professor of Law, London School of Economics and Political Science

'This book is an incisive analysis of Better Regulation tools. The authors provide a comprehensive and thoughtful discussion of the institutional determinants of regulatory quality. It will bridge the debates among
academics and practitioners.'
Klaus Jacob, Department of Political and Social Sciences, Freie Universitaet Berlin

'The European Union has long since been depicted as a "regulatory polity", and the quality of the EU's regulatory output long derided and debated. In this useful and important book, Claudio Radaelli and Fabrizio De Francesco undertake a systematic analysis of the quality of EU regulation, using original indicators to assess whether Europe is indeed achieving "better regulation."
Mark A. Pollack, Temple University

Introduction
1. Appraising regulatory policy
2. Defining quality
3. How indicators perform: A review of the literature
4. Measuring the performance of better regulation policies: The cross-national experience
5. The results of the questionnaire
6. The state of play in the EU
7. Better regulation indicators
8. Conclusion
Appendix 1: Questionnaire measuring regulatory quality
Appendix 2: Set of indicators on the qualtiy of the process
Appendix 3: Set of indicators for internal evaluation
Appendix 4: Set of indicators for external evaluation

Authors

Claudio M. Radaelli is Professor of Political Science, Jean Monnet Chair and Director of the Centre for Regulatory Governance at the University of Exeter.. Fabrizio De Francesco is ESRC Research fellow at the Centre for Regulatory Governance and doctoral candidate in the Department of Politics at the University of Exeter.