The European Commission's Better Regulation Agenda aims to shape and evaluate EU policies and laws so that they meet their goals in the most effective and efficient way. Impact assessments are at the heart of this program.

The Better Regulation Guidelines give guidance to the Commission on how to carry out impact assessments. They are complemented by  better regulation toolbox.

The Regulatory Scrutiny Board issues an opinion on the quality of the impact assessment carried out. Without a positive opinion from the Council, the Commission cannot continue the legislative process. The European Commission must submit to the Council the revised report on the impact assessment  again, and in the explanatory memorandum to the draft, it must include information on the comments of the Council and the manner of taking them into account.
Improving the consultation process is part of the Commission's better regulation agenda. The EC runs a portal dedicated to public consultations. More information about the types of consultations and ways to participate in them can be found in the tab "take part in the European consultations".

The Regulatory Fitness and Performance Program (REFIT) focuses on removing excessive regulatory burdens and simplifying European law while achieving policy objectives. Annually the Commission presents an overview of the measures taken under the program on the REFIT Scoreboard.

The REFIT program also includes the activities of the Fit for Future Platform, which helps the Commission to simplify EU rules and reduce unnecessary costs due to existing regulations. The Platform examines, first of all, whether the objectives of the applicable regulations are effectively achieved in the context of new technological challenges such as digitization. In its opinions for the Commission, the Platform also takes into account the requests of citizens and stakeholders  submitted via the website: "Have your say! Simplify! "

The Commission also conducts evaluations and fitness checks of existing legislation and implemented strategies to check that they are delivering the expected results without excessive costs.

The Commission has summarized and analyzed (so called a stocktaking exercise) its better law making activities. The synthesis report provides recommendations for the future in this area.

On April 29, 2021, the Commission published a Communication on Better regulation: Joining forces to make better laws. In its Communication, the Commission is committed to further reducing the burdens and bureaucracy that slow down investment and the construction of 21st century infrastructure, and to cooperation with Member States, regions and stakeholders.

The EC presented a project to simplify the public consultation by introducing one "call for proposals" on the improved portal "Have Your Say".

It was also decided to introduce the "one in one out" principle. This principle ensures that any new burdens introduced are counterbalanced by removing equivalent burdens in the same policy area. The Commission also wants to take into account the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals so that all legislative proposals contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The  working party on better regulation functions within the Council of the European Union. The group discusses and analyzes the activities of the European Commission in the better lawmaking program on an ongoing basis. Recently, a group of i.a. provided input to the stocktaking exercise and developed guidelines for EU Council groups to produce impact assessments on substantial  amendments tabled in the Council to Commission initiatives. In the working group for better regulation, Poland is represented by a representative of the MRiT.

Regulatory policy is one of the OECD's areas of activity as it affects the economy, entrepreneurs and citizens.

Since 2009, the Regulatory Policy Committee within the OECD has been supporting countries in developing and improving better law making policies so that governments, while pursuing their policy objectives, including through legislative initiatives, act efficiently and effectively, basing their choices on evidence. A representative of the MRIiT  takes part in the work of the Committee. Within the Committee, member states benefit from each other's best practices.

The document developed by the Regulatory Policy Committee from 2012 entitled the Recommendation of the Council on Regulatory Policy and Governance establishes a comprehensive set of principles and guidelines in the field of regulatory policy, including impact assessment, public consultation, regulatory quality control and the use of alternatives to legal provisions.

The OECD monitors how countries deal with the challenges of better regulation. The results are published in the Regulatory Policy Outlook reports, presenting national measures to improve the quality of regulation in accordance with the principles set out in the OECD recommendations of 2012. The report presents good regulatory practices of the Member States, but also identifies areas for improvement. The study covers three areas of regulatory policy: regulatory impact assessment, stakeholder engagement and evaluation. Each is assessed in four categories: methodology, systematic implementation of formal adoption,  oversight and quality control, as well as transparency.