Openbare hoorzitting over zelf-regulering gehouden door ECOSOC op 31 maart (en)

Public Hearing on "The Current State of European Self- and Co-Regulation"

The Single Market Observatory(SMO) of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) is holding on Monday 31 March, from 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm at the Committee building (99, rue Belliard, 1040 Brussels), a public hearing on "The Current State of European Self- and Co-Regulation" to allow for an exchange of views on alternatives to classic regulation. A new database dedicated to European self- and co-regulation initiatives, which the EESC developed in close cooperation with the European Commission's Secretariat General, will be presented. The Committee intends to host a constructive debate on the impact of self- and co-regulation on the EU regulatory framework and the role of organised civil society as codeowners, i.e. initiators of self- and co-regulatory actions and, as such, actors of the legislative process.

The EESC organised its first hearing on self- and co-regulation in October 2004 and unanimously adopted an information report in early 2005 allowing for a first glimpse at alternative instruments in the wake of the Inter-Institutional Agreement (IIA) on Better Lawmaking, which framed and defined self- and co-regulatory practices in the Single Market. Next Monday's follow-up event will focus on latest developments in this area and host a debate on current initiatives, prospects and limits of alternative instruments to classic legislation.

On this occasion, the new self- and co-regulation database which the SMO developed in close cooperation with the Secretariat General of the European Commission on the basis of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in July 2006 will be presented in the presence of a number of co-owners. Mr Bernardo Hernández Bataller, chairman of the EESC Section for "The Single Market, Production and Consumption", Mr Alexander Italianer, Deputy Secretary General of the European Commission in charge of Better Regulation, Mr Patrick Venturini, Secretary General of the EESC as well as Mr Pavel Teli?ka, member of the "High Level Group of Independent Stakeholders on Administrative Burdens" and senior EPC adviser, will take the floor in the first part of the hearing.

The open debate in the second part of the event will be led by Professor Fabrizio Cafaggi, from the European University Institute in Florence, Mr Manuel Medina Ortega, Member of the European Parliament, and Mr Oliver Gray, Director General of the European Alliance for Standards in Advertising (EASA). Ms Elisa Ferreira, Member of the European Parliament and Lord James of Blackheath, Member of the British House of Lords will also intervene. Mr Jorge Pegado Liz, chairman of the Single Market Observatory, will close the hearing.

The minutes of the discussions will be available very soon after the event to keep up the momentum and will contribute to updating the 2005 information report on "The Current State of European Self- and Co-Regulation".

For more information, please visit the SMO website:

http://www.eesc.europa.eu/smo/news/index_en.asp

To tell us about your views, please write to: smo@eesc.europa.eu

To view the self- and co-regulation database:

http://www.eesc.europa.eu/self-and-coregulation/index.asp