On the eve of the presentation of the European Commission’s renewed better regulation strategy, civil society organisations came together to launch the ‘Better Regulation Watchdog’.
This
coalition
, composed of trade unions, consumer, environmental, development, citizen and public health organisations, pursues one objective: to closely scrutinise Frans Timmermans’ better regulation efforts in order “to make sure this agenda is pursued for the good of citizens and not just for the profit of the industry,” as explains Joost Mulder, head of…
“Extreme links with TTIP”
One common trait among the members of the coalition is that many are also involved in the campaign against the TTIP. “There is a very similar agenda, focused on deregulation,” says Paul De Clerck. “Once the new Commission’s website was updated, it became very clear that there are extreme links,” adds Colclough, who sees a clear interplay between both agendas in the ‘regulatory cooperation’ part of TTIP. However, not all members are convinced of the existence of this link: “I don’t see it, to be honest,” declares Hafner. “Overall, everything is somewhat connected in politics, but TTIP and REFIT… I see no connection.” Despite this divergence of opinions, all members share the same hope: to attract as much popular attention on better regulation as there currently is on TTIP.