Lawmaking in Multi-Level Settings : Legislative Challenges in Federal Systems and the European Union

Law making is difficult enough in a simple national setting but even harder in multi-level settings such as federal states or the EU. At the central level, laws must respect the autonomy and diversity of the component units, yet be effective, coherent, simple and accessible. At the decentralized level, law makers must, within a given time, implement in their own legislative framework laws drawn up at the central level. The challenges are discussed in this volume of selected papers from the International Association of Legislation's 2018 Conference at Antwerp University. It covers all multi-tiered systems, but a major focus is on the EU, where the tension between autonomy and efficacy is most evident. Part I examines the topic at the broadest level, including all types of multi-tiered systems. Part II focuses on the EU perspective and Part III on the perspective of the Member States. The authors are experts in various disciplines and practitioners, ensuring a multi-disciplinary approach. Cover Introduction to Lawmaking in Multi-Level Settings Part I. Lawmaking in Multi-level Settings: A Theoretical Framework Chapter 1: Multi-level Lawmaking. Form, Arrangement and Design in Theory and Practice I. Introduction 1. Multi-level Systems 2. Upper and Lower Level II. Forms of Multi-Level Systems 1. Classification of Multi-level Systems Based on Power 1.1. Hierarchical Systems 1.2. Non-hierarchical Systems 2. Classification of Multi-level Systems Based on Tasks 2.1. Co-legislator 2.2. Execution 2.3. Implementation 3. Classification of Multi-level Systems Based on the Predominant Legislator 3.1. Predominantly Upper Level 3.2. Predominantly Lower Level 3.3. Both Upper and Lower Level 3.4. Hybrid Systems III. Effectiveness, Autonomy and Quality as the Key Concerns of Lawmakers in Multi-level Systems 1. Effectiveness and Quality 2. Autonomy and Quality IV. Instruments 1. Instruments of Control 1.1. Notification, Reporting, Oversight and Permission Requirements 1.2. Enforcement and Sanctioning Instruments 2. Participation in the Lawmaking Process 3. Coordination Instruments V. Conclusion Chapter 2: How Upper Levels Strive to Influence Law-Making at the Lower Levels and Why Lower Levels Can’t Have Cake and Eat It I. Introduction Complexity, terminology and limitations II. The three upper levels and their strive for effectiveness 1. The federal level in federations 2. European Union law 3. Public international law 4. What all three upper levels share: A common appetite for effectiveness III. What upper levels can do to secure effectiveness and the common concerns at the lower levels 1. Vertical substitute performance 2. Vertical court enforcement 2.1. The importance of admissibility rules 2.2. Direct applicability and vertical direct effect 2.3. Invalidation by upper level courts 2.4. If norms are not directly applicable a) Between appeals to the legislator and judge-made law b) Requiring consistent interpretation 2.5. Common concerns with court enforcement 3. Financial liability (as a sub-type of court enforcement) 4. Oversight and cooperation 4.1. Approval requirements 4.2. Loyalty principles, duties to consult, inform and involve 4.3. Financial and other incentives 4.4. Oversight mechanisms 4.5. Common concerns with oversight and cooperation IV. Conclusions Chapter 3: Legislative Challenges in Multi-level Settings from a Lower Level Perspective I. Introduction. Law-making in multi-level settings: a problem of coordination II. Legislative initiative and inter-institutional programming in the EU III. The Early Warning System and the principle of subsidiarity in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice IV. Challenges of multi-level law-making in Italian regionalism: the role of the Constitutional Court V. Quality of legislation between the State and Regions in Italy: the multi-level legislator unbound VI. Conclusions Part II. Lawmaking in European Multi-level governance: The EU Perspective Chapter 4: Multi-level lawmaking and Better Regulation in the European Union: a critical approach I. Law-making in multi-level contexts: setting the scene II. Subsidiarity: the key solution to the dilemmas of multi-level law-making 1. Impact Assessment 2. Consultation III. Subsidiarity in legislative practice IV. Conclusions Chapter 5: Recent Developments in EU Regulation and Legislation I. Introduction II. The 2016 Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law Making III. The Task Force on Subsidiarity, Proportionality and “Doing Less More Efficiently” IV. Access to documents V. Conclusion Chapter 6: A critical analysis of EU regulation I. Introduction II. Ambiguity or lack of clarity 1. Ambiguity due to formal reasons 2. Ambiguity due to substantive reasons 2.1. Vagueness, especially as to the scope, or reliance on clarification in the recitals 2.2. Inclusion of soft-law provisions in legally binding acts or political planning and indicative lists 2.3. Provisions which have not been updated or unclear links between legal acts 2.4. Indirect amendments III. Incompleteness IV. Defects of form 1. No legally binding form 2. Incorrect choice of form 2.1. Regulations as concealed directives 2.2. Amendment of EU directives by EU regulations 2.3. Hybrid nature of decisions V. Conclusion Chapter 7: Hybrid and neutral language(s) in EU Multi-Level Legislative Drafting I. Introduction II. Languages of the Member States’ national law as compared to language(s) of EU law III. Levels and stages of EU drafting and transposition IV. Linguistic and terminological choices at EU level – drafting of EU law V. Linguistic and terminological choices at a national level – transposing EU law VI. Conclusions Chapter 8: European Commission’s Soft Law Instruments: In-between Legally Binding and Non-binding Norms I. Introduction II. The ‘murky’ EU soft law III. Normative content as a key factor for determining the legal nature of EU (soft law) acts IV. Assessing the normative content of Commission’s soft law instruments 1. Structure 2. Degree of detail and precision 3. Strength of obligations 4. Compliance/enforcement mechanisms 5. Persuasive force of arguments V. A legally problematic ‘hardening’ phenomenon of EU (Commission’s) soft law instruments VI. Better lawmaking through an argumentative ‘toolbox’ VII. Conclusion Chapter 9: The Phenomenon of ʻDirective-like Recommendationsʼ and their Implementation: Lessons from Hungarian Legislative Practice I. Introduction II. The spectrum between directives and recommendations III. Duties of government bodies involved in implementation of DLRs 1. The system governing harmonization under Hungarian law 2. Implementation of recommendations: a mixed picture IV. Outlook: Do directive-like recommendations have some added value? Chapter 10: Multilevel consultation procedures at the EU level and their contribution in copyright law making I. Introduction II. Literature review III. Public consultation as process: conceptual foundations IV. Multilevel governance: A conceptual analysis 1. Multilevel governance and the European Union 2. Innovations in governance: towards ‘better regulation’ V. Scientific consideration of the review on the European copyright regulations Examination of the questionnaire section about the ‘research exception’ End users/consumers Institutional users Authors/performers Publishers/producers/broadcasters Intermediaries/distributors/other service provider VI. Assessment VII. Conclusion ANNEX 1 – Type of respondents ANNEX 2 – Member States Part III. Lawmaking in European Multi-level governance: The Member States’ Perspective Chapter 11: Transposition of EU Legislation into domestic law: Challenges faced by National Parliaments I. Introduction: National Parliament (enter)in(g) the EU’s institutional framework II. National Parliaments and EU proposals Exerting influence on the transposition of EU Directives The proposal stage leading up to the enactment of the EU directive 1. Input for the position of the executive 2. ‘Cards’ 3. Political dialogue III. National Parliaments and the transposition of EU Directives IV. National Parliaments & comitology V. Key points and observations Annex 1 EU Legislation enacted by the Commission Chapter 12: How to reconcile the drafting rules and practices of the Member-States with the rules and practices of the EU? I. The interconnection between national and EU legal drafting II. A “de facto” harmonization of legal drafting techniques in the EU? III. Then... How to reconcile the drafting rules and practices of the Member-States with the rules and practices of the EU? Chapter 13: Regulating Private Law. The Rise of Regulations and their Impact on National Codifications I. Introduction II. Harmonisation through Directives III. Harmonisation through Regulations IV. Clarity, Accessibility and Consistency V. Dealing with Regulations VI. Concluding Remarks Chapter 14: Transition from EU directives to EU regulations and the consequences for implementation at the national level. The case of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) I. Introduction II. Transition from Directive 95/46/EC to the GDPR III. The GDPR is not the ultimate exhaustive regulation IV. Further complications on the Member State level caused by the GDPR V. Delays in the implementation process VI. Conclusion Afterword Chapter 15: Shaping future – Reframing law-making in multilevel systems I. Introduction II. Law-makers intend to change the future III. Law-makers provide innovation for huge, diverse though interested audiences IV. Multilevel legal environments in a sharing world The Contributors The Editors The Authors

Die Rechtsetzung ist bereits im nationalen Kontext schwer genug; in mehrstufigen Umfeldern wie den Bundesländern oder der EU ist sie jedoch noch komplizierter. Auf zentraler Ebene müssen Gesetze der Autonomie und Diversität der einzelnen Einheiten Rechnung tragen und trotzdem effektiv, kohärent, einfach und zugänglich sein. Auf der dezentralen Ebene müssen Gesetzgeber die Gesetze, die auf zentraler Ebene erarbeitet wurden, in einem festgelegten Zeitraum in ihrem eigenen Rechtsrahmen implementieren.Diese Herausforderungen werden in diesem Werk, das ausgewählte Beiträge der 2018 an der Universität Antwerpen stattgefundenen Konferenz der Internationalen Gesellschaft für Gesetzgebung enthält, diskutiert. Es befasst sich mit allen Mehrebenensystemen; ein besonderer Fokus liegt jedoch auf der EU, wo die Spannung zwischen Autonomie und Effizienz besonders offensichtlich ist.Teil I untersucht das Thema auf allgemeinster Ebene und umfasst alle Typen von Mehrebenensystemen. Teil II befasst sich mit der EU-Perspektive und Teil III mit der Perspektive der Mitgliedsstaaten.Die Autoren sind Experten in verschiedenen Disziplinen und Praktiker, was einen interdisziplinäre Herangehensweise sicherstellt.

Die Rechtsetzung ist bereits im nationalen Kontext schwer genug; in mehrstufigen Umfeldern wie den Bundesländern oder der EU ist sie jedoch noch komplizierter. Auf zentraler Ebene müssen Gesetze der Autonomie und Diversität der einzelnen Einheiten Rechnung tragen und trotzdem effektiv, kohärent, einfach und zugänglich sein. Auf der dezentralen Ebene müssen Gesetzgeber die Gesetze, die auf zentraler Ebene erarbeitet wurden, in einem festgelegten Zeitraum in ihrem eigenen Rechtsrahmen implementieren. Diese Herausforderungen werden in diesem Werk, das ausgewählte Beiträge der 2018 an der Universität Antwerpen stattgefundenen Konferenz der Internationalen Gesellschaft für Gesetzgebung enthält, diskutiert. Es befasst sich mit allen Mehrebenensystemen; ein besonderer Fokus liegt jedoch auf der EU, wo die Spannung zwischen Autonomie und Effizienz besonders offensichtlich ist. Teil I untersucht das Thema auf allgemeinster Ebene und umfasst alle Typen von Mehrebenensystemen. Teil II befasst sich mit der EU-Perspektive und Teil III mit der Perspektive der Mitgliedsstaaten. Die Autoren sind Experten in verschiedenen Disziplinen und Praktiker, was einen interdisziplinäre Herangehensweise sicherstellt.