05/02/2026
The European Commission is dramatically changing how it prepares its laws to adjust to the new geopolitical realities. It launched a Call for Evidence on Better Regulation, gathering input from all stakeholders affected by EU legislation. Hidden behind technocratic language, the Commission would dramatically reduce citizen and civil society input, as well as the evidence-gathering traditionally required to create or revise EU laws. Under this approach, the Commission alone would decide when evidence matters, when public input is needed, and when scrutiny applies.
In response to the consultation, Professor Alberto Alemanno, founder of The Good Lobby, has prepared a detailed submission supported by over 50 scholars. The academics warn against normalising what they describe as “emergency governance as standard practice.” While recognising the need for timely EU action in a volatile geopolitical context, they stress that urgency cannot justify bypassing Treaty-based obligations to evidence-based policymaking, participatory democracy, proportionality and fundamental rights protection.
Rather than abandoning Better Regulation safeguards, the submission calls for strengthening and codifying them, with objective criteria governing when consultations or impact assessments may be limited, and under what conditions omnibus legislation is permissible.
The message is clear: better regulation does not mean less democracy. It means lawmaking that is more informed, more participatory, more transparent – and ultimately more effective and legitimate.