Accountability mechanisms for regulatory decisions (Pierre Larouche and Maartje de Visser)

Pierre Larouche and Maartje de Visser have published a Discussion Paper reviewing the relationship between the Commission, the national regulatory authorities (NRAs) and the national courts in the light of the Commission's proposals for reform as set out in the 2006 Review. The focus is on two interrelated issues, namely the interaction between the NRAs and the Commission through the procedure of Article 7 of Directive 2002/21, and the accountability mechanisms for regulatory decisions, first and foremost review of NRA decisions by national courts, as set out in EC law in Article 4 of Directive 2002/21. The paper finds that the Commission proposals fail to address core issues such as the standard of assessment under Article 7, the accountability for decisions taken upstream of the NRA, and the scope and depth of judicial review and it suggests a number of factors that ought to be taken into consideration in tackling those issues.