The Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) of the European Commission released its 2025 annual report, covering its activities in the tenth year of operation and the first year of the second von der Leyen Commission. The report highlights the Board's focus on evidence-based analysis and the design of policy responses. Key findings include:
- The Board scrutinized 57 files in 2025, including 25 impact assessments, 22 evaluations (including 3 fitness checks), and 10 resubmitted reports. The number of impact assessments reviewed increased significantly, aligning with the start of the von der Leyen Commission's second mandate.
- Impact assessments faced challenges, with 56% receiving negative opinions at first submission. The weakest quality components were problem definition, design of policy options, analysis of impacts, and comparison of options and proportionality.
- Resubmitted impact assessments showed significant improvement, particularly for those initially receiving negative opinions.
- Evaluations and fitness checks also faced quality issues, with 41% receiving negative opinions. The main challenges were related to effectiveness, efficiency, validity of conclusions, relevance, and analytical methods.
- The report emphasizes the importance of using observational data to build a solid evidence base for impact assessments and evaluations. Many reports lacked a clear identification of necessary evidence and relied heavily on opinion data, which is insufficient as a standalone source.
- The Board recommends improving data collection and analysis methods, including using appropriate combinations of methods to process and analyze data, and leveraging digitalization and AI to enhance evidence generation.
- The report concludes by calling for a refocus on core elements of the Better Regulation framework to enhance the quality of impact assessments, evaluations, and fitness checks and allow for more evidence-based decision-making.
