EURinSPECT

The organisation for effective and efficient supervision and inspection in Europe

EURinSPECT works for an effective and efficient supervision and inspection of companies in Europe.
In the EU Member States, supervisory authorities in a wide variety of areas, such as environment, health, safety  and others, keep track of  compliance with EU-regulations to ensure that products and services are fit for their intended purpose or procedures  are in accordance  with the  EU competition law. Often, these supervisory authorities interpret the relevant rules in different ways. Major differences can emerge in practice, even when the European rules are identical and the purpose of supervision is the same.  In a number of cases there is too little Europe-wide co-ordination of the standards and practices applied, and too little information is available within the EU on the implementation and enforcement of the rules.

This causes both market problems and unnecessary costs for companies with cross-border activities or activities in several EU Member States. It also means that supervisory authorities do not function as well as they could, and that, more particularly, there is too little co-ordination and collaboration. EURinSPECT’s mission is to improve this situation.

What does EURinSPECT think should be done differently and better?
• Creation of a European platform for information exchange between supervisory authorities
• Cross-border co-ordination of supervisory authorities
• Amendment of European laws and rules
• Amendment of national laws and rules
• Enhancement of local agreements
• Introduction of risk-based supervision

What would this achieve?
• Fewer unnecessary problems and costs for companies, as well as time savings
• Less unnecessary overlap between inspectorates and more co-operation and exchange of tasks
• Less work stress and unnecessary loss of capacity for inspectorates
• A reduced regulatory burden in Europe through better coordination of rules (sometimes more and sometimes fewer rules)
• A level playing field in Europe
• Less unfair competition between Member States, as a result of ‘unfair’ supervision of benefits and disadvantages for companies
• Better national and European enforcement in Europe
• Better identification and tracking of the implementation of laws and rules in Europe
• Better implementation of European rules, with lower costs for inspectorates and companies.

What is new about EURinSPECT?
• EURinSPECT’s tripartite approach: companies, supervisory authorities and legislators all take part  in the projects
Cross-border projects in a limited number of Member States
• The supra-sectoral European platform (a supra-sectoral forum in which inspectorates and supervisory authorities can learn from each other)
• Public-private partnership and financing
• The combination of the fields of science (evaluation), administration (legislators and supervisory authorities) and practice (companies) in the projects and the platform.

Dutch origins / European expansion
EURinSPECT originated in the Netherlands and now operates on a European scale. Set up with backing from the Dutch Ministry of Finance, this initiative has won support from European inspection agencies, government regulators, companies with establishments in several different EU Member States, companies with cross-border activities, business organisations and individual members, including Euro-MPs.
EURinSPECT reflects the experiences of the Dutch government and Dutch inspectorates in their efforts to reduce administrative costs and the costs of supervision (using the Standard Cost Model), but is aimed at European co-operation and co-ordination.
The aim is to develop an organisation that serves as a platform for supervisory authorities within the European Union, with the support of the private sector in the various EU Member States and of the EU regulatory bodies (the European Commission, European Parliament and the European Council).

Strengthening the European component of supervision and supervisory authorities
EURinSPECT works to strengthen the European component of supervision and inspection, as well as the European dimension of supervisory authorities (national, supra-national and intra-national), by building on both its functions: the project cases and the forum.

Alignment with the European Commission’s ‘Better Regulation’ and ‘Applying Community Law’ initiatives
EURinSPECT is consistent with the European Commission’s Communications on ‘Better Regulation’ and ‘Applying Community Law’. Through tripartite co-operation between companies, Member States and the Commission, EURinSPECT provides information on the implementation of European law and facilitates early identification of problems and imbalances between Member States in relation to supervision and inspection of compliance with Community law. EURinSPECT also contributes towards co-ordination and solutions for the different ways in which supervisory authorities and inspectorates enforce European law at the national level.

Initiation and organisation of projects
Through its projects, EURinSPECT makes the imbalances in supervision between the Member States visible (including in quantitative terms). EURinSPECT restricts its activities to the field of cross-border supervision and enforcement by inspectorates within the EU.

European platform and FORUM
EURinSPECT also aims to provide a forum for cross-border co-operation between Member States and inspectorates, in partnership with companies, related (government) agencies that support EURinSPECT’s goals. On the basis of experiences with the concrete projects and possibly, further research conducted with e.g. the European Evaluation Society (EES) and the Netherlands Association of Supervisory Authorities (VIDE), inspectorates will exchange knowledge and best practices. Conferences and meetings will be organised for that purpose.
Where necessary, EURinSPECT will submit proposals for research to improve and intensify streamlining and co-ordination of inspectorates, and where possible, will convey experiences from one sector to another and vice versa. Through its platform function, EURinSPECT provides a basis for European developments aimed at supporting and/or promoting European co-operation and co-ordination among supervisory authorities in the EU Member States.

PROJECTS>>>