The European Commission today called for a new approach to looking at the role and governance of European agencies. In recent years, using agencies to implement key tasks has become an established part of the way the European Union does its business. The communication calls on the European Parliament and the Council to give a new momentum to the need to develop a clear and coherent vision on the place of agencies in European governance. The Commission calls for the establishment of an inter-institutional working group to allow the key issues facing agencies to be set out as ground rules to apply to all.

To agree on conditions for the creation, operation and control of agencies, the Commission proposed in 2005 an inter-institutional agreement for a framework on European regulatory agencies. Despite general support from the European Parliament, negotiations on this draft agreement unfortunately stalled in the Council. However, the issues which the inter-institutional agreement sought to address remain.

As the proposed inter-institutional agreement has not been able to make progress, the Commission intends to withdraw its proposal and to replace it by an invitation to an inter-institutional discussion which should lead to a common approach. An inter-institutional working group would allow the key issues facing agencies to be set out as ground rules to apply to all. At the same time, the Commission intends to:

• Undertake a horizontal evaluation of regulatory agencies, to report by the end of 2009.
• Refrain from proposing new regulatory agencies until the work of the evaluation is complete.
• Undertake a review of the Commission's own internal systems governing its relations with agencies, as well as the methodology for conducting impact assessment of agencies.
• The effective delivery of services by agencies can make a real contribution to the implementation of EU policy. The Commission believes that the three institutions should agree to work together to develop a clear and coherent vision for the future place of agencies in the Union's governance.