Book Review: Better Regulation
| Published date | 01 December 2009 |
| Date | 01 December 2009 |
| Author | Laura Tilindyte |
| DOI | 10.1177/1023263X0901600407 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Review
16 MJ 4 (2009) 499
Stephen Weatherill (ed.), Bette r Regulation, Hart Publi shing 2007, 437 pp., £50,
ISBN 978–1–84113–715–5
§1. REGULATION: IS LESS MORE?
Aer decades of erce deregulation de bate in the UK and elsewhere, a seemi ngly more
balanced and less ideological ly charged approach wa s taken in the late 1990s. e new
orientation towards better regulation instead of less regulation signaled acknowledgement
of the need for regu lation as such but also to avoid it where it could do more harm than
good. Yet, there is a continuing stru ggle concerning what c onstitutes better regu lation,
which is more than ever surrounded by tensions between increased calls for protection
on the one hand and pressures to foster competitiveness and avoid over-regulation on
the other.
It i s in this socio-economic c ontext that better regulation became a hot topic for
inquiry for schola rs of law, political science, economics, cri minology and sociology and
in which the book Better Regulation was published.1 Bette r Regulation br ings together
academics and practitioners from various backgrounds, who do a wonderful job of
oering deep er insights into the tensions withi n the better regulationdebate. e bo ok
successful ly demonstrates that, even though the shi to be tter regulation in the UK and
elsewhere suggests a more neutral approach than the deregulation rhetoric of 1970/80s,
better regulation is far from value- and trouble-free.2 Tensions rema in regardi ng the
extent of desirable state intervention in ma rkets as well as the form of such intervention.
For example, should t he regulators rely on classical ‘command-and-control’ provisions,
incentive-based mechanisms or combinations of them? What is the role of s elf-
regulation?
In his contribution, Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman of t he UK’s Better Regulation
Commission, emphasize s that the choice of trad itional ‘command and control’
provisions should by no means be automatic and urges the European C ommission to
seriously c onsider alternative ways of regu lation such as market-based ins truments or
self-regulation wh ich, in his view, c an achieve the envi saged goals at less cost. Without
much diculty, Haythornt hwaite rejects the traditional critici sms of alternative ways of
regulation relating to t heir lack of transparency and certainty by saying t hat the same
criticisms apply to conventional reg ulation. Accordingly, he proposes that every Impact
Assessment (IA) of the Europea n Commission should consider at least one alternative
tool as well as the ‘no action’ scenario, and that proposals accompanied by weak IA
should systematical ly be rejected.
1 Better Re gulation pres ents the resu lts of a con ference titled ‘Regulating the Europea n Market’ which
took place in 200 6 in Oxford.
2 See for example the c ontributions by S. Weatheril l, p. 4, or by J. Kitching, p. 167.
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