Abstract

This article seeks a systematic definition of regulatory quality. Most of the literature has recognised that the concept of regulatory quality is particularly difficult to define. Member states, international organisations, and others have produced studies on regulatory quality, and they have reached different findings. Even if regulatory quality is based on conventional good governance principles, the enforcement and measurement of the quality of regulations and of its tools within any single country can differ widely and be very complicated.
For these reasons, Part I explores regulatory quality in the European Union and – through the analysis of the policies, reports, and documents – indicates which direction the regulatory quality pendulum has taken.
Part II, basing itself on the results of Part I, provides a general definition of quality, and it based on the procedures that legislator should comply with to enact its rules.
Part III confirms the relationship between regulatory quality and competitiveness, and, in particular, this link has become more solid because the financial crisis has promoted new regulatory reforms by member states.
Finally, this article notes that the legislator’s objectives can be achieved if the former takes into account the real people, including their irrational choices, human errors, and limits.