COMITOLOGY: OILING REGULATORY WHEELS.

Mention of the single word comitology' in a general conversation almost invariably brings the exchange to a sudden conclusion or elicits a look of total incomprehension or indifference. Some involved in the workings of the European Union are blissfully unaware of the word's meaning. Others have an idea of its significance, but would be hard pressed to define the term.

Yet, it is the regulatory process, below the more visible legislative surface, which oils the wheels of the EU's activities. Its outcomes can have a major influence on anything from a company's financial health and citizens' daily lives to the Union's commercial relations with the rest of the world.

Part of the mental block many have with comitology stems from terminology. The word is not used to describe national political decision making. However, the principle of the legislature - the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament - conferring secondary powers on the executive (the Commission) to be able to quickly update certain aspects of basic legislation already on the statute book is standard procedure in most democracies. In the UK, the term used is statutory instrument, elsewhere in Europe it may be described as a decree.

In EU parlance, comitology was coined to describe the many technical committees of national experts chaired by the Commission which began to be created in the early 1960s to deal with issues ranging from wheat to sugar which had to be addressed quickly, sometimes on a daily basis, under the Common Agricultural Policy. The principle was then extended to other policy areas, notably the single market and financial services.

Comitology is still used in Brussels EU jargon shorthand to describe this system of secondary powers the Commission enjoys, although the term officially no longer exists. In its place, the Lisbon Treaty introduced two ways to update basic legislation in line with technical progress or new requirements: delegated acts and implementing acts.

Each route gives different powers to the three main institutions: the Commission, Parliament and Council. The first two have a preference for delegated acts, while the third favours implementing measures. Deciding which procedure should apply in future to a particular feature of the legislation is unclear. This lack of clarity makes it almost certain that the EU Court of Justice will be asked at some point to adjudicate if one institution believes that the incorrect procedure has been inserted...