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The aim of this article is to evaluate the advances made in the regulatory framework for the quality of legislation produced by the European Union after the Lisbon Treaty and to prove that the problems identified previously continue to plague European Union citizens and businesses alike. In order to prove this hypothesis, I will briefly present the regulatory framework for legislative quality. I will identify the elements of the concept of quality at a universal level and then I will evaluate the extent to which the recent post-Lisbon Smart Regulation initiative promotes quality of legislation in the European Union. Although elements of my analysis have been presented in other fora, the article is original in its hypothesis, methodology, and use of already published material as empirical data leading to an original conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market (SLIM) initiative launched by the European Commission on May 8, 1996. The contents of the guidelines for the quality of drafting agreed upon by the Commission, Council and the Parliament are cited. The small number of reform proposals realised under SLIM is attributed to the long process needed for studying, vetting and voting of European Union (EU) legislative texts. The Electro-Magnetic Compatibility Directive is cited as one of the indications of its success.

The article analyzes the quality and style of legislation at the European Union (EU) level. Lack of support for the cause of integration caused by bad legislation creates the need for measures by the EU to re-gain public support. Moreover, bad internal legislation can be responsible for the lack of clarity in the role of European institutions. It stresses that EU legislation must be clear, unambiguous and simple, utilizing plain language, a consistent use of terms throughout the document and avoids excessive use of community jargon and long sentences.