This commentary welcomes the creation and prominence given by President Juncker to the new post of First Vice-President in charge of Better Regulation, Inter-Institutional Relations, the Rule of Law and the Charter of Fundamental Rights as among the most interesting of several novelties contained in the proposed Commission and overdue. After all, as the authors point out, better regulation has been underpinning the Commission’s core business, namely, EU regulation, for over a decade. At the same time, however, they warn that Commissioner-designate Frans Timmermans is receiving an extremely challenging mandate which pose many difficulties to overcome.

Lorna Schrefler is Research Fellow and Head of the Regulatory Policy Unit at CEPS; Andrea Renda and Jacques Pelkman are both Senior Research Fellows at CEPS. This Commentary is one of a series prepared by senior CEPS research staff aimed at contributing to the selection and review process of the new European Commission.