Lessons from Reformers: The European Parliament’s Legislative Train

This case study is part of the Regulatory Governance in the Open Government Partnership publication. 

Regulatory Governance in the Open Government Partnership When citizens understand and help to shape the rules that govern society, regulations are more effective, business environments are stronger, and levels of corruption are lower. This paper looks at…

The European Parliament’s Legislative Train is an interactive app and webpage that allows citizens to monitor progress on the EU Commission’s legislative priorities. The platform looks like a train schedule where each train represents a priority area and each carriage corresponds to individual legislative proposals. Users can use the platform to read about each proposal, find the current status of proposed legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r..., and view monthly updates. The platform uses a simple key to indicate if draft laws have been submitted to Parliament for debate, adopted, delayed, or “derailed.” Although the platform was initially created in 2014 under Jean-Claude Juncker to monitor progress on his legislative priorities during his five-year term, the Parliament has since expanded the platform’s scope and continues to use it for its current term, which began in 2019. 

The Legislative Train is just one of many initiatives by the European Commission aimed at making law-making processes more open and effective. In 2015, the Commission presented its Better RegulationGovernment reformers are developing regulations that enshrine values of transparency, participation, and accountability in government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or reforming ... agenda, which looks to ensure that EU laws and regulations are high quality and fit-for-purpose, as well as created, adopted, and evaluated in consultation with citizens. Following the agenda, the Commission held over 400 public consultations and received millions of comments from Europeans on a variety of proposed policies and regulations. The Commission also established the Regulatory Scrutiny Board to standardize and improve impact assessments and other evaluation processes to ensure that existing regulations achieve their policy goals. 

The tool can be found here: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/.

Featured Photo

• Caption: Visual representation of the European Parliament’s Legislative Train that guides users through the legislative process.
• Credit: https://vimeo.com/184477380