Innovative legislative technologies: updating regulations in the EU and New Zealand

The volume and complexity of regulatory legislation are growing faster than the capacity of the legislative process to keep this legislation up to date. This gap, observable since the 1980s when deregulation and privatisation generated a mass of new economic regulations, continues to challenge democracies of all sizes. They struggle to respond to technological and societal changes that require new and frequently updated regulations. This paper compares two legislative “technologies” that have emerged in response over the last decade in two very different systems. The comitology-based delegated legislation in the EU and stewardship-based regulatory system bills in New Zealand. The comparison reveals how both polities build on their comparative advantages as the EU leverages ongoing multi-level governance mechanisms, while NZ relies on ad hoc flexibility and the high-trust nature of its political system.