The consistent aim of the European Centre for Parliamentary Research and Documentation (ECPRD) has been to respond to the needs of member parliaments. These needs include issues arising from the consolidation of parliamentary democracy and, in particular, parliaments' involvement in the legislative process. This will continue to be an important concern for the Centre, which has approximately 70 correspondents in 43 parliaments from throughout Europe.

European national parliaments are constantly seeking ways to improve the quality of legislation, the transparency and understanding of political decision?making and the quality of analytical information provided for parliament and the public on the impact of proposed legislation. This is particularly important in the case of EU legislation in order to enable it to be properly implemented by national authorities and subjected to appropriate oversight by EU Institutions.

The need to strengthen parliamentary participation in the legislative process, and to supervise the social, economic, budgetary, administrative and environmental impacts of laws in societal interaction will be one of the guiding factors for the ECPRD in the years ahead. This ongoing debate will also analyse the relationship between parliament and the executive.

In Declaration no 39 on the quality of the drafting of Community legislation annexed to the Final Act of the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Conference declared that 'the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission ought to:

• establish by common accord guidelines for improving the quality of the drafting of Community legislation and follow those guidelines when considering proposals for Community legislation or draft legislation, taking the internal organisational measures they deem necessary to ensure that these guidelines are properly applied;
• make their best efforts to accelerate the codification of legislative texts'.

The ECPRD network of parliamentary research and documentation services is a service for all national parliaments, irrespective of whether a State is a member of the European Union or not. Our activities are based on the understanding that international law and the economic system in which we operate constitute a whole and that the quality of laws and the assessment of their impact is important for both national and international legislatures.

This publication, Legal and Regulatory Impact Assessment of Legislation. Proceedings of the ECPRD Seminar held in Tallinn on May 21-22, is based on contributions from 26 parliamentary chambers and international institutions like the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Organisation of Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD). In addition to the printed version, readers interested in the issues of good lawmaking and regulatory impact assessment (RIA) can find an html version on the ECPRD and Riigikogu websites and use the hundreds of links this contains. Naturally, that version of the publication contains many times more information than the printed version and we hope to offer regular electronic updates.

It comprises expanded and revised seminar papers and other documents related to the main topics of the seminar to promote further debate on the quality of legislation and the role of parliamentary services in this international context.

This publication has been produced by the ECPRD Secretariat under the aegis of the Chancellery of the Riigikogu (Estonian Parliament).

It was compiled under the direction of the Estonian correspondent of the ECPRD, Mr Aare Kasemets, Head of the Economic and Social Information Department of the Riigikogu.