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You should aim to start the process of public consultation as soon as a proposal is communicated to the European Parliament and Council in the Official Journal.
Use your partial RIA to help inform the consultation, and then update it based on the responses.
Although your informal contacts will have given you a great deal of information, open consultation may highlight unexpected or previously unconsidered consequences.
You should aim for a minimum 12-week consultation period, in accordance with the Cabinet Office Code of Practice on Consultation [PDF 202KB, 13 pages].
But if the speed of negotiations on the proposal means this is not possible, you should explain this in your consultation document. You can then use the results of your informal contacts to supplement the information gained from open consultation.
While striving for maximum openness and transparency in the process, there may be occasions where a judgement needs to be made about the level or nature of information published in the RIA due either to commercial sensitivity, or the need to retain the confidentiality of a negotiating position.
In such cases seek advice from your BRU
, who will contact the Cabinet Office Better Regulation Executive, the European Secretariat or UKRep, as appropriate.
