RIA in Ireland, ten years on

Tom Ferris, a Consultant Economist, recaps current practice and implementation of RIA over the pas ten years on his blog (also on tinyurl.com/pai-ria ) . He suggests that there is room for improvement, as we enter a second decade "In 2010, the OECD published a report on Better Regulation in Ireland. One of its conclusions was that the RIA process in Ireland continued to operate within a weak institutional framework which does not sufficiently "scare" departments into co-operating for the production of quality RIAs. Against this background, there is a good case to be made for having a central RIA scrutiny facility, which publishes its findings, similar to the EU's Regulatory Scrutiny Board. This would help to ensure that RIAs fulfil quality standards. There is little point in having RIAs produced merely as a box-ticking exercise. Their true value lies in helping Government to make decisions by providing evidence-based RIAs, which measure the positive and negative effects of different options for regulatory change."

Bulgarian businessmen list BR priorities

At a press conference on 31 January of representatives of national employers' associations, the Chair of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry listed key obstructions faced by businesses, including red tape, constantly changing laws and limited access to funding. He emphasized that the Bulgarian President had not carried out his promise made upon assuming office to veto any law which had reached the stage of parliamentary debates without an impact assessment. He added that Bulgarian laws required a "repeat impact assessment" every six months, which had not happened so far.

Other priorities to improve the regulatory environment for business include harmonising tariffs for issuing permits across municpalities, reduction and simplification of the regulatory burden, the mandatory preparation of impact assessment of all laws and progress in the adoption of e-government.

Rapport sur les charges réglementaires en Suisse

Nicolas Wallart, membre suisse de Smart Regulation, nous informe de la parution d'un rapport qui évalue les coûts de la réglementation dans 12 domaines en Suisse (charges totales, pas seulement les coûts administratifs). On arrive à 10 milliards de Fr. ou 1.7% du PIB. Le rapport contient également un paquet de 32 mesures d'allégement. Le rapport est disponible en français, allemand et italien. 

Voir l'excellent résumé officiel en ligne sur le site de l'administration suisse.

Icelandic independent regulatory council

An announcement from our colleague Pall Thórhallsson: This week, the Icelandic Government tabled a bill in Parliament proposing an independent regulatory council. The Council will review draft legislative bills and proposals for secondary laws which have a significant impact on businesses and competition. The Council will in particular scrutinise the impact assessments accompanying regulatory proposals. The opinions of the Council will be published on its website and attached to Government bills. Parliamentary Committees are also invited to consult (i.e. they are not obliged to do so) with the Council on members bills and on amendments to Government proposals. The Council can also at its own initiative issue opinions on Parliamentary documents in its field. Furthermore, the Council will issue statistics on the evolution of regulatory burdens of businesses. The bill makes clear that not only administrative burdens should be monitored, but also compliance burdens in general. Tax proposals and proposals based on minimum requirements due to the agreement on the European Economic Area (i.e. the incorporation of EU-law) are excluded from the mandatory scrutiny of the Council. The bill was drafted following a Seminar held in Reykjavik on 2-3 September 2013 in which Nick Malyshev from the OECD, Michael Gibbons from the UK Regulatory Policy Committee and Peter Bex from SIRA-Consulting took part. For more, see English translation of the bill and to the Government´s action plan in this field. 

See also recent post on the Norwegian regulatory council which cites the other European oversight authorities (GE, NL, UK.)

Independent better regulation council to be formed in Norway

According to a news item from  Regelrådet,(the Swedish Better Regulation Council), the newly elected Norwegian government has announced in its platform that an independent better regulation council will be formed. It is to be formed based on its Swedish counterpart. The government has also set a net target of 25% for reducing costs to businesses incurred by legislation. They also intend to simplify the public reporting portal Altinn even further to secure that businesses only have to report once." There are already such oversight bodies in the NL (Actal)), the UK (RPC)) and Germany (NKR). There is other interesting news on the Regelrådet page, like the government decision to make Regelrådet a permanent feature in the Swedish legislative process.

Bulgaria cuts red tape

According to a Sofia news agency, Bulgaria's Council of Ministers has discussed a set of 88 measures to reduce the administrative burden on businesses and citizens, which are due to be adopted in early October."The measures mostly involve switching from license to registration regimes, reducing fees, and simplifying the review procedures", and had been drafted on the basis of Bulgarian and EU practices and criteria, the deputy PM specified, as cited by dnevnik.bg. She suggested that the state bodies affected by the proposed set of measures were expected to oppose them.

New Swiss RIA manual and checklist

Our Swiss colleagues (in SECO) draw our attention to a new RIA manual they have published in French and German. The practice of analyzing the impact of regulation in the Confederation dates back to the entry into force of the Federal Council regulation of 15 September 1999 on accounting for the economic impact of federal legislation projects. Since then, all proposed bills of the Federal Council to Parliament must contain a chapter on the economic consequences. The analysis is carried out by officials of the draft legislation in the appropriate agency. A first analysis of the impact of regulation should take place as soon as possible, so that its results can be integrated prior to the project consultation. SECO offices ensures the proper functioning of the scheme.
By decision of the Federal Council of 18 January 2006 (see Legal basis), the scope of the AIR was extended beyond the primary legislation to include directives, circulars and instructions concerning the administration over 10,000 companies will also be subject to AIR. The Federal Council also decided to include in its annual targets up to ten draft legislation that will thoroughly examined with RIA conducted jointly by the appropriate agency and SECO. These in-depth analyzes are to be drafted before the consultation of stakeholders. If need be, the RIA should be adapted to any changes in the project decided as a result of the consultation.

Iceland streamlines business regulation

Just translated into English, and pointed out to us by Icelandic BR expert Pall Thorhallsson, the new government's action plan to improve the regulatory environment of business, according to the coalition agreement and decisions by the Cabinet meeting of 23 May. The PM's office will prepare a report by end 2013 on the items of legislation most onerous for business and open a web page to consult the public on simplifications of business regulation. For more, see government website.

ECJ enforces Environment impact assessment directive

A recent ruling of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) says that Austrian legislation on impact assessments breaks EU rules. In case 244/12 the ECJ ruled on 21 March that European Union members states must conduct an environmental impact assessment for any project likely to have significant effects on the environment. The Court was ruling on Austrian legislation, which requires green impact assessments on proposed modifications to airports only if the modification will increase traffic by at least 20,000 flights per year.
Salzburg Airport had taken the case to an Austrian court after the government had ruled retroactively that a modification made in 2002 should have required an impact assessment. The airport said that under Austrian law no assessment was needed. The ECJ ruled that this law contravenes EU rules.
According to a comment by European Voice, the ruling will have major ramifications for projects across the EU. Member states will no longer be able to place a quantitative size threshold to decide which projects need an assessment. Instead, the threshold must be based on the potential effect on the environment.
The Commission recently published a report summarizing the rulings of the ECJ on the application of Directive 2011/92/EU of 13 December 2011 which prescribes the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment, as amended, known as the "EIA" (environmental impact assessment) Directive, requires that an environmental assessment to be carried out by the competent national authority for certain projects which are likely to have significant effects on the environment by virtue, inter alia, of their nature, size or location, before development consent is given. For other useful documents, go to DG Environment page on EIA.

Major new book on Smart Regulation in Europe

Just published: "Verso la smart regulation in Europa" (Maggioli Editore) ! (Towards SR in Europe). This collective work (450 pp) under the direction of F. Barazzoni and F. Basilica (Italy) collects country chapters in a review of the state of smart regulation initiatives in Europe. All the best experts contributed to this panorama of regulatory quality: in addition to the editors (for Italy), H. Brinkman & F. Frick (Germany, P. Nurmi (Finland), P. Karkatsoulis (Greece), J. Nijland (Netherlands), M. Leitao Marques (Portugal, E. Schizas (U.K.), S. Penec and A. Marusic (Serbia). Your blogger wrote the EU chapter and France (with M. Hainque). All chapters are accompanied by a translation into Italian.
Written by experienced practicioners connected with the academic world, this book contains an unprecedented analysis of Better Regulation and its evolution towards Smart Regulation, the political objective that Europe adopted in 2005 to simplify the regulatory environment and create the conditions for introducing smarter rules and avoid imbalances between costs and benefits, unclear or unworkable rules . It shows that Smart Regulation is now an essential aspect of economic policy of European countries and the Union itself, making it a lever to improve growth, competitiveness, economic development and employment.
According to the back cover notice "the importance of these issues has led the authors to reflect together on the most innovative initiatives to improve the quality of regulation adopted in various countries and European institutions, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses. The comparative approach highlights the main trends and significant differences between the approaches and tools of reform adopted by individual countries and European institutions, offering insights for scholars and practitioners for further study and practical developments, both in the European national, in the belief that improving the regulation still represents a challenge that requires continuous adjustments in light of the economic environment and the system of European governance." You can preview large sections of the new volume in Google Books.

Better Regulation in Greece (OECD report)

Just published, in the "Better Regulation in Europe" series, "Better Regulation in Europe: Greece 2012"
This review of regulation in Greece maps and analyses the core issues which together make up effective regulatory management, laying down a framework of what should be driving regulatory policy and reform in the future.
The executive summary makes interesting reading, and explains how the "heavily legalistic approach" needs to evolve to acommodate Better Regulation principles, chiefly by "embedding strong structures at central level" and "actively embracing and advancing work on a comprehensive and coherent Better Regulation programme."

Goldplating high on the agenda in IRRC Berlin 31 Jan

As previously reported, The Swedish Better Regulation Council (Regelrådet) and The Board of Swedish Industry and Commerce for Better Regulation (NNR) have published a joint report with recommendations for how to improve implementation of EU legislation: 'Clarifying Gold-Plating – Better Implementation of EU Legislation'. The joint report has not only broken new ground by the coming together of two organisations of different starting points, expertise and approaches it has also been very well received by the Government Offices of Sweden. The government has expressed its appreciation in a letter to the organisations along with feedback on the report, stating that the report and its recommendations will serve as an excellent starting point to the undertaking of evolving better regulation, especially when negotiating and implementing EU legislation. Furthermore the recommendations will be utilised in the Swedish Government´s work to improve support on impact assessments to regulators. The Swedish Government is considering the suggestions made. However, in order to achieve change, the question of over- implementation of EU-legislation, so- called gold-plating, needs to be lifted to an EU- Institutional level, as well as being prioritised by all member states in a joint effort. There are essential tools available, which can be used on both national and EU level, for identifying the impact of EU-legislation on business and avoiding unnecessary burden on business. These are, for example, impact assessments and consultation with stakeholders. By using these tools and forming joint strategies for mitigating negative effects of gold-plating on business, a fractured single market can be avoided. In order to achieve results the topic needs to be discussed further. Join Regelrådet and NNR, as well as, representatives from the EU Commission and other experts in a workshop on "Clarifying Gold-Plating: Mitigating Barriers To Trade in the European Single Market", Friday 1st February 2013 at the IRRC conference in Berlin (announcement from Regelradet.)

Czech POINT "All in one place"

The Czech ministry of the interior has recently published a short report on the success of its initiative to help citizens in their relations with the administration: Czech POINT is a network of assisted public administration centres where each citizen can view and update, from a single access point, their personal information as stored in official registers as well as file applications.
Czech POINT (a kind of one-stop-shop) stands for "Czech Filling and Verification Information National Terminal. "

“Main objective of the project is the motto All in one place!. In the future, citizens will have access to Public Administration services not only at the Czech POINTs, but also via the Internet. Czech POINT is the most comfortable way of communicating with the authorities and institutions from a single place. The system is well-designed and I hope that it becomes quickly and spontaneously used by citizens and subsequently also requested,” said Minister of the Interior Ivan Langer.

New Dutch methodology to reduce regulatory costs

Delegates to the twice yearly meeting of (European) Directors and Experts of Better Regulation (DEBR) in Dublin (22-23 November) were informed about recent research and testing of a new methodology to remove or lower obstacles to business innovation and growth by way of further reductions in the regulatory burdens. A Cost-driven Approach to Regulatory Burdens (CAR) offers a change of perspective by taking as a starting point the actual costs incurred in companies to comply with regulation, irrespective of which legislation is at the origin of the cost. The new methodology, developed by SIRA Consulting in the Netherlands, a company to which we already owe the widely applied SCM, is being tested on two pilot studies (chemical industries and European bakeries) and is expected to be finalised during 2013. It seeks to correct some of the limitations of the Standard Cost Model. Delegates were impressed by the conceptual shift underway, but expressed concern that the new method may be expensive and/or difficult to implement. This contribution enriches the discussion started earlier this year by a key paper from Germany: Guidelines on the Identification and Presentation of Compliance Costs in Legislative Proposals by the Federal Government, which also aims to address the full range of regulatory costs.

One-in, two out to further cut red tape (UK)

The costs of red tape on business will be slashed at double the present rate, according to a new measure announced two days ago by the UK government.

From January 2013, every new regulation that imposes a new financial burden on firms must be offset by reductions in red tape that will save double those costs.

The new 'One-in, Two-out' rule will be imposed across all ministries, and will apply to all domestic regulation affecting businesses and voluntary organisations.

It will replace 'One-in, One-out', which requires the costs of every new regulation to be matched by savings of an equivalent amount. According to BIS, this policy "has already reduced net costs on business by almost £1bn since January 2011 helping to make government leaner, fitter and more focused on what businesses need, enabling them to get ahead and compete in the global economy."

 

National delegates to discuss Smart Regulation in Dublin

Though reserved to invited officials from the 27 member states of the European Union, the bi-annual meeting of the "Directors and Experts of Better Regulation" is always an important event to monitor progress made on the policy and discuss new developments to be expected or encouraged. For the next meeting staged in Dublin on 22-23 November, the incoming Irish presidency is offering a stimulating agenda under the banner: "Delivering Growth and Jobs: Effective Smart Regulation in Practice." Topics will centre on implementation issues, with updates on other themes such as "benefits of legislation," SME policy, compliance costs, behavioral economics and several more. In most cases, the presidency publishes summaries or presentations made by delegates, which will be recorded by this blog. Finally, the meetings will be inspired by the grand settings of Dublin castle and Farmleigh House.

New directions for Smart Regulation (EU)

Experts on SR will be interested in a joint position paper published last Friday by the 5 European independent advisory boards (CZ, DK, NL, SI and UK) for cutting red tape and better regulation, in response to the Commission's consultation document on Smart Regulation. 

According to their press release, the boards "believe that the EU should continue to reinforce its programmes on smart regulation. As the Action Programme for reducing administrative burdens will end in 2012 a new programme needs to be developed in order to keep the achievements already made as well as to strive for further improvements. A new programme on smart regulation which includes an ambitious aim to reduce the overall regulatory burden should be launched in 2013. In our common position paper we highlight the following priorities:

• Carrying out impact assessments for every new regulatory proposal
• Improving the informative value of roadmaps
• Making the Commission´s Impact Assessment Board more independent
• Systematic ex post-evaluations from the end users perspective
• Strengthening the role of the High Level Group
• Consulting the public. (end of quote)."

Under these headings, the report makes some interesting practical proposals.

Report on gold-plating (Sweden)

Yesterday, the Swedish Better Regulation Council and the Board of Swedish Industry and Commerce for Better Regulation presented a joint report on "gold-plating". "Better Regulation = no gold-plating ?" asks Oscar Fredriksson on our sister page on LinkedIn SR group, asking us to respond to the discussion.
For the moment, the report is in Swedish only, but it may soon be published in English. On the Board's website, there is already some good material on the issue, see for instance "Smart approach to the single market " (Feb 2012). The annual reports of the Swedish BR Council are also very interesting.

Update on Irish Better Regulation

An article by Tom Ferris published today in Independent.ie online reviews the situation in Ireland after government decisions related to RIA. It is interesting and useful as it examines the institutional setup against the OECD recommendations (see 2010 review of Ireland), concluding (this is the title) "Better Regulation could start with a lot better organisation". As in many other countries, BR related functions are split between different departments, causing a lack of overview and unity of purpose, and sometimes a patchy implementation of the policy. The article points out three "omissions" in the Irish institutional setup, which can serve as a check-list for other national contexts:

• "no mention as to who is taking overall responsibility for the delivery of the commitments in the Programme for Government on the use of RIAs in the development of policy and legislation"
• "the lack of reference to who will take responsibility to ensure that RIAs are of good quality. They should not just be a box-ticking exercise. A central department should have formal authority to send poor RIAs back to the original departments."
• "no reference to setting-up a new central RIA website to replace the one previously provided by the Department of the Taoiseach."

See also archive of the BR unit in Taoiseach, as www.betterregulation.ie has been disbanded.

New 30% reduction target for red tape (Belgium)

The Belgian Federal Government has published its third governement-wide Action Plan for administrative simplification 2012-2015. In a new stage of the 10 year old policy, the plan purports to further streamline the full range of administrative procedures for citizens and business with a view to reduce administrative burdens on business by 30% by 2014, to comply with the 25% reduction target recommendend by the European Small Business Act. It consolidates and coordinates various official policies, among which the programmes managed by ASA, the federal simplification agency. Most interesting features for business are the "only once " principle, the "e-Depot" scheme, the simplification of official tenders and electronic billing. Citizens will receive an electronic ID card. The well-known Kafka test in operation since 2004 will be revamped by 1 October 2012. An evaluation of the programme is scheduled for November 2012.