Town council creates BR council (Mexico)

The Mayor of Querétaro, a municipality not far from Mexico City, officially inaugurated a Regulatory Improvement Council to make Quéretaro a "city of knowledge" and facilitate a "better use of the talent of its people". In his mind, regulatory reform can usher in good governance and responsiveness to the needs of citizens and business, and improve competitiveness. The president of theFederal business council (Coparmex), who was present at the event, supported the initiative.
A similar step has been reported in Cuatlancingo, where a better regulation unit has been set up.
Meanwhile, the State of Durango has amended its Regulatory Reform Law for a more balanced geographical distribution of the benefits of growth.
See also similar news from Ttaxala and deregulation results in Puebla.

Italy commits to smart regulation

Photo from left to right: C.H. Montin (France), F. Barazzoni (Italy), Minister Patroni Griffi, J. Nijland (Netherlands), M. M. Leitao Marques (Portugal), V. Cerulli Irelli, and P. Nurmi (Finland).

Following publication of "Towards Smart Regulation in Europe" (Maggioli Editore) the university of Rome Sapienza organised on 5 April a workshop on the future of smart regulation with some 40 academics, senior officials and some of the authors of the new book. The minister of public administration and simplification, H.E. Mr F. Patroni Griffi (3rd from left), who is also a section president of the Council of State, attended most of the "incontro di studio" and summarized results of the Italian simplification policy over the past 20 years. Prof. V. Cerulli Irelli, former MP and eminent administrative lawyer, and Prof. M. D'Alberti (also from La Sapienza) showed how the principles of smart regulation were at the root of Italian simplification policy. The authors present (see photo) drew from their national and international experience key points for implementation of smart regulation policies and possible cooperation with academe. For more about the overview of better and smart regulation in Europe, see 19 February post.

New simplification package (France)

On April 2 the governement held the second session of the CIMAP (interdepartmental committee to modernize public action) to address a full range of legal, institutional and managerial issues related to simplification. The new policy launced in December intends "to establish a new balance in our society by way of structural reforms to adapt to major demographic, economic, digital and environmental changes". The press release and very complete press file provide details on the package of measures which include:
- a commitment to fewer and simpler regulations: in a four-line standing instruction, the governement urges prefects (in charge of local enforcement) to "personally ensure" that administrations facilitate implementation of rules by adopting smart interpretations (in French "interprétations facilitatrices"), "to simplify and accelerate the implementation of public and private projects." A moratorium on new rules implies that any new regulation must now be offset by a "corresponding simplification," (one-in, one-out policy.) Performance evaluation of central administration directors will include how how they have delivered on this government policy..
- Evaluation: a comprehensive review of all public policies is to be completed by the end of the current administration (2017). A detailed schedule is announced.
- Managerial: a package of 30 practical measures to improve local delivery; RIAs to include a study of impacts on local implementation of any new regulation; a list of some 100 advisory bodies already abolished has been published;
- Fewer state agencies: new rules on the creation of QUANGOs and the immediate merger or deletion of about 15 agencies were announced.
For more, see analysis from Acteurs Publics article or Expansion and download the press file.

"Freedom day" for UK business

The BIS Department has announced a large set of red tape cutting measures coming into force on 6 April, to achieve an additional £21 million in overheads expenses for companies. Examples of changes include moving registration and payment online and introducing a UK-wide registration system for the first time. Deregulatory changes to building regulations are part of a wider package that will save business in total over £50 million per year, whilst ensuring buildings remain safe and sustainable. These reforms also include reducing administration on low-risk electrical works, and clearer, more consistent guidance on requirements for access to buildings, glazing and protection from falling. For more, go to official press release.

Simplification "shock" in France

Regulation in the spotlight in France, as factor in economic woes. "France has avoided the most severe impacts of the global economic crisis and turmoil in the euro area, but must now take action to boost competitiveness and create jobs, according to the OECD's latest Economic Survey of France." The Survey, presented in Paris by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría to French Minister of Economy and Finance Pierre Moscovici, urges France to attack the pervasive bottlenecks that have limited economic growth and maintained high unemployment over the past decades. "The French economy has tremendous assets and considerable potential, but excessive regulation and high levels of taxation are gradually eroding its competitiveness," Mr Gurria said. See OECD media release, and (posted 28 March) the French ministry of finance website, with the minister's statement.
Mr Gurria's message seems to have been heard: In his television interview on the public channel France 2 on 28 March, President Hollande announced the drastic reduction of the number of administrative procedures, particularly for small and medium-size enterprises, in what he termed a "simplification shock." "Currrently, a small company is obliged to respond yearly to some 3000 requests for information from the administration, yes, 3000!" said the president, who promised: "Tomorrow we will divide that figure by two or by three." This high-level announcement has been widely commented in the media, who also reported, quoting OECD, that the savings to business could reach €60 bn a year, or 3% of GDP.
Speaking on radio on 2 April (today), the minister in charge of public administration reform (Mme Lebranchu) said that this reform drive was different from its predecessors as it was based on the willing participation of the civil service, and not on reducing staff numbers. A site reserved to officials has already collected 1500 simplification ideas from within the administration.

"The Glorious Regulatory Revolution" (Russia)

1 April: our Russian correspondent and director of the RIA Centre Daniel Tsygankov published in RBK, a daily newspaper, under the grand title "The Glorious Regulatory Revolution" a summary of recent regulatory policy developments in Russia since the April 2012 conference reported on this blog.
Daniel remembers: "Russian and international experts were unanimous: RIA cannot “pull off on its own”, in the best case it will gradually degrade to the new interagency coordination, and at worst it will be buried at the cemetery of administrative reform. There is an urgent need to conduct a comprehensive regulatory reform, to persuade policy decision makers that regulatory policy is one of the three key levers of state power, along with budgetary and monetary policy."
So what does Russian regulatory reform look like? Its main components are listed in the article as follows:
(1) a “new start” for regulatory impact assessment, positioning of the head RIA body at the central level of government and creation of public data bases to measure the regulation effects,
(2) mandatory public consultations – industry panels, focus groups with stakeholders or crowd sourcing,
(3) reducing of administrative burden, the use of standard cost model as the main tool for measuring compliance costs,
(4) principles of transparency that guarantee stakeholders’ access to “electronic dossier” of the proposed regulation at all stages of law making,
(5) adoption of the “Federal Law on Legal Acts”, including the Parliamentary RIA, sunset legislation, plain legal language, introducing moratoriums on regulations that worsen the conditions for doing business, tools for cleaning up the regulatory stock,
(6) analysis of impact on public budget parameters and public sector institutions.
And Daniel modestly concludes: "For me it was important that for the owners of mini-bakery in a village or auto repair shop in a small town something has changed for the better and for the majority of end users affected by the regulation it is now easier to work. We breathed hope in grassroots."
See Blog's "Russia/Ukraine" category for more posts on the subject.

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.