The way forward, viewed from the top (OECD Forum)

(Photo above: Pres. Hollande from France addresses Forum). 

The second day of the 2015 OECD Forum (3 June) had been organised back-to-back with the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting, which saves travel costs and allows delegates to engage high ranking decision makers. As on the first day, the event also offered rich opportunities to explore current trends and network in a variety of attractive formats (i. a. "meet-the-author", "idea factories", "talk together,"  project presentations). Regarding the plenary sessions, the morning slots were devoted to the presentation and discussion of resources compiled and calculated by OECD, chiefly the 2015 economic outlook. These new elements fed into a discussion on structural reforms, which tried to identify the main factors for stimulating investment while pursuing  sustainable and inclusive growth objectives. The second morning session addressed investment in human capital: its conclusions were consensual but predictable (education...) in spite of the efforts of the moderator.

The highlight of the day was naturally the session on Unlocking Growth, with President Hollande (France) and PM Rutte (the Netherlands) taking centre stage, with questions from ministers in a discussion moderated by SG Gurria himself. Both orators were brilliant in combining the competing requirements of sustainability, environment preservation and social inclusiveness in investment policies. Solutions needed to be defined in common (at the European level for countries of that region), and other international fora such as the coming Paris conference on climate change (COP21).

New batch of simplification measures (France)

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In France, regulatory policy nearly equates with administrative simplification, which itself heavily relies on e-government. Pursuing its 30-year tradition of announcing large batches of S-decisions, the Government announces today 1 June a new set of 92 red-tape reduction measures. All media report the launch (see for instance France Bleue) though little is yet on the official websites.

A summary of the policy is given in an undated article on France.fr. For a more official business oriented introdution and archive, see entreprises.gouv.fr

It is a new instalment of the 2013 "simplification drive" but more general public oriented than previously. Out of the total of 92 new measures , 40 are designed to make life easier for citizens, for instance:

• Written decisions by public bodies will be more stringently required to be drafted in language 'easy to read and understand';

• From September if you need to sign on as a jobseeker at the Pôle Emploi you will be able to do so directly online rather than filling in forms at one of the centres;

• From the end of June people will be able to check driving test results online rather than waiting for a letter, and download a provisional licence on to their phones. Contesting a speed camera fine will also be possible online;

• By the end of the year a new dedicated site will be in place to get information on court cases and on obtaining legal aid. 

• Applications for (means-tested) grants (bourses) to help with children's schooling will be possible online;

• Several measures are targetted at the disabled public with easier access to benefits and less frequent renewals of permits.

"Free market" law creates extra regulation (France)

In a post dated 1 February, this blog discussed the use of RIA in one of the most important pieces of new economic legislation, the "loi Macron" named after minister of economy Emmanuel Macron. After the vote last week in Parliament, which required the government to engage its full constitutional power to get it passed in spite of opposition from within its own ranks, Euractiv gives a clear account of the possible impact of this law designed to boost activity and growth, and concludes that the attempt to 'liberate' the economy 'ends up adding new regulation'. An extract from Euractiv (18 February): "designed to show the European Commission that France is serious about reform, will also submit parts of the economy to a glut of new regulations. The first chapter, meant to 'liberate' growth, has introduced a host of new rules, including new and even more complicated tariff structures for some regulated professions, for example notaries." A December article in the Economist also explains the French government's dilemma, caught between its socialist membership of believers in state intervention to redistribute wealth, and the constraints resulting from the European free market. It seems that again, in this catch-22 situation, extra bureaucracy has again been adopted as the way out. The RIA procedure did not apparently help in any way to secure the influence of rational economic decision.

Discussed but not published: French RIAs of draft legislation

If ever there was a law where an published impact assessment would be useful to support informed discussion, the "loi Macron" on "activity and growth" currently the focus of bitter recrimination in France, would certainly qualify.

Context: the French Socialist government, after three years of pro-trade union economic policies, now seems to want to realize a more liberal approach is necessary, to encourage business to invest and create jobs by lifting some of the administrative or legal hurdles. Two specially litigious measures (of the 200 contained in the bill) are the extension of Sunday trading facilities, and the opening up to competition of inter-city road transport (until now limited to preserve the national railway monopoly).

But the impact assessment is nowhere to be found online, though some of its more prominent contents are quoted by newspapers, following an AFP (news agency) despatch. It is a pity that the very complete dossier of parliamentary discussions uploaded by the National Assembly, does not contain the RIA that the Government is constitutionally bound to present with every bill tabled in Parliament. The National Assembly itself invites stakeholders to express their views online, but without giving them the text of the RIA.

RIAs are only published on Legifrance, the portal of French legislation, once the law has been voted.

Though the full text of the impact assessment is not available, most of its significant figures are quoted in the official parliamentary report produced by the National Assembly secretariat.

An AFP story recapitulates the discussion in Parliament from 26 January, stressing that two impact assessments conducted by an ad-hoc body originating from the Planning agency (!) concluded that the liberalization would have overall positive economic consequences.

Experts interested in a recent significant RIA "à la française" will look at the assessment, published on Legifrance, of a law to make life easier for business (law n° 2014-1545 dated 20 December 2014), which displays the usual features and limitations of French RIA. Rather than a study of the issue and various options, it focuses on the solution put forward by the Government, and appears more like a justification of adopted policy than an objective study of various reform proposals.

For a more complete picture of the features of French RIA, readers may refer to the RIA section (pp 14-16) of a study of BR in France by JCA Senior Associate CH Montin (written for and published by an Italian university), which shows that in France, RIA plays a very specific role in the relations between Parliament and Government, rather than a support to decision-making within Government.

See also a presentation given on several occasions, "New RIA in France: impacting policy making?" (all documents accessible also from http://www.smartregulation.net  ) 

New French govt befriends business

A severe political crisis rocked the French state last week, from which emerged a new government, still under the leadership of Mr Manuel Valls, who had resigned as Prime Minister a few days earlier following left wing opposition within governement to his economic policy. The new agenda, much closer to what is termed "liberal" views in France (pro-business), also labelled "social democrat" policy, was illustrated by a visit on 27 August to the summer meeting of the Employers' federation during which the Prime Minister , during which Mr Valls promised to accelerate administrative simplification to bring about a new "era of trust".
A new omnibus law will enact a batch of simplifications, starting with a charter of tax controls and the appointment of a mediator for business. A set of some 50 urgent measures to streamline red tape on construction is already being implemented.
For more, see public sector newsletter Acteurs Publics.

 

 

 

Simplification: the new French government's priorities

A new government was appointed by President Hollande on 31 March under the leadership of Mr Manuel Valls, former minister of the interior, and the most popular minister in the previous government. What difference will that make to the Better Regulation policy in France.

Some answers are provided by the communication of the Council of Ministers of 30 April, which in essence extends the previous reform policies, under the headline goal of "implementation of the simplification shock". Here is a summary of the new orientations:

- "The modernization should be business-oriented , but cater also to the citizens": there is a strong vocal component of the Socialist party who do not want a priority for a business-oriented agenda, hence this well-balanced outlook;

- The "simplification factory": the Mandon - Poitrinal report launched the idea which is supposed to increase both the speed and intensity of the simplification shock;

- Consultation: the communication highlights the work of the Simplification Council established in January (50 proposals being implemented);

- "Project facilitators" in each département (100 in France) are entrusted with simplifying the relationship between government and business (no details given); 

- Legal simplification: a law dated 2 January 2014 empowers the Government to simplify and secure the operation of businesses; a new bill will further delegate to Government the simplifications of primary legislation; 

- A moratorium similar to the "One-In, One-out" in force since September 2013 will be applied to primary legislation, with benefits and costs of new legislation carefully screened; 

- Lex silencio to be given full authority from November 2014 for central administration and November 2015 for local authorities.

- This national proactive approach to simplification needs to be extended to the European level, says the report.

Simplification shock shifts to higher gear (France)

President Hollande is apparently ushering in a new economic policy, more business-friendly, if several New-Year announcements are to be believed. From Toulouse on 9 January (today) he is setting up a new "Council for simplification" headed by MP Mandon (see previous posts). New "tough decisions " will need to be taken this year to bolster the "simplification shock" launched last year. The "shock" is meant to strengthen the competitiveness of enterprises, and promote jobs by ensuring that the 201 simplification measures already announced are truly implemented, and to find other red tape cutting initiatives. The President is said to be impatient with the pace of truly perceived reduction to the regulatory burdens on companies, and clearly thinks the administration is too slow in coming up with solutions. For more, see article in the economic daily (Les Echos).

Meanwhile, Le Monde, an evening paper, analyses in its 8 January leader recent indications of government excessive haste in preparing legislation, leading to a spate of repeals of new acts (or parts of new acts) by the Constitutional Court. Under the title "too may poorly devised laws kill the law" (full content only for subscribers), it denounces excessive reliance on new primary legislation even when not legally indispensable, and poor quality of drafting excessively complex clauses, which are at the root of "legislative inflation". The number of pages in the Official Journal seems to double every ten years. Le Monde is not confident that the French administration will be able to improve its approach to policy making.

4th report on administrative reform (France)

In France the pace of public administration reform (PAR) is sustained by the regular statements from the high-level (interministerial) committee on public service modernisation CIMAP. The fourth meeting on 18 December has provided a status report and a list of new initiatives, with a focus on policy evaluation rather than regulatory reform. Page 11 of the press release lists administrative simplification measures for business and the public, to be achieved without legal changes. The Finance ministry also published on 16 December a short note on "complexity as perceived by business" and a series of graphs in ppt format. These documents confirm that the French approach to administrative burdens remains based on perception surveys rather than measurement operations. Another specific trait of French PAR is the priority given to improving internal communication with staff. This is the analysis developped by Acteurs Publics, an independent observer, of the new web-based consultation of stakeholders Faire-simple.gouv.fr.

The rôle of parliament in better regulation (Paris conference)

Your blogger was honoured to moderate a half-day conference, organised on 5 December jointly by the OECD and the French Senate, on the rôle of Parliaments in the search for Better Regulation. The event, announced in a previous post, brought together MPs and staffers from France, the UK, Sweden and the EU to compare institutional competences and methods to start sharing best practice. The OECD outlined the issue in a concept paper, the first paragraphs of which are quoted below:
"The Recommendation of the Council on Regulatory Policy and Governance is clear: "Ensuring the quality of the regulatory structure is a dynamic and permanent role of governments and Parliaments". As the institutions responsible for approving legislation, parliaments can exercise oversight and control over the application of better regulation principles for new and amended regulation. Through the public debate of proposed bills and amendments, they can help foster a transparent dialogue on the opportunities and challenges offered by new and amended regulation. Through the control they exercise on public expenditures and government performance, they can help monitor the effectiveness and efficiency of regulation.
OECD surveys of regulatory management show a progressive move towards strengthening the role of parliaments in improving regulatory quality. In 2008, 15 jurisdictions (14 OECD member countries and the EU) had a parliamentary committee or other parliamentary body responsible for regulatory policy or reform against 11 in 2005. In seven cases, this committee or body conducts periodic reviews of the quality of proposed legislation. In eight cases, it conducts quality reviews of subordinate legislation. In five cases, the review process is guided by specific criteria. In six the committee or body regularly reports on progress on regulatory policy and reform across government. Consultation is also often an integral part of the legislative process. For example, in New Zealand, Parliament invites public submissions on almost all bills and these are considered by a select committee before it makes recommendations. "
The first panel was devoted to recent changes in the French approach to the matter, which shows that the traditional emphasis on formal quality of the texts and a concern for full enactment, is gradually incorporating a keener sense of regulatory impacts on the economy, parlty under the influence of the principles of smart regulation promoted by Brussels. The second panel introduced several foreign good practices with contributions from the UK, Sweden and European parliaments. This blog will watch for the publication of the proceedings, which will hopefully reflect the many sound ideas about how parliaments and governments can cooperate, by way of the use of RIAs and other methods, to enact better and economically efficient regulation. Videos of the key moments of the conference are already uploaded on the site of the Senate.

Vers un code de l'administration (France)

Le 30 octobre, l'Assemblée nationale a adopté le projet de loi habilitant le gouvernement à simplifier les relations entre l'administration et les citoyens, texte qui devrait entrer en vigueur prochainement. Le contenu de ce projet de loi avait été résumé en conseil des ministres du 2 juin et a bénéficié de la procédure accélérée pour son adoption:

"Il autorise le Gouvernement à adopter par ordonnance un code des relations entre l'administration et le public. Ce code regroupera l'ensemble des règles de la procédure administrative qui sont aujourd'hui d'accès difficile parce qu'elles sont jurisprudentielles ou dispersées entre divers textes. En outre, le Gouvernement sera autorisé à modifier les règles actuelles, dans le sens de la simplification et de l'harmonisation. Ce nouveau code sera donc à la fois un facteur de transparence et un instrument permettant de simplifier les démarches.

Le projet de loi permet également de mettre en œuvre à brève échéance trois mesures de simplification urgentes. Il crée un droit de saisir l'administration par courrier électronique. Il facilite les délibérés à distance des organismes collégiaux. Enfin, il expérimente la communication d'avis donnés par un organisme ou une autorité au cours de l'instruction d'une demande pour permettre au demandeur d'améliorer son projet et de prévenir l'intervention d'une décision défavorable. Ces mesures seront prises par ordonnance." (...)

Une analyse critique du texte est donnée dans la Gazette des Communes par un juriste. 

Voir aussi billets précédents sur l'annonce par le président de la république en mai 2013 et un résumé le contenu du projet de loi en juillet.

FR business organisation suggests new targets for red tape

How does French business view the UK "Cutting EU red tape" report? The president of MEDEF (employers' confederation) was recently commenting on the British report drafted by an independent business panel. This was an opportunity for this text to be made known in France.

President Gattaz recalled that simplification was one of the main commitments of his organisation's programme of work and said that what was required was a new mindset in the legislative and regulatory process. He was very interested in the methodology developed by the British to drive the internal process of simplification ("one in, two out"); simplification, to be successful, must be sought according to a rigorous methodology. To do this, MEDEF would propose to the French government and parliamentary concrete objectives: 

- reduce the stock of regulation by 5% a year, especially in the labor law, taxation, environment, urban planning, 

- improve the quality of new legislation, avoid frequent changes. 

For more, see links to the report and summary and recent critical comment, in previous posts. Source of this post: Enjeux.

French proposals to simplify EU law

At the 24 October meeting of the European Council, the French president F. Hollande put forward a project to simplify EU law based on three pillars : "delete all obsolete directives ", " limit supporting documentation required " and " adapt the law to the end-users ."
This reform drive views itself as the natural complement to the national effort (labelled "simplification shock" and reported in previous posts) which has already generated 200 measures, with more to come in coming weeks aimed at citizens and business, and new measures to facilitate judicial redress.
The economic impact of the programme, which should not be mistaken for deregulation, is still being assessed. The extension from 10 to 15 years of the validity of the ID card will for example generate a 25% reduction of administrative costs. A new integrated planning procedure to accelerate the construction of 20,000 has a potential revenue for the construction sector of € 3 billion ," says the Elysee.
For more, see Acteurs Publics article.

L'Elysée résume les résultats du choc de simplification

Un communiqué de la présidence de la République (24 octobre) nous informe que le chef de l'Etat a présidé, aujourd'hui, la deuxième réunion de ministres sur le choc de simplification engagé le 14 mai dernier. Le président de la République s'est félicité que quatre projets de loi aient déjà été élaborés pour simplifier le droit par voie d'ordonnances. La première loi a été adoptée en juillet pour simplifier les règles applicables à la construction. La seconde, destinée à simplifier les relations entre les citoyens et l'administration, devrait l'être le 30 octobre. Le troisième projet relatif à la simplification de la vie des entreprises, en cours de discussion au Parlement, sera voté d'ici la fin de l'année et les ordonnances qui s'y rapportent seront adoptées, au plus tard, au printemps 2014. Le quatrième qui concerne les relations des citoyens avec la justice sera examiné en Conseil des ministres dans les semaines à venir.

Le chef de l'Etat a noté les résultats concrets que les 200 mesures de simplification arrêtées par le gouvernement auront tout au long du quinquennat sur la vie quotidienne des Français, des chefs d'entreprise, des élus et des fonctionnaires. Plusieurs principes qui modifient en profondeur le paysage administratif sont en voie d'application :

- Le principe du « 1 pour 1 » : dans le cadre du gel des normes en vigueur depuis septembre, le gouvernement publiera, tous les six mois, le coût des normes nouvelles qui devra être strictement compensé par le coût des normes supprimées ;

- Le principe du « silence vaut accord » : l'inventaire de toutes les démarches soumises à autorisation de l'administration sera achevé à la fin de l'année pour engager l'application du principe selon lequel le silence de l'administration vaut accord ;

- Le principe de la « confiance a priori » : les entreprises ne seront plus tenues, pour diverses démarches, d'adresser les pièces justificatives mais seulement de les tenir à disposition en cas de contrôle ;

- Le principe du « Dites-le nous une seule fois » : l'Etat investira dès 2014 dans des systèmes d'information communs aux différentes administrations afin que les entreprises aient à fournir, une fois seulement, une information.

Les simplifications décidées se traduiront concrètement par un gain de temps et d'argent pour les entreprises comme pour les citoyens et l'administration. [...] Le président de la République a validé la proposition du Premier ministre de renforcer l'organisation au service de la simplification : Guillaume POITRINAL, chef d'entreprise, et Thierry MANDON, député, surveilleront la mise en œuvre des simplifications au profit des entreprises, en vérifieront les résultats et en rendront compte au public. [...] Le chef de l'Etat proposera, lors du Conseil européen des 24 et 25 octobre 2013, une action vigoureuse en matière de droit européen. Il convient, en effet, de simplifier ce droit, sans abaisser les exigences en matière de protection, afin d'éliminer les complexités injustifiées qui pèsent sur notre droit national. [...]

Le budget soutient la MAP, et réciproquement (France)

La direction du budget vient de remettre son rapport d'activité 2012 et il est intéressant d'examiner la partie consacrée à la MAP (p. 48) : "La modernisation de l'action publique (MAP) a été lancée en octobre 2012 avec pour objectif de définir et mettre en oeuvre des réformes structurelles tout en améliorant la qualité des services publics. La MAP doit ainsi contribuer au redressement des finances publiques et à la compétitivité de l'économie, principalement via les évaluations des politiques publiques (EPP), les programmes ministériels de modernisation et de simplification (PMMS) et des chantiers transversaux. L'exercice est piloté par le secrétariat général pour la modernisation de l'action publique (SGMAP). La direction du Budget lui apporte les données de cadrage budgétaire et de finances publiques. [...] La direction du Budget a également été associée à l'élaboration des programmes ministériels de modernisation et de simplification. Elle est par ailleurs fortement impliquée dans certains chantiers transversaux portant sur la rationalisation de la chaîne de dépense de l'Etat, ou l'amélioration de la politique d'achats de l'Etat. Le travail de la direction du budget (préparation du budget annuel et des budgets pluriannuels, propositions de réformes structurelles, prévisions de finances publiques à moyen terme, suivi de la performance notamment) alimente la démarche de revue de la dépense conduite à travers la MAP. Inversement, les travaux conduits dans le cadre de la MAP sont indispensables pour nourrir la procédure budgétaire de pistes de réformes ambitieuses et contribuer au respect des engagements en matière de finances publiques."
On notera également une nouvelle mission sur la maîtrise des dépenses publiques, qui examinera en particulier la responsabilité de la complexité du droit interne aux administrations dans les dérives budgétaires. L'idée est d'associer plus étroitement les collectivités territoriales à l'assainissement des finances publiques, en harmonisant les compétences, les budgets et les comptabilités des trois fonctions publiques (Etat, protection sociale, collectivités) et simplifier leur mise en œuvre au sein de la MAP.

Making the best use of soft law (France)

Smart regulators know that according to the principle of necessity, regulation should only be used when there is no other way of achieving the policy objective. This is why the report on "le droit souple" (soft law) issued this week by the French Conseil d'Etat (CE) is going to be so useful. The CE (council of state) examines the recent development of soft law in its various forms and recommends that the government develop a doctrine on the use of this instrument to promote simple and high-quality regulation.
For the CE, soft law includes codes of conduct, best practice dissemination, the new European economic governance, self regulation by independent bodies and many other forms. These manifestations have in common that they do not impose specific obligations but aim to achieve policy objectives in a complex and uncertain society where regulation is increasingly present, often with the assistance of the end-users themselves.The CE wants to raise awareness of the growing importance and use of soft law by both public authorities and private companies in France and around the world .
Definition. Soft law includes all prescriptive instruments that meet three conditions:
• they modify or guide the behavior of their addressees while enlisting, as far as possible, their support;
• they do not per se create legal rights and obligations for their addressees;
• they feature, by their content and origin, a degree of formalization akin to legal rules.
How to make good use of it. The report offers a doctrine and operational tools, in the shape of 25 proposals for a rational use of soft law, which recommend inter alia:
• check the need for soft law on the basis of three "tests": usefulness, effectiveness and legitimacy;
• favour shorter regulatory texts by allowing regulators to detail implementation by guidance or technical standards;
• guarantee the publication including online of soft law instruments issued by public authorities;
• update the process of drafting corporate governance rules by listed companies;
• set up a public monitoring capacity for soft law generated by private actors, based on the most relevant departments.

French national assembly adopts regulatory watchdog

According to the Gazette des Communes, MPs adopted on 19 September a bill tabled by two senators to create a national council for the evaluation of norms. This new body (CNEN) would replace an existing council, with added power to examine the regulatory stock, not only the flow of new legislation and its advice wold be binding on the government. This development follows the trend in France to focus regulatory policy on consequences for subnational authorities, which have many unfunded legal obligations and have accrued heavy deficits recently denounced by the national Audit Court. As part of the same policy, a moratorium on all new legislation affecting local authorities was decreed on 17 July.

Projet de loi de simplification et sécurisation des entreprises

(Complément aux indications données dans le billet du 3 septembre.) Le 4 septembre, le gouvernement a examiné en Conseil des ministres le projet de loi habilitant le Gouvernement à légiférer par ordonnances dans le domaine de la simplification de la vie des entreprises. Le texte propose une série de mesures, dont certaines ont déjà été annoncées en juillet dernier lors du dernier Comité interministériel de modernisation de l'action publique (Cimap). Il met en œuvre le "choc de simplification" , l'une des priorités du Pacte national pour la croissance, la compétitivité et l'emploi et s'inspire également du rapport Mandon sur la simplification "collaborative" de l'environnement réglementaire et fiscal des entreprises (officiellement remis le 13 août au gouvernement). Les mesures annoncées incluent la réitération de la baisse de 25 % des charges des entreprises, dans le cadre de la politique européenne Smart Regulation. Les mesures de simplification visent à "améliorer l'environnement règlementaire de notre tissu productif. Sous le concept "sécurisation des entreprises" concept associé pour la première fois à la politique de simplification, on trouve diverses mesures pour faciliter et sécuriser la facturation et les communications électroniques des entreprises. On trouve aussi, entre autres mesures, la transposition en droit français de l'allègement des obligations comptables des micro-entreprises décidée au niveau européen. Une présentation très détaillée est fournie dans un dossier de presse téléchargeable. Voir aussi la réaction du ministère des finances sur le rapport Mandon.

New BR developments in France

Owing to its importance, it is worth returning to the news reported (in French) in a 31 July post about recent trends in regulatory policy in France, which are increasingly inspired by the principles of better regulation.
First of all, the two new policy documents are much more concisely drafted (two pages only), which considerably increases the clarity of their purpose. Both texts also insist on organising two-way communication with the users (the general public and the economic actors):
1/ the "protocol for relations with deconcentrated services" a title which unfortunately will not mean much for foreign colleagues, contains a new policy for communicating within government, in this case with (subnational) implementation levels. The most important novelty is to reserve the "circulaire" (ministerial guidance) for instructions for the implementation or public policy, in under 5 pages. Less formal guidance (such as information, clarification and methodological recommendations) should be interactive, offering FAQ and other cooperative channels. The new policy is interesting because it breaks with the classic tradition that circulaires were not allowed to contain any regulatory prescription. Now, they are to be expressly billed "instructions from the Government" for the sake of clearer communication.
2/ the circulaire on implementing the regulatory freeze (gel de la réglementation) is also inspired by the principles of better regulation. It calls for all new regulation to contribute to simplifying the existing stock and sets up a mechanism to avoid new regulatory burdens: new obligations must be offset by equivalent simplifications. The equivalence is to be judged both in quantitative and qualitative terms. To operate the scheme, RIAs are extended to most new regulatory drafts and a monitoring tool (by ministerial department) will be set up. RIA will specially target gold-plating and seek "proportionality" now defined as allowing flexible (smart) implementation according to "specific situations". Common commencement dates and a time lag granted for compliance measures will also reinforce "legal security."

Circulaire sur les circulaires

A la suite de la 3ème réunion du  comité interministériel pour la modernisation de l’action publique (les premières ont eu lieu à la fin 2012 et au printemps 2013), le gouvernement a dévoilé un plan contenant quelque 200 mesures de simplification administrative et de modernisation de l’État qui doivent permettre de réduire de 3 milliards d’euros en 2014 le déficit de l’État.  Pour un résumé, voir article de Libération.
En parallèle, de nouvelles instructions ont été publiées sur l'usage de cet important instrument de communication gouvernementale que sont les circulaires administratives. En effet, une circulaire du 17 juillet 2013 relative à la simplification administrative et au protocole des relations avec les services déconcentrés dispose que désormais, l'usage de la formule de la circulaire sera réservé à la diffusion d'instructions pour la mise en œuvre d'une politique publique. Les ministres signeront personnellement ces circulaires, adressées aux préfets (copie aux services concernés), qui se présenteront formellement sous l'intitulé « Instructions du Gouvernement ». Le volume de chacune de ces instructions ne devra pas excéder cinq pages. [...] Les outils intranet du ministère sont l'instrument adéquat pour la diffusion des recommandations, éclaircissements et précisions nécessaires à l'activité des préfets et des services déconcentrés. [...] C'est par cette voie que seront désormais diffusées les précisions techniques ou méthodologiques nécessaires à la mise en œuvre d'un texte ou d'une politique. Il est en outre très opportun de recourir à des modes de relations fondés sur l'interactivité, par exemple sous forme de « questions-réponses » ou de forums d'échanges, ou encore de plates-formes collaboratives réunissant experts des administrations centrales et des services déconcentrés. [...] Le public, et en particulier les acteurs économiques, exprime le besoin d'une information facile d'accès sur les nouveaux textes présentant un impact particulier. Chaque ministère doit veiller à proposer sur son site internet un service d'informations actualisées et indexées pour les moteurs de recherche. [...]

More say for the public in administrative decisions (France)

In France, making it easier for the public to deal with red tape is supported in law by a key piece of legislation, dated 12 April 2000, "on the rights of citizens in their relations with the administration" which defines a series of actionable rights.

Now the Governemnent is planning to build on 12 years of successful implementation to introduce a number of additional facilities, and filed a bill (draft legislation) in June, which was voted by the upper chamber (Sénat) on 19 July. Here are some of the planned improvements:

1. "lex silencio:" i.e. when the administration does not respond before the end of a two-month period from completion of the application (including supporting documentation), it is presumed that the application is granted; this is a general principle already in force for some procedures, but which it can be quite difficult to apply: the new clauses introduce a number of clarifications to make it workable in a greater array of permits/applications;

2. the bill offers to allow the government to issue (subject to ratification by Parliament) primary legislation on two important issues:

- within 12 months, defining the cases and conditions in which members of the public can "seize" administrative services (file an application, request a service, seek information, etc.) in electronic format, and receive an actionable answer in the same form;

- administrative code: the bill contains a clause whereby Parliament devolves to the government the preparation and adoption witin 24 months of a "code of relations between the administration and the public." This code will consolidate existing general provisions concerning administrative non-contentious procedures, which will be reviewed and simplified where possible. It contains several new elements, in particular a clause calling for more participation of "the public" (previous concept: "citizens") in the preparation of administrative decisions.

All-in-all, this is a very interesting document for Better Regulation experts, showing how a well designed legal framework can make life easier for citizens, while preserving legal security for administrative services.