1. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better Regulation in New EU Member States Public Policy – New Developments in 2007 Edward Donelan, Sigma Conference on Good Governance and Public Administrative Reform Bucharest, 6 December 2007

2. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States  A word about Sigma  Enhancing competitiveness and improving the regulatory environment is crucial for Europe’s future  Institutions of the EU Member States including many new EU member states approached the challenge by developing policies to improve the quality of regulations?  What can we learn from their experience?  What next?

3. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States Many interesting examples of progress and how Better Regulation can be progressed.  Cyprus – one stop shops and improved inter – ministerial cooperation  Czech republic – renewed mandate for BR new structures and focus on administrative simplification and improved impact assessment  Estonia – impressive approach to e.government and use of web to communicate and discuss issues  Hungary – project to assess effectiveness of impact assessment under way  Latvia attention to quality of regulation by good structures at the centre of government  Slovenia emphasis on training civil society in consultation techniques

4. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States  Lithuania - good progress towards developing a BR policy  Malta - established BR Unit in Office of Prime Minister underlining its importance  Poland – good structures to develop BR and renewed impact assessment procedures  Slovak republic – review of impact assessment policy  Slovenia – dynamic policy on administrative simplification

5. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States  Romania is drafting a Better Regulation strategy with 5 pillars:  Impact Assessment  Measuring the administrative costs and reducing the administrative burdens.  Consultation and dialogue with the stakeholders  Legislative simplification, and  Application of the EU law. Bulgaria is at a similar stage

6. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States Critical success factors for developing BR  Political support  Finding the time  BR needs to be seen as an investment not a fixed cost

7. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States Common challenges:  Impact assessment another regulatory burden  Consultation (a little less conversation a little more action  Administrative Simplification (what gets measured gets managed)  Alternatives  Accessibility

8. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States Impact assessment:  Does NOT replace the need for a political process.  It a not a “magic tool” to solve all regulatory problems.  Needs a good methodology and institutional support to be successful - it must sit in a good policy making framework

9. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States Common mistakes to avoid (RIA):  to transform RIA into an ex post justification;  to create another unnecessary bureaucracy, and  to have too complex a methodology  to expect too much too soon  to expect results without investment

10. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States Consultation -critical success factors  Officials must believe in the collective intelligence of society  Parties must understand the need to separate out vested interests from the necessity to get it nearly right  If the culture for dialogue is not present it has to be built (lessons from Latvia and Slovenia).  Consultation takes time – so plan for it  Putting it on the web is not enough

11. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States Administrative simplification is an easy way to improve competitiveness:  Ask once use - many times  Make rules that make sense to the user and not the bureaucrat  Trust more  One stop shops (good and bad points)  Measuring administrative costs (what gets measured gets managed)

12. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States  Accessibility of laws very impressive in all of these countries  Progress being made on communicating other than by the formal letter of the law  Emphasis still on legal effectiveness rather than on economic efficiency  Too many lawyers not enough economists in policy making?

13. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States Recommendations common to all: 1. Political support is essential to develop and maintain a policy on Better Regulation. 2. A policy to achieve Better Regulation works best when there are appropriate and adequately-funded arrangements in place to support and maintain it. 3. Regulatory management capacities may be developed through the effective use of Better Regulation tools. 4. Executive and legislative branches of government must cooperate in a constructive way to ensure wise governance. 5. More attention needs to be paid to enforcement and compliance.

14. © OECD A joint initiative of the OECD and the European Union, principally financed by the EU Better regulation in new EU Member States Further reading: WWW.SIGMAWEB.ORG Sigma paper No42: Regulatory Management Capacities of Member States of the EU that Joined... and making recommendations addressed to all new Member States http://www.sigmaweb.org/LongAbstract/0, 3425,en_33638100_33638151_38738827 _119666_1_1_1,00.html