administrative simplification in france: a long-term effort

C.H. Montin, 15 July 2013, Madrid 1

Administrative Simplification

in France: a long-term effort

Charles-Henri Montin (France)*www.smartregulation.net

[email protected]

* These slides are for information and discussion and do not present an official French position. They cannot validly be interpreted without complements given at delivery.


Contents

• The key concepts of the French approach• The actors, objectives and the techniques• Recent developments with the “choc de

simplification” (2013) • OECD remarks


Simplification: the French approach

Concepts (specific) applied in France:• Modernisation de l’action publique• Quality of the Law (qualité du droit)• Simplification of the law, including reduction of

administrative burdens• Reduction of normative inflation• Codification• Administrative simplification (for users,

businesses) including curbing bureaucratic language

• Relations between the administration and users (law of 12 April 2000)

• Quality of Service


Actors of the simplification policy

The Legislator• Enacting simplification laws (6 since 2003)• Main user of Impact assessment scheme

(constitutional reform 2008) The Executive

• Comité interministériel pour la modernisation de l’action publique (CIMAP) since December 2012

• The Conseil d’Etat as guardian of the quality of normative texts

• The senior official in charge of simplification (within SGG): mandate in circulaire 19/2/2013

• All ministries contributing (ex: law on modernisation of the economy, egovernment projects)


Objectives of the simplification policy

• The overriding concern: contain normative inflation• Legal certainty (see 2006 public report of the State Council),

less emphasis on the pursuit of economic efficiency (according to OECD)

• Competitiveness of the economy• Simplification as a component of the overall review of public

policies (RGPP) then of Modernisation of Public Action (MAP): transformation of government from the inside, reducing the fiscal cost, optimizing the efficiency of the administration

• Integrated with the user-relations dimension, through innovative public services and quality

• In technical terms, France distinguishes simplifying legislation and simplification of formalities (cutting red tape)


Identifying promising simplifications

Three techniques to select simplification themes Offer ministries a « vector » to achieve rapid legislative changes,

sometimes as a « habilitation » (delegation of legislative authority to government)

• Main risk: use by ministries of the vector to promote substantive agenda

• Advantage: ministries cooperate• Downside: a heavy process: annual reports, proposal fiches, PM

arbitration, parliamentary procedure, etc Large scale sustainable consultation of stakeholders:

• « Assises de la simplification » 2006 and 2011• Experience of standing consultative body (COSA)• Web-based consultation: « ensemble simplifions » from DGME );• New consultation manual (2013) « Consulter pour mieux réglementer »

Wide-scale measurement and reengineering of administrative procedures according to the SCM, to achieve significant economic results (2006-2011).


Legal techniques to simplify the body of legislation

• Legistics and good legislative drafting (“qualité du droit”) as core competence of policy makers

• Drafting in plain language: simplification du langage administratif

• Elimination of obsolete or outdated standards ("anti-law")• Extensive codification operations• Exemptions from formal obligations for specific end-users• Reducing the number of advisory bodies (circulaire 30/11/2012)

and 101 suppressions (council of ministers 22 May 2013) • Extension of tacit decision (lex silencio) : “

le silence de l’administration vaut accord” 10/7/2013• “Interprétation facilitatrice”, circular 2/4/2013• Consolidated access to the body of norms (Légifrance site) and

circulars


« Le choc de simplification »

• Headline goal of the Comité interministériel pour la modernisation de l’action publique: see second meeting 2 April 2013

• Wider scope than previous policy (RGPP), to include social security and local authorities

• Attuned to the expectations and support of the civil service

• Supplement to the « choc de compétitivité » under the same growth strategy


Priorities for delivery

Quote from the mission of the senior official in charge:

• “Drive the moratorium on new regulation on local authorities (since July 2010)

• Make sure RIAs are conducted on new regulation affecting local authorities and businesses

• Assist ministries in quantifying the impact of new regulations

• Apply common commencement dates (January 1st or July 1st) on regulation concerning business

• Make sure a delay of two months is given between enacting and enforcing new legislation.”


Key current policy circular dated 17/02/2011 « on simplifying norms concerning business and local government »

Objectives of Parliament and Government :• Better control of normative inflation.• Preserve the competitiveness of businesses by

simplifying and stabilizing the legal framework.• Reduce public spending by controlling the cost imposed

by the regulations.

Implementing the policy :• Identify measures to reduce burdens on companies and

local authorities• Avoid gold plating of EU directives or national laws (for

implementing decrees).


Recent developments

CIMAP of 18 December 2012Decision 15:

- Extension of RIA to all regulatory texts- Develop and open online consultation

Decision 18: pluriannual simplification programme

CIMAP of April 2, 2013Decision 16: “One-in, one out” to curb normative inflation (circular

to be published second half July)Decision 17: Apply regulatory best practice:

- avoid gold plating of EU directives- apply the principle of proportionality/ boost legal security- involve local services in drafting implementing instructions

Decision 18: Strengthening RIA- closer scrutiny of burden on local government and services- better scrutiny of impact of EU texts- better implementation of proportionality


Future trends ?

Two parliamentary reports to inspire the Government:• Rapport de la mission de lutte contre l’inflation

normative (26/3/2013) MPs Alain Lambert & Jean-Claude Boulard: “hunting down absurd regulation”

• Rapport « Mieux simplifier: la simplification collaborative » (7/2013, not yet published): Start from business expectations Set 3-year target for -80% of burdens on business Close central monitoring by PMO Associate Parliament in the Better Regulation policy Court of audit to evaluate results annually


OECD « Better Regulation France 2010» (flow)

• RIA scheme imposes stringent constitutional requirement; first months are encouraging

• The system does not clearly incorporate public consultation procedures and does not sufficiently draw attention to the option of maintaining the status quo.

• The right balance must be struck when determining the system's scope and the proportionality of the effort devoted to impact assessment.

• Integrate economists into the teams in charge of impact assessment. Regularly update method. Set up a common training programme for ministries to promote culture change.

• Evaluate the implementation of impact assessment in a regular and detailed way. Publish these evaluations.


OECD « Better Regulation France 2010» (stock)

• Establish a clear and comprehensive strategy to address the challenges of legislative simplification

• Review practical arrangements, multi-level coordination, common approach, communication

• Net target for reduction of burdens• Better communication with business• Evaluate effectiveness of the scheme to deliver

results• Continue the roll out of one-stop-shop network for

business


Further study

This presentation is online with hyperlinks on blog: http://smartregulation.net/p/publications.html

With 84 posts giving news about France (to 15/7/2013)

Full-text article on “Better Regulation in France” in “Verso la Smart Regulation in Europa” Maggioli, 2013

Documents quoted

• OECD Better Regulation in Europe 2010: France• Report from Conseil d’Etat 2006• Guide de Légistique