ria in flanders and belgium: policy and trends peter van humbeeck 1
TRANSCRIPT
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Number of countries with a RIA-system
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Figure X.1.3 Explicit RIA processes (2005 and 2008)
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ESP SVK PRT FRA TUR ICE NOR NLD HUN LUX AUT EU IRL ITA USA GRE SWE CHE DNK POL CZE FIN NZL BEL DEU KOR MEX JPN AUS CAN UK
20052008
Disclaimer: Please note that this graph summarises information about the existence of key elements of RIA processes in OECD countries, but does not offer information on the quality of specific RIAs. .
Source: OECD, Government at a Glance
Belgium a good example?
Questions such as: Is regulatory impact analysis (RIA) carried out before new regulation is adopted? Is RIA required by law or by a similarly binding legal instrument? Is a government body outside the ministry sponsoring the regulation responsible for reviewing the quality of the RIA? Is guidance on the preparation of RIA provided? Does the RIA require regulators to demonstrate that the benefits of new regulation justify the costs? Are RIA documents required to be publicly released for consultation? …
I. What is RIA? II. Features of the Flemish RIA-systemIII. Performance of the RIA-systemIV. Recent developments and trends
V. RIA in Belgium
VI. Questions and discussion
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Outline
There is no single generic model of RIA used internationally, but RIAs tend to include at least:• a clear identification of the problem and the policy objectives• an elaboration of relevant alternative policy options• an examination of impacts (positive and negative) of each
option• an appraisal of the capacity of government agencies to
implement and enforce regulation and of affected parties to comply
• a structured consultation with stakeholders
I. What is RIA ?
Ex ante policy evaluation: RIA• An evidence based and transparent process of informing
policy and regulatory decisions• By asking the right questions (at the right time in the right
sequence) in a structured format• Systematically and consistently examining selected potential
impacts arising from government action or non-action and relevant other alternatives
• Communicating the information to decision-makers and stakeholders
I. What is RIA ?
RIA aims to improve the performance of the public sector through:• Analysis (‘evidence based’, ‘real world impacts’, ‘reduced
policy failures’)• Transparency, consultation and communication
(‘responsiveness’, ‘accountability’, ‘trust’)• Integrated, horizontal thinking (‘policy coherence, ‘whole of
government’, ‘multiple goals’)• Change of the policy/regulatory culture (‘client-oriented’,
‘credible’, ‘responsive’)
I. What is RIA ?
infoobjective infoalternatives choice action
What do I want ? Where am I ? What do I do ?
Oplijsting van relevante beleidsopties
Structured consultation of stakeholders
Preview on monitoring and ex post evalution the policy
Comparison of positive and negative social effects of each option (costs and benefits)
Identification and description of the problem and the
objectives
Analysis of the ‘do nothing’ option’
(baseline)
Assessment of the capacifty to implement, comply and enforce the policy
Identification of policy options
Regulatory Impact Analysis
Why RIA?
RIA is a necessary tool in the ‘regulatory factory’ to produce high quality outputs (but not sufficient)
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II. Features of the Flemish RIA -system
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1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
2e approval by GOV
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Budget impactImpact on government personnel
Financial Impact for local governments
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Existing ‘checks and balances’ were ‘too little, too late’
13
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
2e approval by GOV
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Budget impactImpact on government personnel
Financial Impact for local governments
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Good regulation is...
Necessary and effectiveEfficient and balancedEasy to implement and enforce
Respectful for the rules of lawCoherentSimple, clear and accessible
Carefully prepared and consulted Continuously relevant and suitable
14
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
2e approval by GOV
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Budget impactImpact on government personnel
Financial Impact for local governments
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Good regulation is...
Necessary and effectiveEfficient and balancedEasy to implement and enforce
Respectful for the rules of lawCoherentSimple, clear and accessible
Carefully prepared and consulted Continuously relevant and suitable
?
15
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
2e approval by GOV
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Budget impactImpact on government personnel
Financial Impact for local governments
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Good regulation is...
Necessary and effectiveEfficient and balancedEasy to implement and enforce
Respectful for the rule of lawCoherentSimple, clear and accessible
Carefully prepared and consulted Continuously relevant and suitable
?
16
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
2e approval by GOV
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Impact on BudgetImpact on government personnel
Financial Impact for local governments
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Good regulation is...
Necessary and effectiveEfficient and balancedEasy to implement and enforce
Respectful for the rule of lawCoherentSimple, clear and accessible
Carefully prepared and consulted Continuously relevant and suitable
?
17
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
2e approval by GOV
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Budget impactImpact on government personnel
Financial Impact for local governments
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Regulatory Policy Measures(proposed 1999 – implemented 2005)
TransparencyAnalysis of all effectsOpen, early consultation CapacityEx post evaluation
18
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
2e approval by GOV
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Budget impactImpact on government personnel
Financial Impact for local governments
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Regulatory Policy Measures (2005)
Transparency
Ex ante analysis
Open, early consultation
Capacity
Ex post evaluationRegister of draft
regulations
Regulatory agenda
19
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
2e approval by GOV
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Regulatory Policy Measures (2005)
Transparency
Ex ante analysis
Open, early consultation
Capacity
Ex post evaluation
Register of draft regulations
Regulatory agenda
+ RIA+ RIA
RIA -advice
20
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
+consultation
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Regulatory Policy Measures (2005)
Transparency
Ex ante analysis
Open, early consultation
Capacity
Ex post evaluation
Register of draft regulations
Regulatory agenda
+ RIA
+ RIA
RIA -advice
+ consultation
(green/white paper)
21
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
+consultation
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Regulatory Policy Measures (2005)
Transparency
Ex ante analysis
Open, early consultation
Capacity
Ex post evaluation
Register of draft regulations
Regulatory agenda
+ RIA
+ RIA
RIA -advice
+ consultation
Unit Unit Unit
Oversight
(white paper)
22
1st approval by GOV
External advice (SERV, other councils, …)
+consultation
Advice Council of State
Final approval by GOV
Parliament (laws)
Publication in MON
Note for GOV
Internal advice
Advice Finance InspectorateLegislative and plain language advice
Preliminary draft
Minister/government decides to write out a new regulation
Sec.
legi
sl
(IKW)
(IKW)
Internal guidance for technical law drafting
Regulatory Policy Measures (2005)
Transparency
Ex ante analysis
Open, early consultation
Capacity
Ex post evaluation
Register of draft regulations
Regulatory agenda
+ RIA
+ RIA
RIA -advice
+ consultation
Unit Unit Unit
Oversight
(white paper)
Ex post
RIA objectives
Improve regulatory quality• use evidence-based techniques to compare
regulatory options• increase transparency, foster consultation and
improve justification regulatory solutions• promote ‘whole of government’ approach (policy
coherence, horizontal thinking)
Source: RIA-guide23
II. Features of the Flemish RIA -system
RIA scope (cf. government cricular, not in decree)• RIA is mandatory for most regulations
• RIA should be proportional. This means that the scope as well as the depth of a RIA must be proportionate with the importance of the regulation and the expected extent of the effects
• There is no quantitative threshold or screening
• Regulatory agenda: less RIAs but better RIAs
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II. Features of the Flemish RIA -system
RIA process
• “RIA is most effective in an early stage of the regulatory preparation”
• “RIA is a team effort”
• “Support and quality control by the central Regulatory Management Unit and by departemental RIA coordinators”
• “Final responsibility lies with the person or agency that prepares the new regulation and with the minister who submits the draft regulation to the Government”
• Analytical requirements were kept simple and flexible
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II. Features of the Flemish RIA -system
RIA procedure
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Formal procedural step
Content
RIA advice from the Regulatory Management Unit
The Unit must give an advise on the draft version of the RIA before the regulation is put on the agenda of the Flemish government. The advice is part of the legislative advice which also includes the technical law drafting advice and the plain language advice. The standard deadline for teh advise is 4 working days.
RIA paragraph in the memorandum to the Council of Ministers
Each memorandum to the Council of Ministers which accompanies a draft regulation for approval must include a RIA paragraph as part of the obligatory legislative quality paragraph. It must contain either a short summary of the RIA which is enclosed in annex, or a statement explaining why a RIA has not been prepared.
Control by the Chancery
The Chancery checks whether a RIA paragraph is included in the memorandum to the Council of Ministers. If the memorandum does not contain the required RIA paragraph, the regulation cannot be put on the agenda of the government.
Addition to the regulatory file
Once the RIA has been approved by the Council of Ministers, it is part of the regulatory file. This means that the RIA, together with the regulation and the explanatory memorandum, must be handed over to the advisory councils, the state council, parliament etc.
Ex post quality measurement by the Unit
The Unit checks the quality of the final RIA and reports periodically on the quality of all RIAs.
II. Features of the Flemish RIA -system
RIA productRIA section Contents
Title Brief description of the title of the regulation.
Problem definition and objectives
Outline of the reasons for the government intervention, the objective, and the desired effects: What issue/problem is the policy/proposal attempting to resolve? What main objective is the policy/proposal expected to reach?
Options List of the most relevant options for achieving the desired objective that are being examined further.
Effects Analysis of the expected advantages and disadvantages (costs and benefits) and other relevant effects of each option.
Implementation, enforcement and monitoring
Clarification of how the chosen option will be developed, executed, enforced, followed up, and revised, together with an estimate of the administrative burdens.
ConsultationList of consultations and their results: Which interested parties were consulted, at what stage of the process, and for what purpose? What were the results of the consultation?
Summary Summary of the motivation for the chosen regulation: Which option has been selected and why?
Contact information
The name and contact details of the person who is available for more information and questions about the impact analysis or the proposed regulation.
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II. Features of the Flemish RIA -system
• Design is rather good
• Formal compliance is high
• Number of RIA’s is high (587 in 7 years)
• Average quality is low
• Impact on policy decisions is poor
• No or slow change in the policy culture
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III. Performance of the RIA -system
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20Policy: Explicit regulatory policy
Institutions: Central regulatory oversight authorities
Institutions: Role of parliament and judiciary
Institutions: Training in regulatory quality skills
Process: Clarity and due process in decision makingprocedures
Process: Use of Public consultation
Process: Communication and acces to regulationsTools: Justification for action and consideration of
alternatives
Tools: Use of regulatory impact analysis (RIA)
Tools: Administrative simplification
Tools: Compliance and enforcement
Dynamics: Regulatory review and evaluation
Dynamics: Indicators of performance
gemiddelde prestatie
beste prestatie
Vlaanderen
maximum
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BEL
CAN
CZE
FIN
FRA
DEU
ICE
IRLITA
LUX
NLD
POL
PRT
SVK
ESPSWE
CHE
UK
USA
VL
AUT
DANGRE
HUN
NOR
EU
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90
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
score (weging 1)
scor
e (w
egin
g 2)
• Design is rather good
• Formal compliance is rather high
• Number of RIA’s is high (587 in 7 years)
• Average quality is low
• Impact on policy decisions is poor
• No or slow change in the policy culture
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III. Performance of the RIA -system
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0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
ALL LNE
number of final RIAs published
average quality score of RIAs performed (%)
Important weaknesses still are:
• little consideration of alternative policy instruments and lack of consideration of relevant alternative options,
• inadequate analysis of costs and benefits of options and insufficient examination of all relevant effects,
• weak and limited empirical underpinning and quantitative assessment of effects, few quantitative data in all sections
• insufficiently clear and balanced trade-offs; comparison of options obscure or methodologically weak;
• efforts to consult with stakeholders limited, opaque or unbalanced;
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III. Performance of the RIA -system
Some reasons for implementation gap:
• Starting too late• Lack of skills• Weak oversight and control• Inadequate resources
• And especially: need for support from the highest level
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III. Performance of the RIA -system
Unfinished business
• How to maximise political commitment to RIA? • How to integrate RIA at the heart of the policy making
process and avoid formalism? • How to allocate responsibilities for RIA? • How to raise RIA-quality? • How to cope with emerging new and competing
“sectoral” ex ante tests?
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IV. Recent developments and trends
Recent developments
• Renewed adoption of a better regulation policy by government
• mandatory phasing of each RIA (pre RIA and final RIA)• Use of road maps and early process planning via the
regulatory agenda 2.0• Consultation code• Updated RIA-manual and RIA-training • More transparency and better accessibility of draft and
final RIAs
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IV. Recent developments and trends
Remaining challenges
• Actual RIA practice?• Policy culture• Internal and external scrunity• Broader community of believers (esp. high level)
• Integration of sectoral tests and SIA– SIA vs. RIA makes no sense ! (RIA integrating tool)
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IV. Recent developments and trends
RIA at federal level = SIA + Kafka testRIA in Wallonia and Brussels = only Kafka test
• Kafka-test for administrative burdens, but plans for broadening towards RIA (result of 2010 OECD review)
• Sustainability Impact Assessment for analysis of the impact of proposed policy measures on:– Economy, social welfare and environment– Present and future generations– Belgium and the rest of the world– Article 4 of the Royal Decree of 22 September 2004 defines
SIA as ‘the full range of methods that are utilized to study the possible social, economic and environmental effects of a proposed policy of one of the governmental services concerned, before taking a final decision in the relevant case.’”
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V. RIA in Belgium
SIA-process
• 3 SIA forms (one of which has to be presented to GOV, depending on the result of the SIA procedure)– Exemption form– Quick scan form (no major impacts) – Summary form (summary of SIA-report, only for major
impacts)
• SIA procedure– Screening– Scoping– SIA
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V. RIA in Belgium
SIA-product
• SIA-quick scan (scoping)– Impactmatrix - Qualitative answers – 33 indicators (10 ECON, 10 SOC, 10 ENV, 3 GOV)– Effects short / long term and local / global
• SIA-report (screening) (cf. RIA)– Problem definition– Policy objective– Policy options– Analysis of effects of policy options– Consultation– Conclusions and recommendations
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V. RIA in Belgium
SIA-system: evaluation
• Formal compliance high, but almost no SIAs performed
• OECD review: too sophisticated (a form of super impact assessment) and “It does not make sense to continue, at least over the longer term, with two separate processes” (SIA and Kafka/RIA)
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V. RIA in Belgium