Recent Developments in IA Quality Control in the Czech Republic

1. Update on the recent developments in the IA quality control in the Czech RepublicSCM Steering Group meeting3 April 2012,Nicosia, CyprusAleš Pecka

2. Overview • AB measurement and state of play of the national programme • Changes in the process of RIA quality check • Next steps of the RIA process Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

3. AB measurement • First AB baseline measurement took place in 2005 • Completed by December 2005 • Based on the results of measurement, the focus of the AB programme focused on the regulation of 6 ministries, whose regulation represented up to 80% of the overall AB • Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Social Affairs, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Agriculture Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

4. Action Programme on AB reduction – state of play (1) • 20% target reduction until 2010 approved in 2005 • Updated and prolonged in 2010 to 25 % until 2012 • By December 2011 the reduced AB corresponds to the reduction by 16,38% as regards the baseline from 2005 • (which corresponds to 118 abolished and 175 amended IOs ) • The expected reduction to be achieved by the end 2012 should correspond to 22,60% reduction as to the baseline from 2005. Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

5. Action Programme on AB reduction – state of play (2) • Main problem: ownership of the AB programme within the state administration lost over years (also due to the narrower approach – e.g. 6 ministries etc.) • Simultaneously in 2010, new AB measurement methodology under development and being tested within a pilot phase since 2011 • Not the measurement of the overall AB „2.0“, but focus on identification of time-consuming IOs Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

6. Action Programme on AB reduction – state of play (3) • Programme carried out in cooperation of Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Czech Statistical Office • What is new?: Focus on identification of IOs in 12 key areas with the expected highest rate of AB reduction on businesses, e.g.: • entry into the business, commercial law, conditions of employment, taxes, registering property, consumer protection, environmental requirements, requirements for the entrepreneurs, the internal market, public procurement and statistics Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

7. Action Programme on AB reduction – state of play (3) • Some 1269 IOs identified in 12 key areas by June 2011 in cooepration with other ministries • 585 IOs cat. B and 684 IOs cat. C • Preliminary estimations, to be further verified in inquiry with businesses as to their perceptions of these IOs as regards the time consumption for their fulfilmentI (panels, workshops etc.) Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

8. Next steps in AB programme • The overall volume of IOs will be undergoing the process of evaluation based on the combination of quantitative – SCM model - and qualitative indicators • This phase to be completed by mid-2013 • AB methodology to be updated based on the results of this pilot phase Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

9. Changes in the RIA process (1) • June 2011: The agenda shifted from the Ministry of Interior under the competence of the Chair of Government Legislative Council (GLC) • (new unit established in the Office of the Government) • New quality control body established: Regulatory Impact Assessment Board (RIAB) – November 2011 • New updated RIA methodology (RIA Guidelines) approved in December 2011 Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

10. Changes in the RIA process (2) - highlights • To each new or amended regulation a basic „Overview of impacts“ (in the form of a template) must be submitted: In case of sizeable impacts of the proposed regulation, RIAB will ask for RIA elaboration • The new model decreased substantially a previous high number of exceptions from RIA elaboration: • i.e. newly obligatory to all so-called „substantial intents“ of laws (1st degree Government decision about the future content of newly intended regulation) • Without overview of impacts and statement of the RIAB the draft regulation cannot proceed further in the legislative process and no submission to the Government approval Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

11. RIA Board (1) • The Regulatory Impact Assessment Board (RIAB) has been established as the quality control body on submitted RIA reports on November 2011 • It was to replace the previous inter-departmental Committee on RIA consisting of representatives/experts of ministries • It is an advisory board to the Government Legislative Council (GLC) • 15 independent members mostly from academia • Chair: Prof.Michal Mejstřík, Vice-chair: Pavel Telička (Stoiber group) Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

12. RIA Board (2) • No limits of the mandate – it is based on a ongoing basis with regard to the role of the Government Legislative Council (GLC) as the permanent body • GLC – the main body for the quality control of the government draft legislation • The advantage of the chosen approach, the new board was anchored in the existing procedures and within the respected Government body Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

13. RIA Board (3) • GLC checks whether the draf laws are: • In compliance with the Constitution and constitutional laws, • In conformity with EU legislation and • Newly also in accordance with RIA principles of the draft legislation (e.g. All aspects of RIA methodology covered and evidence based justification of the proposal included in RIA reports) Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

14. RIA Board – competencies (1) • 3 main competencies: • Assessing the quality of submitted RIA reports to draft legislation: its opinion becomes the part of the overall statement of the GLC to a concrete piece of legislation – ex ante type of control • Authorized to undertake consultation of aspects of RIA during the preparatory and drafting phase of RIA reports if requested by the drafting authority; • Based on evaluation of preliminary „overview of impacts“ (template), it issues its opinions as to which planned pieces of draft legislation should undergo a RIA processto be later approved in the Annual Legislative Plan by the Government. Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

15. RIA Board – competencies (2) • The RIAB considers all RIA reports to Government draft legislation proposals approved in the Annual Legislative Plan with the obligation to undergo the RIA. • Additionally those draft laws which did not receive an exemption from RIA attributed by the Chair of the GLC based on a previous request and the overview of preliminary impacts submitted by the drafting authority. • It evaluates overall quality and adherence to the procedures as defined in the RIA Guidelines, e.g.: • the integrated approach to the impact assessment (i.e. evaluation of economic, social and environmental impacts at once) • Evaluation of administrative burdens imposed on businesses (a separate additional methodology in force since 2007) Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

16. Aspects of quality check of RIA reports by RIAB • The opinion of RIAB is issued to the quality and objectivity of the findings from the RIA process as described by the drafting authority in the RIA report. • Generally, opinions are in principle following: • Either the RIAB considers that the RIA meets the quality requirements as defined in the RIA Guidelines and recommends the draft legislation for an approval or, • It finds the draft proposal as not yet eligible for a Government approval by identifying the list of weaknesses in the evaluation of impacts which should be removed before the Government deliberation on a proposal. • Exceptionally, a proposal may be identified as superfluous and creating the unnecessary regulatory burden - the GLC may then recommend to the Government to reject the whole proposal as such). Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

17. Review of national implementation measures transposing EU law • The RIAB also evaluates also all draft legislative proposals transposing the EU legislation, • if approved with the obligation to undergo the regulatory impact assessment in the Annual Legislative Plan. • The decision is based on preliminary evaluation of impacts to each proposal submitted to the RIAB in which it considers a potential extent of a discretion allowed to national authoritiesespecially by the EU Directives • The aim: to limit potential damages resulting from unnecessary over-implementation into the national laws (gold-plating). Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

18. Review of AB in the draft proposals – ex ante • Methodology for evaluation of newly introduced AB in force already since 2007 • Focus of RIAB in the RIA reports: justification of new AB resulting from new requirements, administrative procedures etc. • Quantification required if data available, otherwise aqualitative description of proposed changes as to the current situation Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

19. Future plans • A new supporting IT tools for RIA process for state administration in the specialised website • on-line tools (presentation of best practice, data, methodologies) and e-learning programme • Application of „One in – one out“ principle under consideration • Review of the RIA process to be completed in mid-2013, report to the government by September 2013 Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz

20. Thankyouforyourattention ! Unit for Coordination of RIA Process, Government Legislative Council Section http://ria.vlada.cz