ria in flanders and belgium: policy and trends peter van humbeeck 1

RIA in Flanders and Belgium: Policy and Trends

Peter Van Humbeeck

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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’

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1st approval by GOV


2e approval by GOV



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV



Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)

(IKW)


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

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1st approval by GOV


2e approval by GOV



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV



Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)

(IKW)




Respectful for the rules of lawCoherentSimple, clear and accessible


?

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1st approval by GOV


2e approval by GOV



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV



Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)

(IKW)




Respectful for the rule of lawCoherentSimple, clear and accessible


?

16

1st approval by GOV


2e approval by GOV



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV

Impact on BudgetImpact on government personnel


Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)

(IKW)




Respectful for the rule of lawCoherentSimple, clear and accessible


?

17

1st approval by GOV


2e approval by GOV



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV



Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)

(IKW)


Regulatory Policy Measures(proposed 1999 – implemented 2005)

TransparencyAnalysis of all effectsOpen, early consultation CapacityEx post evaluation

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1st approval by GOV


2e approval by GOV



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV



Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)

(IKW)


Regulatory Policy Measures (2005)

Transparency

Ex ante analysis

Open, early consultation

Capacity

Ex post evaluationRegister of draft

regulations

Regulatory agenda

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1st approval by GOV


2e approval by GOV



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)

(IKW)



Transparency

Ex ante analysis


Capacity

Ex post evaluation

Register of draft regulations

Regulatory agenda

+ RIA+ RIA

RIA -advice

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1st approval by GOV


+consultation



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV

Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)



Transparency

Ex ante analysis


Capacity

Ex post evaluation


Regulatory agenda

+ RIA

+ RIA

RIA -advice

+ consultation

(green/white paper)

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1st approval by GOV


+consultation



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV

Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)



Transparency

Ex ante analysis


Capacity

Ex post evaluation


Regulatory agenda

+ RIA

+ RIA

RIA -advice

+ consultation

Unit Unit Unit

Oversight

(white paper)

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1st approval by GOV


+consultation



Parliament (laws)

Publication in MON

Note for GOV

Internal advice


Preliminary draft


Sec.

legi

sl

(IKW)

(IKW)



Transparency

Ex ante analysis


Capacity

Ex post evaluation


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


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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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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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.


http://www.wetsmatiging.be/nl/getpage.asp?i=49





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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• 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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0

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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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50

60

70

80

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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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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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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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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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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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

VI. Questions and discussion

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ria in flanders and belgium: policy and trends peter van humbeeck 1

Documents

riasystem slide

preparation of ria

ria documents

flemish ria system slide

flemish riasystem

riasystem iv

regulatory impact analysis

outline slide