SCM Network - Involved countries / Netherlands / Red Tape Conference 01-03-07

Luxor Theatre - Rotterdam

Conference 'Challenges on Cutting Red Tape'

Rotterdam 01-03-07

On the 1st of March more than 150 international senior officials responsible for better regulation, competitiveness and economic growth as well as representatives of the business community gathered for a conference on Better Regulation in Rotterdam. The aim of the conference was to share the lessons learned Overzich zaal Luxor by the Netherlands in the last couple of years on reducing administrative burdens and to discuss the future (international) challenges on regulatory reform. Accordingly in the afternoon international best practices were presented which could help to meet these challenges.

The conference started with a presentation by the OECD and the World Bank Group on the outcome of their reviews to the Dutch approach on reducing administrative burdens.

Gunter Verheugen 2 This was followed by a speech of the Vice-president of the European Commission, Mr. Verheugen, on the European strategy regarding the reduction of administrative burdens stemming from EU-regulation. Subsequently there was a discussion between key-note speakers and the audience on the future challenges on regulatory reform.

In the afternoon there were three parallel workshops to discuss suggestions made by the OECD and World Bank Group in their review, which could strengthen national and international better regulation programs. Hereunder you’ll find a short summary of the content of the workshops and the presentations that were given during this workshops.

Workshop 1: What can (and should) be measured?

Workshop Meten The OECD and World Bank both conclude in their reviews that one of the critical factors of success of the Dutch programme on reducing administrative burdens is the measurement tool, the Standard Cost Model (SCM). The SCM provides transparent and action-oriented measurements, which are ideal when trying to simplify legislation and reduce administrative burdens. At the moment the SCM can only be used to measure administrative burdens. As the Dutch target between 2003 and 2007 focused exclusively on administrative burdens (information obligations) this was no problem.

Businesses, however, deal with a wider set of regulatory costs, of which administrative burdens are just a part. Over the last few years it became clear that they also perceive other costs as burdensome and as a hindrance for entrepreneurship and innovation. The World Bank and OECD therefore recommend setting a new broader target for the next government period, and expanding the current approach to ‘compliance costs’.

According to them, a new quantitative target and measurement exercise would in that case extend to more than information obligations and address the sometimes disproportionate substantial costs due to regulations for businesses and citizens. This workshop explored the international available techniques and best practices that could be used to implement this suggestion.

Presentations:

- Presentation Mr. Ladegaard - World Bank Group

- Presentation Mr. Hedstrom - Board of Swedish Industry and Commerce for Better Regulation

- Presentation Mr. Hunt - US Office of Management and Budget

- Presentation Ms. Carrier - UK Better Regulation Executive

Workshop 2: How to communicate with stakeholders?

Workshop Communicatie Although in the Netherlands mixed committees, special committees, websites and ‘model companies’ have been used to identify major complaints and burdens as experienced on the work floor, Dutch companies express their concern that not always the right issues are being dealt with. Therefore the World Bank and OECD advice to improve the ways of identifying (and eliminating) burdens as experienced by companies and to involve stakeholders more extensively in the formulation and development of simplification programmes. This may help to further improve the relevance of reduction and simplification programmes from business perspective. They suggest introducing business surveys to address this gap.

At the same time the World Bank and OECD conclude that even then the management of expectations of a simplification programme like this is a big challenge, especially because the realisation of simplification strategies requires a substantial amount of time.

The World Bank and OECD recommend for this kind of programme a communication strategy with the following characteristics: (a) selecting spokespersons from stakeholders to communicate the achieved results (b) put more focus to the management of expectations of the stakeholders, (c) use mass communication channels to communicate more effectively, (d) make comparisons with other countries about the reforms, and (e) organise public events with stakeholders.

This workshop will address both aspects that are mentioned above. Where have business surveys been proved successful and how can these surveys be integrated in a simplification programme? How do you communicate with your stakeholders about the content and progress of these programmes?

During the workshop it was tried to find answers to these questions with the help of international available techniques and best practices.

Presentations:

- Presentation Mr. Palm - Board of Swedish Industry and Commerce for Better Regulation

- Presentation Mr. Quezada Bonilla - Mexican Federal Commission Regulatory Improvement

- Presentation Ms van Hoorne - Belgian Agency for Administrative Simplification

- Presentation Ms. Rutjens - Dutch Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations

Workshop 3: A risk based approach in regulation, enforcement and inspection!

Workshop Risk The enforcement and implementation of regulations affect businesses at least as much as the policies and regulation themselves. Efficient enforcement can support compliance across the whole range of businesses, delivering targeted, effective interventions without unreasonable administrative costs to business. Inflexible or inefficient enforcement increases administrative burdens needlessly, and thereby reduces the benefits that regulations can bring. The Netherlands aims at diminishing the costs of inspections and surveillance to companies, for instance by diminishing the overlap in regulators’ responsibilities and enforcement activities and by providing front offices for the companies involved.

The OECD and World Bank suggest including risk analysis in the process of adjusting the responsibilities and rolls of the public and private sectors. Development of a risk based approach will be essential as part of any redistribution of responsibilities between the state, the private sector and civil society.

This workshop explored how risk assessment can contribute to regulatory reform and

diminishing regulatory costs.

Presentations

- Presentation Mr. Bounds - OECD

- Presentation Mr. Deighton-Smith - Director of Jaguar Consulting Pty Ltd (Australia)

- Presentation Mr. Straw - UK HM Treasury Department

- Presentation Ms. Hill - UK Better Regulation Executive

The conference was closed with an evening programme including a harbour cruise and a red tape party!

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