International work
NNR has an active engagement in better regulation work both at the EU level and within the OECD. At the EU level, NNR sometimes acts independently, but often through BusinessEurope. NNR participates in BusinessEurope’s working group for better regulation under a mandate from the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. In broader international contexts, NNR acts both independently and through BIAC’s (Business at OECD) Governance and Regulatory Policy Committee via a mandate from the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise. Through this, NNR participates in meetings of the OECD’s Regulatory Policy Committee and provides comments on its work.
OECD – the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
The OECD is an international organization with the mission to promote principles and policies that can improve people’s economic and social well-being. The OECD also serves as a forum for the governments and public administrations of its 38 member states to discuss and work together to find solutions to common problems and challenges. More information about the OECD can be found here.
The OECD’s ”Regulatory Policy Committee” was established by the OECD Council of Ministers in October 2009 to assist member and non-member states in initiating and strengthening their better regulation work. The results of the committee’s work are intended to support efforts to improve the quality of regulations by helping states find tools and solutions to implement political decisions in the best possible way. More information about the committee and the OECD’s work on regulatory improvement can be found here.
Between the years 2008-2010, the OECD reviewed regulatory improvement work in 15 of the EU’s member states. The results of the reviews were presented in various country-specific reports as well as a summary report. The OECD’s report on Sweden’s regulatory improvement work can be found here
The reviews led to the OECD and its member states in 2012 developing and adopting a new recommendation on regulatory improvement, ”Recommendation of the Council on Regulatory Policy and Governance.” The recommendation includes several important parts for businesses, including that: All regulatory costs for businesses, both direct and indirect, should be considered in impact assessments; Consultations should be held with affected parties when new regulations are designed; There should be independent review bodies tasked with examining the quality of new regulatory proposals and impact assessments; A review of all existing regulations and their costs should be conducted continuously so that regulations can be simplified and regulatory costs for businesses reduced; Follow-up and evaluation of the actual effects of regulations after implementation should be done systematically; Alternatives, including not regulating, should always be considered in impact assessments. More information about the recommendation can be found here.
The OECD’s recommendations are not legally binding, but they express the political will and intentions of the member states, and it is expected that everyone will do their utmost to follow the recommendations. Therefore, member states often refrain from voting when a recommendation they do not intend to follow is to be adopted.
Every three years, the OECD follows up on how important parts of the recommendation have been implemented by the OECD member states. The implementation by the European Commission is also examined. The survey maps the efforts of countries (and the Commission) to improve legislative quality in line with the 2012 OECD recommendation on good regulatory policy and governance and shares good legislative practices. The survey provides unique insight into the organization of and the institutional environments and processes in countries regarding the design, application, and revision of regulations. It also highlights areas in the regulatory cycle that receive too little attention from decision-makers. Finally, it identifies areas that countries should invest in to improve the quality of laws and regulations and presents innovative methods for better legislation.
Areas that are followed up include impact assessments, engagement with various stakeholders including businesses, and evaluation. International regulatory cooperation, risk assessment, and regulatory oversight functions are also areas that are regularly examined. The results of the survey are presented in a report, the OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook. The starting point is the responses provided by the OECD member states and the European Commission to the OECD’s comprehensive survey and indicators that measure the regulatory efforts in these areas.
In addition to following up on the OECD recommendation, the OECD also conducts more in-depth reviews of the entire or parts of a member state’s regulatory improvement work and governance at the request of an individual member state, with the help of peer reviewers from different member states. The OECD also develops best practice principles in various areas to provide further guidance to member states. Various working papers are also produced by the OECD Secretariat on topics raised for discussion in the committee (Regulatory Policy Committee).
NNR actively works through BIAC to, among other things, provide feedback to the OECD before and during the development of the OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook and other work. NNR also contributes to the dissemination of information and discussion of the survey results by organizing seminars in Sweden.