Reduction of administrative burden

Evaluation of administrative burden is one of the main instruments applied to improve the quality of legislation; it consists in a measurement of costs connected with fulfilment of the imposed information obligations.

Legislation (laws, by-laws, ordinances, regulations) cause direct financial costs (result of a specific duty to pay certain financial means in favour of a responsible authority), indirect financial costs (related to compliance with imposed requirements for industrial processes and products) and costs directly connected with the fulfilment of an information obligation, i. e. administrative burden.

TheStandard Cost Model (pdf, 230 kB) is used to calculate administrative burden; this model is based on measurement of costs expended for accomplishment of certain activities connected with fulfilment of an information obligation imposed by legislation.

The process of evaluation of administrative burden in the Czech Republic is focused on:

• reduction of administrative burden of businesses;
• simplifying of administrative demandingness of the imposed information obligations.

Organisation of the SCM measurements in the Czech Republic

At present, the competences in this area are divided between the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Originally, till November 2006, the agenda was administered by the Office of the Government (Department for the Reform of Regulation and Central State Administration). During this period, an overall baseline AB measurement and subsequent analysis were carried out (2005 – 2006).

In November 2006, the competences were transferred from the Office of the Government to the Ministry of Interior (Department of Regulatory Reform and Public Administration Quality) and the activities and projects in the AB agenda continued, being steered by the latter institution.

The Department of Regulatory Reform and Public Administration Quality consists of three units, namely Impact Assessment Unit, Regulation Quality Unit and Strategies and Conceptions Unit. Among them, the Regulation Quality Unit is charged with the agenda of simplification of the regulatory environment which originally included also further development of the project focused on reduction of administrative burdens imposed on businesses in the Czech Republic. The task to co-ordinate this project, however, was transposed to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (by the Government Resolution No. 759 of 11 July 2007), to its Department of Entrepreneurial Environment.

Therefore, the primary tasks of the Regulation Quality Unit in the area of administrative burdens are:

• to co-operate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade in activities relating to reduction of the administrative burdens
• to prepare and update the manual for administrative burdens measurement
• to assist with solving problems with the use of the SCM to the ministries and administrative authorities

The Czech Government (in its latest Resolution in this matter, No. 446 of 21 April 2008) confirmed the reduction target set in 2005; it means that all the legislative amendments should be accomplished by 2010 with the aim to reduce the burden on businesses by 20% (as to the level from December 2005).

The SCM measurements in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic was measuring the baseline of overall administrative burden. The measurement was undertaken between March 2005 and September 2005. The baseline measurement included a measurement of all business related generally binding regulations in 12 ministries, 10 central administrative authorities. The results of the measurement were sent to the Department of Regulatory Reform and Central State Administration Reform by the end of September 2005. Subsequently, the Department carried out the analytical report of overall administrative burdens on businesses.

The analytical report Analysis of the administrative burdens on businesses  (pdf, 452 kB) figuring out the overall administrative burdens imposed on businesses was elaborated in February 2006 on the basis of the information collected by ministries and other central state administration authorities (as mentioned above, AB measurement took place in 2005).

The further necessary steps were set in the Government decision based on the results of this report. The measures adopted by the Government Resolution No. 759 of 11th July 2007 were:

• Introduction of the obligation to assess administrative burdens ex ante in case of new legislation drafts;
• Preparation of overviews enumerating the concrete legislation proposed for the purpose of the reduction (taking into account the results of AB measurement and obtained data identified in the above-mentioned Analytical report) on the basis of the co-operation of 6 ministries regulation of which causes the biggest part of the measured burden (over 90 %) and the Ministry of Interior.

In spring 2008, the Government (by its Resolution No. 446 of 21 April 2008) confirmed the drift of the project aimed at reduction of administrative burdens for businesses. The six ministries regulation of which causes the biggest part of the measured burden (Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Environment and Ministry of Industry and Trade) fixed their own Action Plans for reduction of administrative burdens for businesses till 2010, listing all legislative provisions containing administrative burden that is to be removed or reduced, with related timetable. In addition, a task to inform about adopted measures for reduction of administrative burdens was imposed on all other ministries and central state administration authorities.

Simplification projects

Project of one-stop-shops (contact points, called Czech POINT), introduced in 2007; at the initial phase, they provide general information concerning public administration and issue abstracts (print-outs) of 4 registers, namely from commercial register, register of entrepreneurs, criminal record and land registry. The one-stop-shops operate at all municipal and regional offices, many post offices and also abroad, mostly at embassies or Czech centres (e. g. in Berlin). In the future, these Czech POINTs should function as a complex communication platform between citizens (or the public in a wider sense) and public administration; currently, more than 2.500 one-stop-shops are in operation.

Procedural audits of agendas in public administration from the point of view of all 6 components of so-called “Hexagon” are being prepared (Hexagon is a symbol of effective public administration and comprises 6 vertices entitled CITIZEN, FINANCE, ORGANISATION, LEGISLATION, TECHNOLOGY and OFFICIAL); the audits will involve “process maps” showing how burdensome are particular agendas for all subjects of public administration; moreover, the audits should ascertain how effective, efficiently and successfully each of the components plays its role in the system of public administration. The results of these audits will be followed by an analysis and subsequent measures focused on improving of the operation, including cutting the red tape.

The current Government also pays increasing attention to development and a wider use of information and communication technologies that significantly facilitates reduction of administrative burdens, mainly by connection of central registers, electronised agendas (e-Health, e-Justice, e-Tax, e-Culture etc.), fully functioning contact points of public administration and faultless communication infrastructure; pursuing this objective, the Czech Government has worked out two legislative proposals. The first one is a draft of so-called E-Government Act (Act on Electronic Operations, Personal Numbers and Authorised Conversion of Documents) that should, inter alia, introduce electronic tools into the main procedure regulations, especially into Administrative Procedure Code and Civil Procedure Code. This proposal has already been submitted to the Parliament and is prepared for second reading. Secondly, Draft Act on Basic Registers of Public Administration has been finalized, which should facilitate an effective interconnection among the register of inhabitants, register of legal and natural persons, register of right and duties and register of addresses, territorial identification and real estates. This will enable state institutions to extract data directly from these registers without requiring them from citizens or businesses.