Key insights from the EU 15 reviews

Key emerging trends and issues which are captured in the reviews of 15 European member states and are likely in other OECD countries include:

• The growing interest in a broader social/citizen dimension to regulatory policy, extending scope beyond the business community. The reviews show, for example, the growth of citizen programmes, links with social welfare objectives, and the emergence of sustainability impact assessments.

• The rich and often complex institutional frameworks which come into play for the development of policy and rule making and its implementation on the ground, and in particular, the role played by parliaments as well as the judiciary.
• The development of new forms of regulatory management based on networks, external oversight bodies, and internal support units.

• Growing acknowledgment of the importance of local or sub national levels of government for effective regulatory management, as they are often the primary interface for SMEs and citizens in regulatory issues. This issue is important for unitary as well as federal states.

• The limited impact of ex ante impact assessment processes on the policy and rule making process despite growing awareness that this is a key tool for improving regulatory quality, and the need for significant further culture change in this regard.

• OECD Regulatory reform publications
• OECD Guiding Principles for Regulatory Quality and Performance
• OECD Economic surveys
• Other OECD GOV country reviews

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For further information, please contact Caroline Varley or Shayne MacLachlan

Photo credits: Ronald Hudson/Fotalia.com, Shayne MacLachlan

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www.oecd.org/gov/regref/eu15