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Chapter 1: Strategy and policies for Better Regulation
- Build on the effective foundations that are now in place. Check, at regular intervals, whether there is a need for further investments to strengthen major processes such as ex ante impact assessment.
- Address the missing links in the current Better Regulation policy.
- Strengthen commitments to other societal groups and interests, beyond the business community.
- Announce a clear formal commitment to broadening participation in Better Regulation processes across all the levels of government.
- A persuasive explanation of the reform agenda to the widest public needs to be articulated by the government.
- Ensure that all major regulatory policies and processes are evaluated.
Chapter 2: Institutional capacities for Better Regulation
- Consider whether any aspects of the Better Regulation Council’s mandate need to be strengthened.
- Boost the resources of the Ministry of Enterprise Better Regulation team and form it into a proper unit, focused solely on Better Regulation. Consider how the Ministry of Finance and the Prime Minister’s Office can be more closely and visibly associated in support of its work.
- Encourage all ministries to further enhance their internal arrangements in support of the Action Plan and the preparation of ex ante impact assessments. Consider whether any incentives and sanctions can be put in place to encourage a strong performance across the board.
- Review the key levers available to parent ministries for setting agency performance.
- Ensure that the reports to the Riksdag on progress with the Action Plan get a wide circulation among the parliamentary committees.
Chapter 3: Transparency through consultation and communication
- Review the Committee of Inquiry process to check for issues that make it hard for stakeholders to participate effectively (deadlines for comments, feedback processes, starting consultation at an earlier stage).
- Consider whether it would be helpful to provide consultation guidelines focussed specifically on covering key aspects of good practice such as timing, scope, methods and feedback.
- Consider how to ensure that government agencies systematically apply best practice principles for public consultation, at least as regards their more significant draft regulations.
Chapter 4: The development of new regulations
- Monitor closely the institutional framework for overseeing ex ante impact assessment and be ready to strengthen it quickly if impact assessments fail to improve.
- Monitor closely the institutional framework for overseeing ex ante impact assessment and be ready to strengthen it quickly if impact assessments fail to improve.
- Plan for a full evaluation of the new policy in the near future.
- Ensure that the full range of important impacts, costs and benefits is addressed in ex ante impact assessments.
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Chapter 5: The management and rationalisation of existing regulations
- Ensure that efforts at codification and spring cleaning of the regulatory stock continue, in support of and alongside the strategy for regulatory simplification.
- Individual, or even differentiated targets should be defined for each participating ministry. Consider also other measures to encourage buy in, such as a link to the budget setting process.
- Require the systematic use by ministries and government agencies of the Malin database for identifying simplification actions, and for forecasting burdens in new regulations.
- Ensure that parent ministries’ directions to agencies contains clear objectives for a contribution to the Action Plan.
- Develop discussions with local government to establish a plan for strengthening their involvement in regulatory simplification.
- If possible and subject to resources move from annual to bi-annual reports to the Riksdag. Ensure that the reports are available quickly.
- Ensure that all participating ministries and agencies have established robust structures for communicating with the business community.
- Consider whether it would make sense to define specific targets for actions, to add to the target already set for administrative burdens.
- Consider how the programme could be evaluated (objectively), and by whom, on a regular basis. Use the results to guide adjustments to the programme in order to maximise its impact.
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Chapter 6: Compliance, enforcement, appeals
- Consider a review of compliance rates, based as far as possible on data that is already available, in order to guide further steps for enforcement policy, and to feed back into the framework for ex ante impact analysis.
- Continue the efforts at reform in order to streamline the enforcement system and improve efficiency. As part of this, consider how to encourage the spread of risk based approaches to inspection.
Chapter 7: The interface between member countries and the European Commission
- Consider a White Paper on management of the EU dimension in Better Regulation, to capture both the detailed and strategic issues which need attention at this stage.
- Carry out a wide ranging consultation of both internal and external stakeholders over the issues raised by draft EU directives, as part of the White Paper.
- Prioritise efforts on key issues for Sweden, and make impact assessments a requirement for draft directives that fall within these priority areas.
- Include, as part of the proposed White Paper, a review of transposition, including oversight provisions to ensure that transposition is timely, and potential issues arising in the transposition of directives.
- Continue the efforts to support and influence the development of EU level Better Regulation processes.
Chapter 8: The interface between sub national and national levels of government
- Consider, how to bring the local level into the Action Plan for Better Regulation, and other relevant initiatives by central government.
- Encourage SALAR and interested municipalities to pursue their own efforts at developing and sharing best practice.
- Establish a forum for the regular exchange of views between central government (including key agencies) and the municipalities on Better Regulation.
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How to obtain this publication
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Download the complete PDF e-book: Better Regulation in Europe: Sweden
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For further information, please contact Caroline Varley or Shayne MacLachlan
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