SEE Seminar on Reducing Administrative Barriers to Business Creation and Development

The Regulatory Governance Initiative (RGI) in South East Europe

Seminar on Reducing Administrative Barriers to Business Creation and Development

An International Seminar Co-hosted by the Romanian Government and the OECD

10-11 December, 2003, Bucharest, Romania

A Regional Flagship Initiative on Regulatory Reform for South East Europe in the framework of the Investment Compact of the Stability Pact

Administrative regulations are important tools to support public policies in many areas such as taxation, safety and environmental protection. Administrative regulations can create benefits for enterprises by setting market frameworks in which commercial transactions can take place in a pro-competitive and low cost environment. There is a risk, however, that administrative regulations can impede innovation or create unnecessary barriers to trade, investment and economic efficiency, and even threaten the legitimacy of the regulation. The cumulative effect of too many regulations and formalities coming from multiple institutions and layers of government slows down business responsiveness, diverts resources away from productive investments, hampers entry into markets, reduces innovation and job creation, and generally discourages entrepreneurship.

The seminar will review the institutional solutions and tools used in OECD and SEE countries to reduce administrative burdens. It will provide policy makers with an overview of experiences and promising practices, which can serve as an inspiration in the development and implementation of administrative simplification policies in SEE countries.

Download the proceedings of the seminar:

RGI SEE Seminar: Reducing Administrative Barriers, Bucharest December 2003 

Available PowerPoint presentations: