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Policy-Making and Co-ordination
SIGMA assists partner countries in strengthening policy-making and strategic capacities and in setting up co-ordination mechanisms at the centre of government. Activities in this area aim to ensure coherence among sectoral policies of ministries and consistency of government policy-making and policy implementation. To support these activities, SIGMA has produced several Papers devoted to policy-making and co-ordination.
Organising the Central State Administration: Policies and Instruments (SIGMA Paper No 43, 2007)
This Sigma study focuses on the organisational dimension of national administrations and the impact of “agencification” on governance structures. It refers in particular to the accountability mechanisms that EU Member States have (or have not) put in place to ensure policy coherence across the state administration, control of public funds, and responsiveness of the government as a whole to the expectations of citizens.
The Role of Ministries in the Policy System: Policy Development, Monitoring and Evaluation (SIGMA Paper No 39, 2007)
Despite significant progress in the strengthening of policy development capacities in the new EU Member States, an understanding of the crucial role of ministries in the policy-making process is still lacking. Ministries often fail to mutually co-ordinate their respective policies at an early stage, which can lead to contradictory sectoral policies as well as to overlapping and sometimes contradictory legislation. This paper provides a synthesis and case studies of eight new Member States (countries of Central and Eastern Europe) and four "old" Member States (Austria, France, Germany and Spain).
Political Advisors and Civil Servants in European Countries (SIGMA Paper No 38, 2007)
This paper discusses political appointees and civil servants as policy advisors. In EU Member States civil servants contribute policy advice concerning implementability, legality, effectiveness and efficiency. The policy-making process in Western Balkan countries is considerably hampered by the fact that policy advice is usually entrusted exclusively to political appointees. This paper provides comparative information and a common base for further development of the policy-advisory function in the region.
Enlargement of the European Union, An Analysis of the Negotiations for Countries of the Western Balkans (SIGMA Paper No 37, 2007)
This Paper aims to help Western Balkan countries understand the need for professionalism in negotiations and for improving their legal framework, institutional set-up, implementation and enforcement of the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) and eventual EU negotiations.
Co-ordination at the Centre of Government: The Functions and Organisation of the Government Office (SIGMA Paper No 35, 2004)
This paper examines the structure and tasks of the Government Office or Prime Minister's Office (i.e. the administrative organ supporting the collective work of the Council of Ministers) and provides comparative information on government offices in OECD countries and in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans.
Regulatory Policy - Better Regulation
The regulatory framework in which businesses operate is a key determinant of their competitiveness, growth and employment performance. One of the key objectives of the European Union's Enterprise Policy is to ensure that the regulatory environment is simple and of high quality.
To make sure that regulation is used only when necessary and that the burdens they impose are proportionate to their aim, the Commission has a number of processes and tools in place. In 2002 the EU adopted a policy on Better Regulation for its institutions. Key elements of this policy are that regulations should be made in accordance with a set of principles (necessity, proportionality, subsidiarity, transparency, accountability, accessibility and simplicity), making full use of impact assessments and consultation as tools of good governance.
The OECD has undertaken studies of regulatory reform in more than 20 OECD countries under the aegis of its Working Party on Regulatory Management, in which the European Commission participates. From these studies and other OECD reports, the EC has developed a good understanding of the development of better regulation-type policies in EU Member States. These policies are variously described as Better Regulation or Regulating Better, and they appear as either explicit policies designed to improve the quality of policy-making and regulation or as part of wider programmes on governance or public administration reform.
In 2004 the EC asked SIGMA to undertake a study of the regulatory management capacities of seven new EU Member States (Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and Slovenia). The study was extended in 2005 to the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Peer reviews were carried out in all ten countries in 2005 and 2006. Detailed country reports and a synthesis report were finalised in December 2006.Orientations for regulatory management in the participating countries can be found in Regulatory Management Capacities of Member States of the European Union that Joined the Union on 1 May 2004 (SIGMA Paper No 42, 2007).
In 2007 SIGMA launched peer reviews of regulatory management capacities in Bulgaria and Romania; the final peer reports were forwarded to the EC (DG-Enterprise) in March 2008.
Reform programmes
SIGMA acts as advisor to countries on better regulation issues as well as undertaking its role as an assessor of regulatory management capacities in the framework of the yearly assessment process. SIGMA organised a series of seminars in 2005 and 2006 to raise awareness of better regulation issues in five new Member States (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Malta and Slovakia).
In May 2008 SIGMA co-organised with the Turkish Prime Ministry a seminar on "Administrative Simplification: An overarching policy to maintain a balance between the public interest and the needs of business", which was attended by policy-makers and decision-makers from central management agencies and line ministries.
Design and Implementation of Reform
In EU candidate and potential candidate countries, Sigma supports governments in designing and implementing public administration reform strategies and programmes. As Public Administration Reform (PAR) is a process that cuts across all spheres of government and is closely interlinked with EU accession and association, Sigma helps partner countries to establish the institutions and strengthen the capacities required to implement and monitor reform progress. Typical Sigma support includes analysis of the current state of public institutions, assessment of development needs, advice on strengthening policy formulation capacities, and assistance in applying principles and meeting standards set in the European Administrative Space.
Sigma also assists the EC/DG-Enlargement, EC Delegations and offices of the European Agency for Reconstruction (EAR) in elaborating PAR assistance projects in candidate countries and potential candidate countries. At the request of the EC, Sigma provides substantive input to project fiches and terms of reference (ToR) and participates as an independent expert in the tendering process.
Other OECD sources of information on policy and regulatory systems: Gov's work on regulatory policy.
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