Better Regulation Practices across the European Union
Laws and regulations affect the daily lives of businesses and citizens. High-quality laws promote national welfare and growth, while badly designed laws hinder growth, harm the environment and put the health of citizens at risk. This report analyses practices to improve the quality of laws and regulations across all 28 EU Member States and the European Union. It systematically assesses the use of evidence and stakeholder participation in the design and review of domestic laws and regulations based on the OECD Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance. It also provides insights into individual Member States’ use of regulatory management tools as they relate to EU laws. The report presents good regulatory practices and highlights areas that should receive further attention and investment.
Malta
Since its first better regulation strategy introduced a decade ago, the Maltese government has put a strong emphasis on the improvement of the regulatory environment for businesses and citizens and the reduction of regulatory burdens. The “Small Business Act” (SBA), adopted in 2011 and revised in 2017, introduced a framework for ex ante impact assessment to be applied by ministries when developing regulations, including an SME-Test. RIA is however only formally obliged for subordinate regulations. Separately, the Maltese government has conducted several ad hoc reviews of existing laws and regulations in specific sectors aiming at reducing administrative burdens. However, Malta currently lacks a systematic approach towards reviewing whether laws and regulations achieved the intended policy goals, including a requirement to periodically evaluate existing regulations and a standardised methodology for ex post evaluation.
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