RIA Good Regulatory Practices in Sweden and the

RIA, Good Regulatory Practices in Sweden and the EU to facilitate international trade Linda Bodén Sara Emanuelsson

The National Board of Trade Sweden’s government agency for trade and EU internal market

Mission To facilitate free and open trade with transparent rules as well as free movement within the EU internal market.

via Open Trade Gate Sweden, responds to queries about exports contributes to the developing countries’ integration into global trade offers assistance in efforts to improve skills and capacity building

Legislative procedure in Sweden Initiating the regulative work (mandate/responsibilities/roles) RIA and draft regulation Submission internally/externally/Formal consultation Better Regulation Council/Notification Decision

RIAs in Sweden • RIAs are mandatory when issuing a regulation (Ordinance on Regulatory Impact Assessment). • Swedish government agencies often carry out RIAs and regulations in projects. • Swedish equivalent of Zambian BRRA=The Swedish Better Regulation Council

What should a Swedish RIA contain? • The existing problem and what is to be achieved by the proposed legislation • The alternative solutions that exist to achieve the desired result • Who will be affected by the regulation • Economic and other impacts of the regulation • An evaluation of the consistency with obligations in the EU and WTO • An evaluation on whether specific consideration is needed for the date of entry into force

Effects on business • Companies affected with regard to quantity, size and sector • Expenditure of time and the administrative costs • What the regulation involves for the compliance costs Estimating administrative costs: • Effects on competition conditions 10 000 Zambian companies Report 2 hours/ 4 times annually Salary administrative assistant: 10 Kw/hr 8 x 10= 80 Kwacha/company 80 x 10000=800 0000 Kwacha administrative burden • Other effects on businesses • Special account to small businesses?

RIAs in the EU • Set out the logical reasoning that links the problem, objectives and a range of policy options to tackle the problem. • 12 week public consultation. • Comparison of policy options • EU equivalent of BRRA in Zambia= Regulatory Scrutiny Board • Positive opinion from RSB required

How to gather information from stakeholders? • Systematic information gathering • Working groups and committees • Reach out

Forum for Technical Rules The Government Offices, Ministry for Foreign Affairs Public authorities Standardisation Organisations Business Organisations Individual Companies

• Informal set up – flexible meetings • Up-date on ongoing issues • No time frames or set formats • Different stakeholders participates depending on agenda • No possibility to formal consultation and/or decision making power • Hosting the group requires constant work to modify and develop the activities to match the constantly changing audience

EU consultation • Available online • Search for keywords • Long periods if possible • Difficult to reach out • Many Member States use their European organisations

The challenge? • Rules to observe before contacting businesses • Timely response from companies, often very busy • Finding a good format for effective communication: • speak the same language • be well informed about the business and its role in the market and the area negotiated • take care of the contacts in the long run (give and take) • Give feedback on how the information has been used! ü Evaluate the need of contact! ü Be effective in your communication! ü Be well informed! ü Be prepared to give something in return!

New tools to gather information

l l o F … t a s u w o kommers. se/In-English @kommerskoll