From policy to implementation
The Dutch Cabinet has reached consensus on the package of concrete measures
with which it aims to tackle administrative burdens for businesses. With this,
the Cabinet is fleshing out the objective of the outline agreement to reduce
administrative burdens for the business sector in 2007 by a quarter (net)
compared to 2002. At the same time, per ministry, the Cabinet has determined a
maximum of administrative burdens for 2005, 2006 and 2007. This concerns an
annual net burden ‘ceiling’ that is maintained parallel to the
budget cycle. This means that ministries will have to compensate any increases.
This and other rules that the Dutch Cabinet maintains internally in this regard
are outlined in Annex 2 of the 2004
Cabinet letter “More leeway
for businesses thanks to fewer burdens”.
Administrative burdens have long needed addressing: meeting government
information obligations costs businesses in the Netherlands over 16 billion
euros a year. With this package of measures, the Cabinet aims to increase
competition and give companies more leeway for entrepreneurship.
The reduction of the administrative burden for businesses is on schedule.
In 2007, the Government’s objective will be attained. In some fields,
entrepreneurs have noted increases, e.g. by the introduction of the new
healthcare system or financial supervision, but as stated by the Government
beforehand in its own ‘rules of the game’ such increases have to be
compensated. All in all, the net administrative burden of laws and regulations
is reduced by a quarter in 2007. Below, please find a nationwide overview of
the development of the administrative burden in the period 2003-2007.
Some
small changes have occurred compared to the picture presented in the Government
letter ‘A Central Role for the Entrepreneur’ of April 2006. These
changes for the most part cancel each other out. The total reduction increases
slightly in 2007. For a general explanation of the statistics, the Government
refers to Annexe 7 of the 2007 Budget Memorandum.
|
Cumulative overview of the
reduction
|
through 2005
|
through 2006
|
through 2007
|
|
Finance
|
646
|
786
|
915
|
|
Social Affairs & Employment
|
388
|
541
|
680
|
|
Health, Welfare & Sport
|
- 1
|
676
|
755
|
|
Justice
|
60
|
144
|
903
|
|
Housing, Spatial Planning &
the Environment
|
96
|
160
|
519
|
|
Transport, Public Works &
Water Management
|
137
|
197
|
264
|
|
Economic
Affairs
|
28
|
43
|
60
|
|
Agriculture,
Nature & Food Quality
|
122
|
148
|
158
|
|
Education,
Culture & Science
|
0,2
|
0,5
|
5
|
|
Interior
& Kingdom Relations
|
- 14
|
- 13
|
- 9
|
|
Total
net reduction
|
1463
(9%)
|
2697
(16,4%)
|
4251
(25,9%)
|
Some small changes have occurred compared to the picture presented in the
Government letter ‘A Central Role for the Entrepreneur’ of April
2006. These changes for the most part cancel each other out. The total
reduction increases slightly in 2007. For a general explanation of the
statistics, the Government refers to Annexe 7 of the 2007 Budget Memorandum.
The Government recently sent an extensive report to Parliament including
a reply to the Smeets motion and
the results of an ex post measurement carried out by the Government in relation
to six efficiency measures. This report already noted that the EIM established
that almost 88% of the measures implemented through 2005 benefited small and
medium-sized enterprises. The EIM therefore, within the scope of the reply to
the Sylvester motion , established that 75% of the total reduction benefits
entrepreneurs with less than 10 employees.
As already stated by the Government in the said report, both the
departments involved and businesses experienced the ex post survey as a useful
exercise. An ex post survey provides insight into the actual results of the
intended increase of efficiency and suggest new ideas to further reduce the
administrative burden for businesses. Measures are therefore periodically
subjected to random ex post surveys. At present, a second round of ex post
surveys is carried out. These surveys are almost completed. Once they are
completed, Parliament will be informed of these surveys, and the implications
of the results for the series of measures.
The preceding paragraphs already show that some important measures still
have to be implemented in 2007. To be absolutely sure, the Government had another
risk assessment carried out to safeguard the timely implementation of those
measures.
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Implementation risks
The underlying graph illustrates the progress of the reductions from
2003 up to and including 2007. This involves net reductions that together total
one quarter. Any increases are thus factored into this. Among other things,
this entails increases due to implementing EU directives in the area of general
product safety, allergens, vibrations, tradable emission rights and the
European substances policy (REACH). Furthermore, an increase is expected in the
field of the new pension legislation, extra measures in the area of consumer
protection re., energy, telecommunication and post and the introduction of a
statutory regulation for providing information on the placement of cables and
pipe systems.
Cumulative
progress of net size of administrative burdens (2002=100)
It is crucial that the administrative burdens remain at this lower level
in the longer term. The determined maximum for administrative costs per
ministry will thus be maintained: if new administrative burdens occur, they
will have to be compensated (‘ceiling’). Furthermore, during the
Dutch EU Presidency the Cabinet invested in increasing and structurally
embedding the focus on administrative burdens in existing and future EU
legislation. Finally, the Cabinet has identified the underlying mechanisms that
consistently lead to new red tape, to see if this offers leeway for the further
long-term reduction of administrative burdens.
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Net reductions
In September 2006 a previously performed risk assessment was updated. The total
reduction potential of the examined measures amounts to € 2.5 billion
(94%) of the total series of measures realized in 2006 and 2007.
The most important outcome of this update is that the intended reduction
will almost fully be realized. Compared to the previous risk assessment the
controllability has further increased. In some cases, additional measures of
control are required, but these have already been taken by the departments.
As regards the reduction proposals Labelling Health Protection, the
Seamen’s Decree and part of the Prices Act (total administrative burden
of € 126 million), it will be virtually impossible to realize them in
good time, even if additional measures of control are taken. All three cases
concern situations in which European politics and regulations play a major part
and in which the Dutch influence is limited. The Government therefore already
wrote off the intended reduction in an earlier stage.
The result of the risk analysis underlines that concrete implementation
mainly relies on managing the risks involved. Almost all risks are manageable,
but this demands extra effort on the part of the ministries. Ministries will
use the outcome of the risk analysis to take suitable management measures. It
calls for ministerial direction and the deployment of instruments such as
research, communication and information to move the chain partners in the field
to cooperation. The cooperation of the business sector is sometimes essential
in realising reductions.
The measures that called for amendments to legislation have been presented to
parliament. Prompt realisation of the measures also demands that other parties,
such as the Lower House, make every effort to help reduce the burdens or help
prevent them from rising. This means that all involved will also need to weigh
up the need to want to regulate matters and make refinements against the desire
to reduce the burdens and ‘let go’ more.
Because of the positive experiences the risk analysis has offered a welcome
support to the prompt realisation of the Cabinet’s reduction
objective.
Total Overview
Annex “Package of most important 2003-2007 measures” of
the October
2006 Cabinet letter.
(2) Parliamentary Documents II, 2005-2006, 30300,
XIII.
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