Effectiveness of procedures for public consultation and stakeholder engagement during policy development

Public consultation is mandatory for draft laws

A regulation must stipulate the requirements and procedures for public consultation of draft laws, governmental secondary legislation, ministerial secondary legislation and sector planning documents.

Public consultation is mandatory for draft secondary legislation adopted by the government

A regulation must stipulate the requirements and procedures for public consultation of draft laws, governmental secondary legislation, ministerial secondary legislation and sector planning documents.

Public consultation is mandatory for draft sector planning documents

A regulation must stipulate the requirements and procedures for public consultation of draft laws, governmental secondary legislation, ministerial secondary legislation and sector planning documents.

Public consultation is mandatory for draft normative secondary legislation adopted by ministers

A regulation must stipulate the requirements and procedures for public consultation of draft laws, governmental secondary legislation, ministerial secondary legislation and sector planning documents.

A minimum duration for public consultation is established

The minimum duration for public consultation (for all types of policy documents that are required to be consulted) must be established by regulations.

The lead ministry is required to report on the outcome of public consultation

According to requirements, the lead ministry must report on the outcome of public consultation as part of the documentation submitted with the agenda items for government sessions, including the list of comments submitted and feedback to them (whether accepted or not, if not accepted, an explanation is provided).

All relevant supporting documents need to be published alongside draft legislation under consultation

According to requirements, all relevant supporting documents (e.g. explanatory notes, regulatory impact assessments (RIA), depending on what was prepared and submitted to the government alongside the draft legal act) must be published together with the draft law or regulation for public consultation.

A government institution is consistently reviewing compliance with consultation requirements

An institution must have reviewed and provided an opinion on compliance of consultation of all draft laws and draft sector planning documents with established consultation requirements.

Guidelines on how to conduct public consultations are available online

Guidelines on how to conduct public consultations according to the established requirements are available online.

Perceived availability of guidance for conducting public consultation by public servants (%)

Analysis of survey responses from a sample of public servants working on policy development to the following question or statement: “To what extent do you agree with the following statement: Guidance, advice and support are available for conducting public consultations”. Answer options are: Strongly disagree, Tend to disagree, Neither disagree nor agree, Tend to agree, Strongly agree, Do not know, Prefer not to answer. Points are allocated based on the percentage of respondents who replied “Tend to agree” and “Strongly agree” to the survey question (x): • x < 10% = 0 points. • 10% ≤ x < 90% = linear function. • x ≥ 90% = 3 points.

Consistency in publishing draft laws and draft sector planning documents for public consultation (%)

Compare the total number of draft laws (except for the state budget law and laws ratifying international agreements) and draft sector planning documents submitted to the government during the latest full calendar year (based on the administrative data provided by the government or governmental reports) with the number of draft laws and draft sector planning documents for which written public consultation was carried out (based on administrative data provided by the government or governmental reports, verified by review of central or ministerial websites). The number of laws / documents for which written public consultation was carried out is divided by the total number of laws / documents and is expressed as a percentage. The share is calculated separately for draft laws and for draft sector planning documents to be aware of the consistency of consulting both types of documents, but only the combined share of both document types is used for point allocation. Checks are carried out on the full information provided by the government to ensure that public consultation was carried out for all draft laws and sector policy plans that went to the government for approval. In case any inconsistencies are found, the criterion are considered not fulfilled. Further checks are carried out based on a review of the actual documents of selected cases. A sample of five draft laws, five sector policy plans and supporting documents, including public consultation reports, are selected and reviewed. Points are allocated only if there is no evidence of inconsistencies with the data provided by the administration. Points are allocated based on the percentage of written public consultation used for draft laws and draft sector planning documents (x): • x < 60% = 0 points. • 60% ≤ x < 90% = linear function. • x ≥ 90% = 15 points.

The central portal is consistently used for written public consultation (%)

The existence of a central portal for consultation of draft proposals (legislation as well as sector planning documents) approved or adopted by the government is verified first. The central portal (as opposed to the individual consultation websites of individual line ministries) should enable the consultation of all draft laws and draft sector planning documents, which have been prepared by the line ministries and which are submitted to the government for approval/adoption. If the portal exists, the percentage of draft laws and sector planning documents is calculated, which were published for written public consultation on the portal (using the total number of laws and sector planning documents published for written online public consultation). The number of consulted draft laws and draft sector planning documents is established based on administrative data provided by the administration. Points are allocated based on the percentage of consultations taking place on the central website/portal (x): • x < 60% = 0 points. • 60% ≤ x < 100% = linear function. • x = 100% = 4 points.