UNDP | Virtual Resource Centre - Ex-ante Policy Impact Assessment

Ex-ante Policy Impact Assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Legal background

Basic requirements for IA have been introduced in January 2005 by the “Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting” (URLD) passed by the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. The initiation of the adoption of IA within this document came from the Legal and Constitutional Committees of both Houses of Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. Due to vague constitutional division of competencies in this field, the rules passed by BiH Parliamentary Assembly are applicable only at the state-level of BiH, but BiH Parliamentary Assembly recommended to other levels of government in BiH to pass it in the same/similar content.

The “Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting” sets out very basic requirements in terms of conducting IA. It obliges proponents of legislation to provide information on IA in explanatory memorandum without setting any methodological guidelines how to carry it out in a systematic manner throughout the process of policy making and law drafting. Such explanatory memorandum should contain particularly the assessment of necessary financial resources, their sources and method of their ensuring for implementation of the regulation, assessment of expected costs and benefits from the introduction of regulation and of potential alternatives to the regulation, economic costs to be covered by companies, citizens and other levels of authority in BiH that will be charged with its implementation, costs of the choice of policy and administrative formalities, administrative and fiscal costs for the regulation as well as of the non-regulatory alternatives, including the costs of implementation of the regulation.

The URLD, together with BiH CoM’s Rules of Procedure and Rules of Procedure of both Houses of BiH Parliamentary Assembly envisage obligation of proponents of legislation to provide information on:

a) constitutional and legal grounds for the introduction of the regulation,

b) reasons for introduction of the regulation and explanation of the policy opted for,

c) level of harmonization of regulation with European legislation,

d) mechanisms of implementation and manner of ensuring observance of regulation,

f) description of consultations carried out in the process of drafting the regulation, and

g) timeframe of potential revision of the introduced regulation.

In October 2006, the BiH CoM passed the Regulations on Consultations in Legislative Drafting, elaborating a bit further on Article 75 of the BiH URLD dealing with consultation process in a slightly narrower manner. These regulations establish procedures for consultation with the public and organizations to be followed by all ministries and other institutions of BiH. However, these regulations have failed to introduce an obligation to proponents of legislation to start the consultation process early in the policy development stage, but unfortunately they provide for the consultation process to start only once the legislative draft is being developed. The BiH CoM Consultations Regulations differentiate between legislation with significant public impact (e.g. legislation effecting a change of legal status, legislation effecting a change in economic status, legislation conforming to international standards, legislation affecting the environment) and those legislation with insignificant public impact (e.g. amendments to correct spelling or other grammatical mistakes in the existing legislation, legislation codifying or otherwise consolidating, reorganizing or shifting provisions to different sections of the same piece of legislation without substantive change, and/or in similar cases). The institution in charge of developing the legal act is obliged to consider which organizations and individuals are most likely to be interested in or affected by the legislation and who would most likely provide valuable comments, and solicit their views. The level of implementation of the Regulation on Consultations is not visible at all in practice. One of the reasons is that there is no central coordinating body to oversee and enforce their consistent application in practice. This is meant to be addressed through the upcoming reform of BiH CoM General Secretariat.

Institutional background

At present, there is no dedicated body in BiH responsible for coordinating IA efforts or reviewing the quality of conducted IA on central level. Consequently, there is not a particular administrative body responsible for methodological issues in IA and trainings.

Nevertheless, the BiH PAR Strategy envisages in its Chapter 4.1.1 strengthening of the General Secretariat of BiH Council of Ministers (but also General Secretariats of entity governments in BiH) to assume this role over the following 5 years, and so to develop into a central policy coordination unit. The Action Plan envisions among other measures also the power to review drafts and other submissions received from ministries, and return them for further work, if necessary. The reviews may concern both formal aspects (e.g., whether all required signatures and attachments are included, and all required consultations have taken place), and substantial aspects of the proposal. The latter must ensure: that the issue has been analyzed in sufficient depth; alternative policy options have been taken into consideration and appropriately assessed; inter-ministerial issues have been settled; cross-sectoral issues of concern have been addressed appropriately; and the proposal is in line with government priorities and policies, including policy initiatives still under consideration.

Line ministries are supposed to carry out Impact Assessment. The URLD set a requirement to each ministry and other administrative bodies at the state level of the country to establish either “a unit for “normative affairs”, comprised of two or more civil servants with special competence of drafting and processing normative acts, or a workplace of specialist for “normative affairs”, explicitly competent for drafting normative acts”. Apparently, there is supposed to be delineation between the process of strategic planning and policy formulation and law drafting process which will require establishment of central units for strategic planning and policy development, including impact assessment, within each ministry that will be subordinated to the secretary of the ministry and be at the disposal to all other ministry departments. Except BiH Ministry of Justice which has established, in November 2006, the Sector for Strategic Planning, Aid Coordination and EU Integration, there is currently no specific unit within BiH state-level ministries to conduct IA.

Relevant areas of Impact Assessment

IA areas do not correspond to specific ministries, but each ministry or other administrative body is obliged to individually carry out IA and provide required information in explanatory memorandum. Only at later stage (i.e. prior to consideration of drafted regulation by CoM and its committees) there are specific ministries and other administrative bodies responsible to verify conducted IAs in areas of their expertise (e.g. Ministry of Finance verifies the fiscal impact).

Related activities

UNDP CO in BiH, together with the EC Delegation in BiH, and State, entity and Brcko District Civil Service Agencies designed and conducted a systematic training programme to meet the major identified training needs of civil servants in BiH, at state and entity levels through the Civil Service Training Programme in BiH (CSTP). This UNDP-led Project, among other training activities, encompassed training in the field of strategic planning, policy making (including IA) and law drafting. It was carried out over the period of one year, ending in November 2006, and had covered civil servants of the state and entity layers of governments (mainly ministry staff, with the focus on state-level ministry staff). Detailed information on the training, its curricula as well as the training materials, can be retrieved from the following link: - http://cstp.undp.ba/index.aspx?

Existing guidelines, methodology, tools

There are no existing guidelines developed by Bosnian institutions re ex-ante Impact Assessment.

Documents:

Public Administration Reform Strategy

(http://www.parco.gov.ba/cms/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=27&Itemid=42)

http://www.usaidjsdp.ba/en/dokumenti/Components/Component3/public_consultations/Regulations%20On%20Consultations%20In%20Legislative%20Drafting.pdf

Regulations on Consultations in Legislative Drafting

Latest News in the Regional Project on Ex-ante Impact Assessment

Guide for Practitioners: Ex-ante policy impact assessment vis-a-vis vulnerable groups in South Eastern Europe

July 2009

Workspace - network of regional professionals launched

September 2008

PIA Mapping available in Serbian

July 2008 Download (2mb)

First regional training on PIA
June 2008 More

Introductory PIA training course in Serbia
5 June 2008 Read

PIA Mapping available in Russian
April 2008 Read

Mapping of Ex-ante PIA Tools and Experiences in Europe published
March 2008 More

Steering Committee meeting in Budapest
29 February 2008 Read

Mapping of ex-ante Impact Assessment Experiences and Tools in Europe
October 2007 Read

Introduction to Impact Assessment training for policy units in Moldova
June 2007, Chisinau Read

Menu Home Library PIA Process and Best Practices UNDP regional project on Ex-ante Policy Impact Assessment Country Overviews Contacts Partners Local Government and public Service Reform Initiative (LGI) Links World Bank OECD European Union Oslo Governance Centre UNDP Europe & CIS Democratic Governance practice SIGMA - Support for Improvement in Governance and Management Impact Assessment Board Center for Policy Studies Network of IA practitioners Members - login Would like to join the network? - please send an email describing your interest in PIA.	Ex-ante Policy Impact Assessment in Bosnia and Herzegovina Legal background Basic requirements for IA have been introduced in January 2005 by the *“Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting” (URLD)* passed by the BiH Parliamentary Assembly. The initiation of the adoption of IA within this document came from the Legal and Constitutional Committees of both Houses of Parliamentary Assembly of BiH. Due to vague constitutional division of competencies in this field, the rules passed by BiH Parliamentary Assembly are applicable only at the state-level of BiH, but BiH Parliamentary Assembly recommended to other levels of government in BiH to pass it in the same/similar content. The “Uniform Rules for Legislative Drafting” sets out very basic requirements in terms of conducting IA. It obliges proponents of legislation to provide information on IA in explanatory memorandum without setting any methodological guidelines how to carry it out in a systematic manner throughout the process of policy making and law drafting. Such explanatory memorandum should contain particularly the assessment of necessary financial resources, their sources and method of their ensuring for implementation of the regulation, assessment of expected costs and benefits from the introduction of regulation and of potential alternatives to the regulation, economic costs to be covered by companies, citizens and other levels of authority in BiH that will be charged with its implementation, costs of the choice of policy and administrative formalities, administrative and fiscal costs for the regulation as well as of the non-regulatory alternatives, including the costs of implementation of the regulation. The URLD, together with BiH CoM’s Rules of Procedure and Rules of Procedure of both Houses of BiH Parliamentary Assembly envisage obligation of proponents of legislation to provide information on: a) constitutional and legal grounds for the introduction of the regulation, b) reasons for introduction of the regulation and explanation of the policy opted for, c) level of harmonization of regulation with European legislation, d) mechanisms of implementation and manner of ensuring observance of regulation, f) description of consultations carried out in the process of drafting the regulation, and g) timeframe of potential revision of the introduced regulation. In October 2006, the BiH CoM passed the Regulations on Consultations in Legislative Drafting, elaborating a bit further on Article 75 of the BiH URLD dealing with consultation process in a slightly narrower manner. These regulations establish procedures for consultation with the public and organizations to be followed by all ministries and other institutions of BiH. However, these regulations have failed to introduce an obligation to proponents of legislation to start the consultation process early in the policy development stage, but unfortunately they provide for the consultation process to start only once the legislative draft is being developed. The BiH CoM Consultations Regulations differentiate between legislation with significant public impact (e.g. legislation effecting a change of legal status, legislation effecting a change in economic status, legislation conforming to international standards, legislation affecting the environment) and those legislation with insignificant public impact (e.g. amendments to correct spelling or other grammatical mistakes in the existing legislation, legislation codifying or otherwise consolidating, reorganizing or shifting provisions to different sections of the same piece of legislation without substantive change, and/or in similar cases). The institution in charge of developing the legal act is obliged to consider which organizations and individuals are most likely to be interested in or affected by the legislation and who would most likely provide valuable comments, and solicit their views. The level of implementation of the Regulation on Consultations is not visible at all in practice. One of the reasons is that there is no central coordinating body to oversee and enforce their consistent application in practice. This is meant to be addressed through the upcoming reform of BiH CoM General Secretariat. Institutional background At present, there is no dedicated body in BiH responsible for coordinating IA efforts or reviewing the quality of conducted IA on central level. Consequently, there is not a particular administrative body responsible for methodological issues in IA and trainings. Nevertheless, the BiH PAR Strategy envisages in its Chapter 4.1.1 strengthening of the General Secretariat of BiH Council of Ministers (but also General Secretariats of entity governments in BiH) to assume this role over the following 5 years, and so to develop into a central policy coordination unit. The Action Plan envisions among other measures also the power to review drafts and other submissions received from ministries, and return them for further work, if necessary. The reviews may concern both formal aspects (e.g., whether all required signatures and attachments are included, and all required consultations have taken place), and substantial aspects of the proposal. The latter must ensure: that the issue has been analyzed in sufficient depth; alternative policy options have been taken into consideration and appropriately assessed; inter-ministerial issues have been settled; cross-sectoral issues of concern have been addressed appropriately; and the proposal is in line with government priorities and policies, including policy initiatives still under consideration. Line ministries are supposed to carry out Impact Assessment. The URLD set a requirement to each ministry and other administrative bodies at the state level of the country to establish either “a unit for “normative affairs”, comprised of two or more civil servants with special competence of drafting and processing normative acts, or a workplace of specialist for “normative affairs”, explicitly competent for drafting normative acts”. Apparently, there is supposed to be delineation between the process of strategic planning and policy formulation and law drafting process which will require establishment of central units for strategic planning and policy development, including impact assessment, within each ministry that will be subordinated to the secretary of the ministry and be at the disposal to all other ministry departments. Except BiH Ministry of Justice which has established, in November 2006, the Sector for Strategic Planning, Aid Coordination and EU Integration, there is currently no specific unit within BiH state-level ministries to conduct IA. Relevant areas of Impact Assessment IA areas do not correspond to specific ministries, but each ministry or other administrative body is obliged to individually carry out IA and provide required information in explanatory memorandum. Only at later stage (i.e. prior to consideration of drafted regulation by CoM and its committees) there are specific ministries and other administrative bodies responsible to verify conducted IAs in areas of their expertise (e.g. Ministry of Finance verifies the fiscal impact). Related activities UNDP CO in BiH, together with the EC Delegation in BiH, and State, entity and Brcko District Civil Service Agencies designed and conducted a systematic training programme to meet the major identified training needs of civil servants in BiH, at state and entity levels through the Civil Service Training Programme in BiH (CSTP). This UNDP-led Project, among other training activities, encompassed training in the field of strategic planning, policy making (including IA) and law drafting. It was carried out over the period of one year, ending in November 2006, and had covered civil servants of the state and entity layers of governments (mainly ministry staff, with the focus on state-level ministry staff). Detailed information on the training, its curricula as well as the training materials, can be retrieved from the following link: - http://cstp.undp.ba/index.aspx? Existing guidelines, methodology, tools There are no existing guidelines developed by Bosnian institutions re ex-ante Impact Assessment. Documents: Public Administration Reform Strategy (http://www.parco.gov.ba/cms/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=27&Itemid=42) http://www.usaidjsdp.ba/en/dokumenti/Components/Component3/public_consultations/Regulations%20On%20Consultations%20In%20Legislative%20Drafting.pdf Regulations on Consultations in Legislative Drafting	Latest News in the Regional Project on Ex-ante Impact Assessment Guide for Practitioners: Ex-ante policy impact assessment vis-a-vis vulnerable groups in South Eastern Europe July 2009 Workspace - network of regional professionals launched September 2008 PIA Mapping available in Serbian July 2008 Download (2mb) First regional training on PIA June 2008 More The first regional training on Cross-cutting ex-ante Policy Impact Assessment issues, with special focus on poverty reduction and ensuring equal opportunities for vulnerable and marginalized groups, will take place on 23-27 June 2008 in Budapest. Introductory PIA training course in Serbia 5 June 2008 Read Introductory training on Ex-ante Impact Assessment has been organized for civil servants, civil society representatives and UNDP staff in Serbia. The training was delivered by Ms. Katarina Staronova, international expert on policy impact assessment; consultant in the regional PIA project. Participants were satisfied with the contents of the training, however, they expressed a wish of having more hours (days) of training on impact assessment and related issues (e.g. instruments). Training was organized in 3 main thematic blocks: introduction to IA framework and concepts within the policy development model analysis of a real case study on impact assessments conducted in UK, where key elements of IA were analysed in relation to recommendation from the European Union (Mendelkern Report) and conditions of Serbia procedural issues on conducting impact assessment The training provided a unique opportunity for the start up of a network among UNDP Serbia employees, civil servants responsible for IA introduction in the country and this network should be further developed and followed up. PIA Mapping available in Russian April 2008 Read Данное руководство содержит описание методики и практического опыта проведения предварительной оценки влияния (ОВ) с обращением особого внимания на уменьшение бедности и обеспечение равных возможностей для уязвимых и изолированных групп. Руководство основывется на региональном опыте, накопленном в результате оценки систем ОВ и оценки нужд в обучении, проведённых в четырёх странах (Сербия, Хорватия, Босния и Герцеговина, Молдова), а также на уроках, извлечённых из реального осуществления проектов ОВ в разных странах. Публикация ставит своей целью обеспечить практиков доступными методами и передовым опытом проведения предварительной оценки влияния в Европе и СНГ и, таким образом, посредством улучшенного процесса принятия решений повлиять на уменьшение уровня бедности. Целью руководства также является поддержка развития местного потенциала в области стандартов ЕС. Click for document Mapping of Ex-ante PIA Tools and Experiences in Europe published March 2008 More Designing and Delivering UNDP’s 1st Regional Training on Cross-Cutting Issues of Ex-ante Policy Impact Assessment. Information International Consultant - Quality assurance of the 1st Regional Training on Ex-ante Impact Assessment. Information Steering Committee meeting in Budapest 29 February 2008 Read After discussing the results of the project’s first year and reporting on the status of national projects the Steering Committee accepted the work-plan of the project for 2008. Regarding substantive activities, the following targets have been set: 1. 1st Regional training on cross-cutting issues of IA - June 2008 (estimated time) 2. 2nd regional training – late Autumn (tentative) 3. Supporting CO projects throughout the year 4. Pilot Impact Assessments – based on the needs of the participating countries 5. Build up and roll out the Virtual Resource Centre – including an interactive workspace linked to regional trainings Regarding operational matters, the following has been agreed: 1. Virtual meetings of the Steering Committee will be held throughout the year 2. Regular updates from BRC – every two months – will be sent 3. Searching for more entry points at the CO level besides the one focal project 4. Setting key deadlines Mapping of ex-ante Impact Assessment Experiences and Tools in Europe October 2007 Read A team of two international consultants with the support of national consultants have completed the mapping of ex-ante Impact Assessment experiences and tools in Europe, with special focus on the relevant practices applied in the four participating countries. A Training Needs Assessment has been also carried out in each of the countries. Planning of future regional training has been initiated and a virtual resource centre is being developed. Introduction to Impact Assessment training for policy units in Moldova June 2007, Chisinau Read Introductory training for the newly established policy units in line ministries has been organized in Moldova on June 19, 2007. The UNDP Moldova Country Office approached UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre with the request for support for this introductory training within the framework of the regional project. Ms. Katarina Staronova, an international consultant, has been sent to Chisinau to provide the training. The training was organized in 4 main thematic blocks: 1) Introduction to IA concepts and theories 2) Analysis of real case studies of impact assessments conducted in the UK, where key elements of IA were analyzed in relation to recommendation from the European Union (Mendelkern Report) and conditions of Moldova 3) IA in broader context of policy making processes and management (consultation process, quality assurance, compliance problems, monitoring, etc.) 4) Brainstorming on the mandate of the policy units (coordination horizontal and vertical, vis-à-vis Ministry of Economy, vis-à-vis substantive departments, role in the process of IA, etc.) The participants were satisfied with the contents of the training, and expressed a wish to have more hours (days) of training on impact assessment and related issues (e.g. instruments).
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