Ex-ante Policy Impact Assessment in Lithuania

Legal background

In February 2003 the Government of Lithuania adopted the Government Resolution No. 276 on mandatory regulatory impact assessment for all draft legislation submitted to the Government. The Government also recommended it to line ministries, county administrations and municipal governments while issuing their own ordinances.
 
The first serious regulatory reform was undertaken in 2000-2001. Two commissions have been set up in 2000. The Sunrise commission aimed at improving business conditions. The Sunset commission targeted the reform of public administration with an introduction of elements of new public management including strategic planning. Both commissions enjoyed high political support and set ambitious targets. Within the sunrise initiative, there were 12 working groups created on almost all aspects of business conditions and regulation in general, including customs, taxation matters, labor market regulation and others. The Sunrise commission recommended 181 measures to be implemented in all these areas. About half of them were implemented.
 
Institutional background
 
The Sigma report has been translated into Lithuanian and the country is heading towards the development of a substantial Better Regulation policy.
 
Regular inter-ministerial meetings are being held in order to resolve conflicts between the different policy interests and priorities before a policy proposal is being sent for final decision to the government.
 
The Office of Government plays key role regarding quality assurance of the policy making process. The review of the Office of Government also ensures that the proposed regulation is in compliance with the national plans and strategies. The Legal Division is responsible for reviewing the drafts from the legality point of view and pays particular attention to the legal technicalities. Its key advantage is that since it is represented at the State Secretaries it can influence the development of draft policy/regulation proposals before they are submitted for final decision to the Government.
 
Relevant areas of IA
 
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Related activities
 
 
Existing guidelines
 
A Manual on Regulatory Impact Assessment was drawn up, which recommends that institutions dealing with EU institutions or developing proposals that may have significant economic or social impacts should carry on ex-ante impact assessments.
 
 
Documents, links