Annual Report 2009

Annual Report 2009

Annual Report 2009

Smooth-running

Actal assists lawmakers in easing the regulatory burden on businesses, citizens,institutions, professionals and fellow authorities automatically and permanently, with the ultimate aim of creating a smooth-running society. To illustrate this we havephotographed streamlined, largely automated, production processes.

The fascinating, makeable process in which everything ‘runs smoothly’ is a metaphorfor a society in which efficient, sophisticated lawmaking minimizes obstacles andmaximizes smoothness.

Contents

Foreword 5

1 Internalization and anchoring 72 Status of reduction in regulatory pressure 113 Advice on regulatory proposals 164 Strategic advice 215 Reduction in regulatory pressure at local level 286 Reduction in regulatory pressure at international level 31

Annexes1 Advisory opinions 362 Studies 383 Actal 39

Foreword

The Hague, March 2010

Businesses, citizens, professionals, fellow authorities and institutions all need to feel inpractice that rules and procedures are being streamlined. The time and money consumedby red tape and unnecessarily oppressive rules can be better spent on priming theeconomic engine and increasing the welfare of everyone in the Netherlands.

Actal’s mission is to bring about a culture transformation among lawmakers, whose duty itis to reduce the regulatory pressure automatically and on a permanent basis. Actal aims toachieve a structural situation of permanently low regulatory pressure. In 2009 Actal gave a new impetus to this mission by concluding covenants with ministries. In 2010 Actal willassess whether the ministries have demonstrated that they can stand on their own twofeet. It will also consider whether and how the experiment with the covenants can becontinued.

This year Actal celebrates its 10th anniversary. Its sphere of operations has steadily grown,the most recent expansion occurring in 2008 and relating to the regulatory pressure onprofessionals, fellow authorities and institutions. Actal’s sphere of operations also coversthe regulatory pressure on businesses and citizens. Not only central government, but alsofellow authorities do their best to reduce the regulatory pressure they cause. In 2010 Actalaims to redouble enthusiasm among fellow authorities to reduce regulatory pressure. Italso aims to give a further boost to restricting the regulatory pressure on professionals.

For the reduction of regulatory pressure in the Netherlands 2010 is the year of truth. Thechange in government together with the evaluation of the covenants, the investigationwithin ministries of developments in regard to the culture transformation and theevaluation of Actal itself invite reflection on a sustainable reduction of regulatory pressure.Actal is also looking forward to contributing to projecting the success of the Dutch modelinternationally.

In late 2009 Francine Giskes was appointed mayor of Texel and has terminated her workfor Actal. We look back with appreciation on her commitment to the organization. On 1 March 2010 Eric Helder joined the Board. Tjark de Lange, Eric Helder and I hope, togetherwith you, to be able to work on a structurally low level of regulatory pressure.

Steven R.A. van EijckChair of the Board

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1 Internalization and anchoring

Internalization Actal’s mission is to achieve a culture transformation among lawmakers resulting in a permanently low level of regulatory pressure. Each year Actal outlines in its WorkProgramme what activi ties it will employ to bring about this culture transformation. The objective of solicited and unsolicited strategic opinions is to call attention to mattersthat facilitate the culture transformation and that result in lower regulatory pressure.Actal has from the start dispensed advice on the consequences of legislative proposals foradministrative burdens on businesses and citizens. The aim of this advice is that politicaldecision-making should be preceded by a careful evaluation of interests, in particular anassessment of the consequences for administrative burdens. The concluding of covenantswith a number of ministries means that this advisory task with regard to regulatoryproposals changed in 2009.

The covenants are based on six criteria, which according to Actal determine structuralanchoring, and on Actal’s experience with the ministry in the ex ante review of regulatoryproposals. Each covenant contains agreements on how a ministry itself will undertake the review of proposed regulations. One of the agreements in the cove nant pertains to an evaluation in 2010. The covenants specify that Actal will conduct the evaluation, on the basis of which Actal will make recommendations for further buttressing internalassurance within the ministries. If the results of the evaluation give cause for doing so,Actal may resume its ex ante advisory task with regard to regulatory proposals.

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In 2009 Actal gave ministries the chance to stand on their own two feet in regardto the reduction of regulatory pressure.

Actal has concluded covenants with six ministries: Commencement date

1 Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality 17 December 20082 Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment and

Housing, Communities and Integration 11 June 20093 Justice 24 September 20094 Education, Culture and Science 23 November 20095 Economic Affairs 14 December 20096 Health, Welfare and Sport and Youth and Families 18 December 2009

It was not possible to conclude a covenant with the Ministry of Transport, Public Worksand Water Management and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment as thesedepartments had not yet met the six criteria by 1 January 2010. Moreover, Social Affairsand Employment had not performed satisfactorily with its proposed regulations. TheMinistry of Finance has opted to continue the ex ante review by Actal. For the reductiontarget to be achieved it is important for this Ministry to reduce the administrative burdenon businesses substantially. The Ministry of Finance also faces the task in the comingmonths of shaping major new regulations for the financial markets. In order to avert anincrease in regulatory pressure the department wishes to keep a ‘double lock on the door’.

Transport, Public Works and Water Management, Social Affairs and Employment, andFinance continue to submit their regulatory proposals to Actal. Actal continues to issue itsopinion prior to a regulation being debated by the Council of Ministers or (in the case ofsubordinate regulations) publication in the Government Gazette.

Finally, there are departments that hardly ever draw up regulations that haveconsequences for administrative burdens. These departments are therefore unable to build up sufficient expertise. From this perspective, Actal sees little point in concluding a covenant with General Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Development Cooperation, Interior and Kingdom Relations, or Defence.

Evaluation of ActalActal is an advisory body in the meaning of the Advisory Bodies Framework Act. This Actstipulates that advisory bodies must periodically evaluate their own performance. In 2010,Actal will be evaluated for the third time. The main question in the evaluation is whetherand to what extent Actal has contributed to realizing the culture transformation inministries, so that they independently and permanently curb regulatory pressure. Actal engages an independent investigating agency for the evaluation. The period to be investigated covers 1 January 2007 to mid-2010. The evaluation of the covenantsconstitutes a major part of the evaluation of Actal itself. It will also consider the findingsof the third internalization study.

Internalization In 2010 Actal is starting the third internalization study. This is a study of the progressmade in the culture transformation per ministry. The study focuses on the policy officialsand executive staff in the ministries.

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the criteria for structural anchoring

1 An internal administrative burdensteam conducts the Actal review.

2 The review of consequences foradministrative burdens can beindependently identified.

3 A member of the ministrymanagement is responsible.

4 The ministry keeps its know-how on the reduction of administrativeburdens up to standard.

5 The ministry keeps a systematicrecord of developments in theadministrative burden, maintains the ceiling and works together onthis with the coordinating ministries.

6 The ministry periodically examines allexisting legislation and regulationsfor possibilities for further reducingadministrative burdens.

As in the previous two internalization studies Actal will look at how departments score on the aspects of knowledge, attitude and conduct. Internalization is based on havingknowledge about reducing regulatory pressure and demonstrating a fitting attitude andconduct. The study also covers the organizational structure of the ministries. Actalassesses the structure on the basis of the six criteria. Preparations for this study were madein 2009; it will be conducted in the first half of 2010.

Investing in knowledge Together with the Ministry for Internal Affairs and Kingdom Relations and the SteeringGroup Regulatory Pressure, Actal has developed a ‘regulatory pressure and administrativeburdens‘ training course. The course commenced in late October 2009. It has beenintegrated into existing courses offered by the National Academy for Finance andEconomics (VOFHA and Financial Traineeship) and of the Dutch Institute for PublicAdministration ROI (Policy Theory I). The training course aims to increase knowledge onhow to tackle regulatory pressure and administra tive burdens. A brief introduction to the subject has been developed specially for new ministry employees. The intention is toinclude this introduction in the existing induction programmes for new employees.

In order to further expand knowledge on the reduction of regulatory pressure Actal hasinitiated the establishment of a chair in ‘Better Regulation’. Actal has brought together theMinistry of Economic Affairs and Erasmus University Rotterdam to achieve this initiative.The chair is expected to be established in mid-2010. In 2009 Actal also invested inupdating its website and the availability of publications in English. As a result, Actal isbetter able to meet requests for information which it regularly receives from abroad.

Actal is also searching for opportunities to familiarize students with its activitiesrelating to and its experience with curbing regulatory pressure. For example, in 2009Chair of the Board Steven van Eijck informed first-year students of governance of theUtrecht University School of Governance about the function and duties of Actal andanswered students’ questions.

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Actal considers it important to gather, make available and share knowledge aboutthe reduction of regulatory pressure.

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2 Status of reduction in regulatory pressure

Introduction The government approach to reducing regulatory pressure currently comprises all targetgroups that are confronted with rules and regulations. In addition, progress has been madelocally and at European level that discernibly reduces the regulatory pressure in theNetherlands. This section shows in broad outline how the Cabinet has organized thereduction of regulatory pressure. It is followed by Actal’s view regarding the nationalreduction in regulatory pressure. Strategic advice on ICT, among other things, areconsidered in section 4. Sections 5 and 6 cover the reduction in regulatory pressure at local and international level respectively.

Shape of national reduction in regulatory pressureThree state secretaries were in 2009 responsible for achieving the national reductiontargets:

Finance Economic Affairs Interior and Kingdom Relations

Administrative burdens on businessesAdministrative burdens on citizensSubstantive compliance costs for businessesInteragency burdensBurdens on professionalsSupervisory burdens on businesses

The national reduction targets are as follows:

Administrative burdens on businesses Reduction target of 25% net since 2007.Administrative burdens on citizens Reduction target of 25% net since 2005.Substantive compliance costs for businesses No net reduction target.

Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment;Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality; Transport, Public Works and Water Management; Social Affairs and Employment; Health, Welfare and Sport; and Finance have a reduction target. The percentage differs per department, but amounts to a total drop of 14% in the substantive compliance costs calculated by the Cabinet.

Interagency burdens Reduction target of 25% net since 2007.Burdens on professionals The top 5 problem areas of 16 profiles will be tackled.Supervisory burdens on businesses Domain-focused approach with reduction target

of 25% net since 2007.

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Actal on national reduction of regulatory pressureRegulatory pressure on businessesIn 2009 the Cabinet submitted four reports on the progress in reducing the regulatorypressure on businesses. Twice a statement in figures was presented to the House ofRepresentatives. In the spring and autumn the Cabinet prepared an integrated progressreport. Actal issued two advisory opinions on these. Both progress reports and the Actalopinions were debated at a parliamentary committee meeting.

The opinion of 20 August 2009 states that Actal is concerned about the picture the Cabinetdraws in the ‘Progress Report on Regulatory Pressure on Businesses’. Actal concluded thatthe approach needed to be tightened up, otherwise the Cabinet would not achieve itstargets on time. On 14 January 2010 Actal submitted its Opinion on the second ProgressReport on Regulatory Pressure on Businesses of 2009 to the Cabinet and Parliament. Themain message of the opinion was that Actal remained concerned about the speed at whichthe Cabinet was discernibly reducing the regulatory pressure on entrepreneurs. TheCabinet has still not achieved half of the target for reducing the administrative burden onbusinesses. A substantial part of the Cabinet’s reduction plans are expected to produce aresult in 2010 and 2011 and these plans are surrounded by risks.

Actal remains concerned about the speed at which the Cabinet is discerniblyreducing the regulatory pressure on entrepreneurs.

Status of reduction of administrative burden on businesses, autumn 2009

Actal therefore advised the Cabinet to make the nature and scope of these riskstransparent, to indicate the dossiers to which these risks relate, and to take appropriatesteps to avoid delays, or further delays, in these dossiers. During the meeting with theHouse of Representatives the Cabinet promised that Actal would be given access to theCabinet’s risk analyses.

The opinion further focused on the reduction of substantive compliance costs, themonitoring of compliance with common commencement dates, the intensification of theapproach to supervisory burdens and the acquisition of a ‘certificate of good serviceprovision’ by implementing bodies.

Reduction still to be achieved: € 1,293 million

Reduction achieved: € 1,017 million

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Regulatory pressure programme of the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom RelationsIn 2009 Actal issued no advisory opinion on the progress made by the programmescoordinated by the state secretary of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. This is linked tothe fact that she provides the House of Representatives with insight into the developmentsin the programme on a less frequent basis. In 2009 an Acceleration Agenda was, however,published. On 18 December 2009 the state secretary of the Interior and Kingdom Relationspresented the Progress Report on Service Provision, Regulatory Pressure and InformationPolicy to the House of Representatives. In it she also describes the developments involvingthe Acceleration Agenda, selected projects which can make more progress faster throughthe input of additional resources. The Progress Report shows that at local and Europeanlevel there have been useful developments in regulatory pressure reduction.

It was decided to present the Progress Report in a new form. In the report reference ismade to a large number of annexes that have been published on the website of theMinistry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. Another new aspect is that the report waswritten from the perspective of the target groups of citizens, pro fessionals and fellowauthorities. This method draws attention to the problem areas and irritations that are seento be a great nuisance. The chosen presentation does not provide a clear overall picture ofprogress with the various reduction targets. On 5 March 2010 Actal issued an opinion onthe Progress Report presented by the state secretary of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.

The Progress Report on Service Provision, Regulatory Pressure and InformationPolicy does not provide sufficient insight into the Cabinet’s ambitions and resultswith the outlined profiles.

Administrative burdens on citizensThe Progress Report states that the target of reducing administrative burdens on citizenscaused by central government has been achieved in terms of time spent. This burden hasbeen reduced by 28% net in time. In 2011 the net reduction will be 31%. For the out-of-pocket expenses the net reduction is 21% and expectations are that in 2011 25% net willbe achieved. It can be deduced from the Progress Report that the target of reducing theadministrative burdens on citizens and of resolving the 10 largest problem areas in serviceprovision should be achieved by the end of 2010.

In connection with the need for focusing attention permanently on the regulatorypressure created by the government for citizens and for effectively tackling andcoordinating the reduction of supervisory burdens, Actal recommended continuing themethod and the resulting dynamics for the coming years. For this reason it is necessary toassure that the knowledge and experience acquired within the coordinating (Interior andKingdom Relations) and other ministries be retained.

ProfilesThe Interior and Kingdom Relations general approach was to opt for working withprofiles, e.g. a handicapped child. Working with profiles is a method with which citizenscan identify. A disadvantage of this method is that the Progress Report does not show whatresults have been achieved per profile or where additional measures may be required. Theinformation provided on the internet does not provide sufficient insight into this either.Actal therefore recommended providing insight per profile, from 2007, into the net

reduction in the administrative burdens on citizens and professionals and interagencyburdens.

Administrative burdens on professionalsIn regard to the decline in administrative burdens on professionals the Cabinet confinesitself to the areas of healthcare, education, safety and social security. However, hardly anyresults have been achieved, probably because the method and target cause confusion.Actal advised the Cabinet to formulate clear, concrete proposals for mitigating theregulatory burden on professio nals, to reach working agreements on this within theCabinet and to inform the House of Representatives of these. Another problem areaconcerned the insufficient quality of the measurement. For purposes of reducing theobligations on professionals to provide information Actal therefore recommendedconducting a single uniform, unambiguous measurement and establishing a quantitativereduction target.

annual report 2009 | Status of reduction in regulatory pressure

Status of reduction in regulatory pressure | annual report 2009

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Interagency burdensIn the Administrative Agreement the Cabinet agreed to reduce the interagency burdensfor fellow authorities by 25%. For this purpose, a baseline measurement was carried outwhich was confined to 28 obligations with the highest burdens. The Progress Report states that reducing the number of specific benefits and the introduction of the SingleInformation and Single Audit system results in a reduced burden, unambiguousaccounting and fixed accounting dates. The Progress Report does not reveal the currentstatus as regards this reduction target. Actal recommended making all increases anddecreases in the interagency burdens transparent for each ministry with effect from 2007.

Use of ICTIn its advisory opinion of 5 March 2010 Actal further considered the reduction ofregulatory pressure through the use of ICT. It was thus responding to the NationalImplementation Programme (NUP)’s Gateway Review. Actal finds it alarming that in the case of large-scale ICT projects the government has taken no visible steps to avoidproblems relating to complexity, planning, business cases and changing functionalrequirements. This emerges, for example, from the fact that the introduction of keyregisters does not in itself result in the desired easing of ad ministrative burdens. A largenumber of government agencies continue to request information that is contained in keyregisters. For example, municipal authorities still ask for abstracts from the municipalpersonal records database (GBA) and from the register kept by the Chamber of Commerce.The police still ask for vehicle registration documents, whereas the information in thesedocuments comes from the key register for vehicles. In March 2010 key registers had stillnot been completed, were poorly coordinated or still not sufficiently incorporated in thework processes of the government organizations in question. Actal advised the Cabinetnot only to produce its position on the NUP but also to submit a plan of attack to theHouse of Representatives which would remove the problems identified in the GatewayReview. Also, Actal will issue a further ICT opinion in 2010.

ConclusionThe reduction of the regulatory pressure on businesses is on course, but the speed is toolow.

In the case of the reduction of administrative burdens on citizens a decline of 25% can be achieved in the period 2005–2011. In this field ambitions could be raised, becauseachieving the Cabinet’s target will by no means remove all the problem areas andirritations for citizens. In the near future it will be necessary to change course in reducingthe administrative burdens on professionals and the interagency burdens, and the speedwill need to be increased by, for example, establishing an ambitious, specificallymeasurable reduction target. The launching of key registers needs to be stepped up.Government organizations should not ask citizens or businesses for information alreadycontained in key registers. In short, it is important to ensure that investment inknowledge, method and experience with reining in regulatory pressure results inpermanently low regulatory pressure on all target groups.

3 Advice on regulatory proposals

Ex ante opinions on regulatory proposalsActal advises on proposed legislation and regulations before they are debated by theCouncil of Ministers or published in the Government Gazette. This method allows all theconsequences for regulatory pressure to be included in the decision-making. Actal assesseswhether the ministry has produced a substantiated quantification of the consequences foradmi nistrative burdens. It then considers the extent to which the ministry has soughtalternatives that might produce a lesser administrative burden on businesses and citizensand has opted for the least burdensome alternative. Finally, Actal considers whether amethod of implementation and supervision with minimum administrative burdens hasbeen decided on.

In 2009 Actal wrote to the minister of Social Affairs and Employment pointing out that a number of legislative proposals had not been submitted on time for advice. Otherdepartments also omitted to call Actal in on time. Actal notified the coordinatingmembers of the Cabinet of this in the summer of 2009. A frequent reaction fromministries was that the aim of the proposal in question was to speed up economicrecovery and therefore could not be delayed. Ministries thus totally ignore the possibilityof requesting an urgent opinion.

There are also ministries which, following Actal’s intervention in the summer of 2009,submit more dossiers to Actal. This is evidenced, for example, by the increase in thenumber of subsidy dossiers submitted by Transport, Public Works and Water Management(from 7 in 2008 to 16 in 2009). In order to avoid dossiers erroneously not being submittedto Actal, this ministry adopts the line that all dossiers must be submitted.

Advisory opinions on regulatory proposalsIn 2009 Actal issued 21, mainly positive, advisory opinions on proposed regulations, e.g.the opinions on electronic records/policies and the electronic wage slip. Actal aims toensure that consideration is given to the consequences for the administrative burden andregulatory pressure as early as possible in the legislative process. From the point of view ofinternalization within the ministries Actal aims for all information to be available for thedebate in the Council of Ministers so that a proper assessment can be made. It is alsoimportant in the legislative process to keep a finger on the pulse following the debate inthe Council of Ministers.

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Actal deems the failure to submit legislative and regulatory proposals on time tobe a sign of inadequate internalization.

In 2009 the House of Representatives played a bigger part in the reduction of regulatorypressure. In motions tabled by MPs Koser Kaya et al and Pechtold/Rutte the Cabinet wasrequested to send the elaboration of the full supplementary policy agreement to Actalafter all. On 3 November 2009 the prime minister submitted the proposal for the Crisisand Recovery Act and the associated Memoranda of Amendment to Actal. Actal’s opinionof 10 November 2009 states that the Cabinet’s calculations of the consequences foradminis trative burdens still need to be completed and need to be presented to the Houseof Representatives. In its opinion Actal also points to possibilities for further reducingadministrative burdens in the proposals already submitted. In his response to the opinionthe prime minister wrote that firstly Actal’s comments had already been discussed anddealt with in the parliamentary debate and, secondly, that there was no time to consideralterna tives and that the calculation of specific administrative burden ef fects was tootime-consuming.

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Another dossier that meets the eye relates to the single payroll tax return. On 8 May 2009Actal issued an advisory opinion to the minister of Social Affairs and Employment on thefindings of a pilot concerning the functioning and the consequences of the single payrolltax return. This return relates to wage tax and employee social security contributions andaims to do away with adjustment notices within the calendar year as far as possible. Actaladvised against introducing the single payroll tax return until the following conditionshave been met: 1 Insight into how wage and salary accounting is to be linked to the tax return

accounting system so that supervision produces the minimum of administrativeburdens.

2 Insight into the scale of the discernible drop in administrative burdens because theelimination of automated adjustment notices has minor consequences.

3 Insight into the cancellation of the additional data interrogation of the benefits agencyUWV for establishing the day rate.

4 Insight into the structural and occasional consequences for administrative burdens ifthe single payroll tax return is introduced.

5 Insight into consequences of the additional interrogation of local authorities inconnection with implementation of the Work and Social Assistance Act.

6 Guarantee of the stability of the entire chain.

Actal concludes in its opinion that it is not realistic to introduce the single payroll taxreturn as of 1 January 2010. The Cabinet accepted this advice. It started working onfleshing out the conditions and suggested to the House of Representatives in November2009 that the single payroll tax return should come into effect as of 1 January 2011.

On 21 December 2009 the House of Representatives requested Actal to gives its viewon the consequences for the administrative burden of the Draft Decree on the SinglePayroll Tax Return. In its letter of 4 January 2010 to the House of Representatives Actalobserves that the conditions that would allow the Single Payroll Tax Return to beintroduced on a sound basis have not yet been met. It is therefore uncertain whether theCabinet will achieve the envisaged discernible reduction in administrative burdens.

In the proposed Crisis and Recovery Act the Cabinet did not focus sufficientattention on mapping out and reducing the consequences for administrativeburdens.

On 13 January 2010 the House of Representatives held a hearing about the Single Payroll Tax Return. Chair of the Board Steven van Eijck participated in the hearing at theinvitation of the House of Representatives. Following the hearing and the reservationsexpressed by Actal, the employers’ organization VNO-NCW and the software developers,the Cabinet decided not to have the Single Payroll Tax Return come into effect on 1 January 2011.

House of Representatives In 2009 the House of Representatives homed in more on the reduction of regulatorypressure as the result of the Blanksma/Smeets motion, which was adopted in March 2008.In this motion the MPs ask the Presidium for a proposal for an emergency procedure atActal, under which Actal would review amendments for administrative burdens before a vote is taken on them. This motion resulted in a pilot which has meanwhile beenextended until 1 January 2011. The entire trial period will then be evaluated.

The main conclusion from a preliminary analysis made by Actal is that the majority ofamen dments are of no consequence to the administrative burden or regulatory pressureon businesses, citizens or the public sector. It is also striking that in 80% of theamendments adopted that do have an impact on regulatory pressure the minister inquestion expresses no opinion on the consequences for regulatory pressure. Actalrecommends that a minister should consistently include the consequences for regulatorypressure in his response to an amendment.

In 2009 Actal issued the following advisory opinions on amendments: • ‘Yes’ to the three amendments tabled by MP Koopmans to the Act establishing general

provisions under environmental law (Invoeringswet Wabo). In line with the legislativeproposal, these amendments aim to reduce administrative burdens and regulatorypressure. Two amendments relate to a less burdensome alternative than the relevantprovision in the proposed Act.

• ‘No, unless’ in the case of an amendment tabled by MP Ormel to the Animals bill. Thisamendment obliges vets, livestock farms and producers of animal medicines to set upa central registration system that will render flows of animal medicines transparent.This amendment results in a structural increase in the administrative burdens on vets,livestock farms and producers amounting to more than ¤11.3 million.

• ‘No, unless’ in the case of an amendment tabled by MP Anker to the bill proposingAmendment of the Personal Data Protection Act. The amendment upholds Section41(4) of the Personal Data Protection Act. This means that every time a person isapproached in connection with direct marke ting, his attention will be drawn to thepossibility of objecting. Citizens will be given the opportunity to control the use oftheir personal data themselves. In the calculation of the administrative burden andregulatory pressure of the Anker amendment the ‘provisional finding’ stated is thatacceptance of the amendment would result in a failure to realize a reduction in thecompliance costs of approx. ¤500,000.

• ‘Yes, but only after’ in the case of an amendment tabled by MP Van der Staaij to the billproposing a Change in the Shop Hours Act. This amendment aims to specify theinterests of shop employees and shopkeepers with few or no staff in particular in theShop Hours Act, so that their interest in not having to work on Sundays is expresslyincluded in local authority considerations when permitting or not permitting shops toopen on Sundays.

• ‘Yes’, and ‘yes, but only after’ in the case of two amendments tabled by MP Ten Hoopenrelating to the budget of the Ministry of Economic Affairs for the subsidy scheme to

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improve the safety of small businesses and the innovation performance contractscheme. An indirect effect of reducing the budget for the PRIMA subsidy scheme,which finances certain ICT projects, in 2010 jeopardizes the achievement of thereduction targets for administrative burdens. Actal pointed out the alternative ofcalling on the Cabinet to give the highest priority to the ICT projects for reducingadministrative burdens when selecting PRIMA projects in 2010.

In July 2009 MPs Dezentjé Hamming-Bluemink and Tang submitted to Actal for anadvisory opinion the Memorandum of Amendment for their private member’s bill onAmending the State Taxes Act and several other Acts aimed at legal protection relating to the obligation to keep records and to audit activities of the tax authorities.

Their aim with this Memorandum of Amendment is to further reduce theadministrative burden on citizens and businesses resulting from the private member’s bill. These consequences were quantified and Actal issued a ‘Yes’ opinion.

annual report 2009 | Advice on regulatory proposals

In 2009 the House of Representatives was more actively involved in reducingregulatory pressure.

4 Strategic advice

IntroductionIn addition to advisory opinions on the consequences of legislative and regulatoryproposals for the administrative burden Actal also issues strategic advisory opinions, ofwhich Actal has different kinds. In the first place there are the strategic advisory opinionson the Cabinet’s approach, which are described in section 2. Besides these, Actal also issuesstrategic advisory opinions at the request of the Cabinet and Parliament. Finally, Actalissues unsolicited strategic advisory opinions on a specific theme.

This section looks at the solicited and unsolicited advisory opinions issued by Actal.

Supplementary policy agreement ‘Working on the future‘On 21 July 2009, at the request of the state secretary of Finance, Actal issued an opinion on the supplementary policy agreement ‘Working on the future’. The opinion compiles an inventory of the policy areas at risk of an increase in regulatory pressure. Major risks ofan increase in regulatory pressure exist in the area of labour market and training policy.Actal recommends in particular the use of instruments like the national subsidy scheme,comprehensible forms, speeding up or expanding the lex silencio positivo and speeding upthe granting of subsidy and permit applications. The opinion further identifies tenpossibilities for a reduction, or further reduction, in the regulatory pressure. Thesepossibilities include the subjects of XBRL/SBR, e-invoicing, harmonization of wageconcepts, and ‘quick wins’ in reducing the costs of compliance with environmentallegislation and building regulations. In the parliamentary committee meeting withmembers of government of 2 September 2009 the Cabinet made a number of promisesfollowing questions from the House about this opinion.

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In 2009 Actal aimed to get lawmakersto focus attention on the impact inpractice on citizens, businesses, fellowauthorities, institutions andprofessionals when designinglegislation and regulations. This wasdone from two perspectives:

1 The policy, implementation andsupervision chain, so that lawmakersconsider the chain of ‘policy –implementation – supervision’ as asingle unit.

2 From tunnel vision to funnel vision,so that lawmakers examine closelythe entire body (‘cluster’) of laws andregulations with which a business,citizen, professional or institution isconfronted.

Sustainable procurement At the request of the minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, Actal on 8 June 2009 issued an advisory opinion on sustainable procurement. Sustainableprocurement policy aims to make government procurements 100% sustainable in order to boost the market for sustainable products. This means that when purchasing productsor hiring services the government will take into account aspects of sustainability. In theministry’s request for an opinion the focus was on two questions:1    Are there administrative burdens attached to sustainable procurement?2    Has sustainable procurement been implemented as burden-free as possible?

Actal recommended considering various policy and implementation alternatives, e.g.examining the extent to which the concept of sustainability can be operationalized in a less burdensome way by setting requirements for business operations instead ofemploying product criteria. Another example is taking into account Europeandevelopments to avoid Dutch businesses being confronted with unnecessary changes in policy and the associated regulatory pressure. Actal also presented three possibilities for reducing the burden of implementation:• Use a register in which government organizations keep a record of which companies

supplied on a sustainable basis so that companies do not have to demonstrate thiswith each order.

• Employ the system of ‘self certification’: companies certify that they implementsustainable production practices by registering on a website, for example.

• Assume sustainability unless inspections prove the contrary.

Further to the Actal opinion the ministry commenced an examination of theconsequences for the administrative burden. On 11 February 2010 the minister promisedthe House of Representatives that she would submit the results of this examination to theHouse in March 2010, accompanied by a response to the recommendations in the Actalopinion.

Certification and regulatory pressureThe Cabinet requested Actal for an opinion on ‘sources of regulatory pressure’. Thisrequest formed the basis for the study of certification and regulatory pressure. The aim of the study is to obtain an understanding of:• The number of instances in which a link to certification is made in laws and

regulations.• The reasons for this link.• The different forms of link that occur. • The consequences of these links for regulatory pressure.In October 2009 the inventory part of the study was completed. It found 288 certifica testhat were linked to laws and regulations. Expectations are that there are more links, inparticular of the supervisory type. With this type of link the certi ficate is used in thecontext of supervision and there is no specific link in the regulations themselves. As aresult it is more difficult to trace this type.

A more in-depth study of four cases focuses on the consequences for regulatorypressure of the link between certification and regulations. In the spring of 2010 Actal willissue an advisory opinion based on the results of the study.

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Lex silencio positivoThe lex silencio (silent consent) ensures that the government reaches a decision on permitapplications in time. Decisions are not only taken faster, but also with fewer complaintsand objections from the applicant. The result is that neither the government norimplementing bodies cause unnecessary regulatory pressure or irritation. A possibledisadvantage of the lex silencio is that it is not possible to grant an application on aconditional basis.

At the request of MP Ms Vos, Actal in February 2009 issued its advisory opinion on theusefulness and scope of application of the lex silencio positivo. In the opinion Actal writesthat there is one reason for not using the lex silencio, and that is a not negligible risk of greator irreversible damage or harm to an interested party.

In July 2009, at the request of the House of Representatives, the minister of Justicesubmitted a reconsideration of the use of the lex silencio to the House. The result of thisreconsideration was that the Cabinet was able to add 45 new uses of the lex silencio to the24 already presented in December 2008. The Cabinet also found 45 permit systems thatcould be abolished or transformed into general rules.

The minister of Justice submitted the reconsideration to Actal for an opinion on 14 July2009. The Actal opinion of 24 September 2009 contains the recommendation to furtherdeepen the reconsideration by rendering transparent for each permit system what the sizeand nature of the risk of damage or harm could be. The degree of irreversibility shouldalso be taken into account. Actal advises the Cabinet to consider how damage or harm toan interested party can be mitigated by withdrawing an automatically granted permit.

Finally, Actal deems it important that the Cabinet should in the future include the useof the lex silencio in negotiations on new European or other international laws orregulations.

Trust In 2009 Actal received two requests for a strategic advisory opinion on trust: the request‘More trust, Less regulatory pressure’ of 15 July 2009 from the state secretary of theInterior and Kingdom Relations and the request ‘Trust Approach’ of 15 December 2009from the state secretary of Finance and the minister for Foreign Trade. It is a challenge tolink trust to regulatory pressure and its reduction. Actal has set up a number of projectsfor this purpose and aims to present the insight obtained from the projects in 2010 in anumbrella Actal opinion on trust.

In the study ‘School heads unchained’ Actal focuses on education professionals. The objectof this study is to obtain an understanding of the different types of accountability andtheir origin and of the reasons underlying the accountability. Actal is further looking forpossibilities to reduce or simplify accountability.

The study ‘Chronic burdens’ takes greater trust as its departure point and relates to thepossibilities for reducing regulatory pressure in administrative processes of application,needs assessment and accountability on chronically sick elderly people and professionals.

Actal also looks at a theme in which permit granting and businesses and fellowauthorities come together.

The request for an opinion on the ‘Trust approach’ contains three different questions. TheCabinet wishes to know in which areas of legislation it is possible to employ a sunsetclause. Actal was also asked how a regulatory impact assessment and consultation of the

business community and other stakeholders could provide for more trust in legislation.Finally, the Cabinet is looking for success factors behind self regulation with the aim ofreducing regulatory pressure.

Integral assessment framework In 2009 Actal commenced a study of the wishes and desires of potential users of theIntegral assessment framework for policy and regulation. The reason for this is that Actalhas the explicit task of advising the Cabinet and Parliament on the development andapplication of this tool. Actal is strongly in favour of an integral assessment of regulations.According to Actal, it is not just a question of eventually replacing the current jumble ofdozens of legislative assessments, but above all that a transparent weighing up of alter -natives takes place on a broad range of social aspects, with the most important effects thatcan be expected being mapped out as much as possible on a quantitative basis.

Actal is therefore conducting a study among the principal types of potential user, such aspolicy and legal advisors, top civil servants and ministers, MPs and, finally, stakeholders.The results of this study are expected in the spring of 2010, after which Actal will issue anopinion.

Common commencement datesOn 11 De cember 2009 the minister of Justice, the minister for Foreign Trade and the statesecretaries of Finance and Interior and Kingdom Relations sent a letter about commoncommencement dates to the House of Representatives. These dates and the minimumimplementation period will in future also be applied to ministerial decrees and will coverthe target groups of citizens, public professionals and fellow authorities as well. Actal ispleased that the Cabinet has acted on this point from the advisory opinion on commoncommencement dates of 20 November 2008.

At the time Actal also recommended determining a position on the introduction ofcommon commencement dates for implementing bodies, autonomous administrativeauthorities and fellow authorities. It will be interesting to hear whether the Cabinet sees possibilities in this broadening of scope for further reducing regulatory pressure and, if it does, how the Cabinet can contribute to realizing the application of commoncommencement dates to policy rules. The Cabinet has yet to respond to this. In theadvisory opinion on the progress report on regulatory pressure on businesses of 14 January 2010 Actal calls for the Cabinet to determine a position as swiftly as possibleconcerning the introduction of common commencement dates for implementing bodies,autonomous administrative authorities and fellow authorities.

In its opinion of 20 November 2008 Actal also stressed the importance of a disciplinedapplication of common commencement dates. In Actal’s view the Cabinet shouldincorporate in the next Progress Report substantive and quantitative results on theapplication of a common commencement date and the minimum implementation periodso as to render transparent: • how often a departure is made from a common commencement date and the

minimum implementation period and the basis for this exception;• the quantitative significance of a common commencement date and minimum

implementation period for the reduction of regulatory pressure.

Strategic advice | annual report 2009

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SupervisionAt the request of the minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations Actal on 8 June 2009delivered an opinion on the selected approach to supervisory burdens and the progressreport on the Supervision Reform programme. The core message of the opinion was that ashift needed to be made from effort to result. For a successful reduction in supervisoryburdens it is necessary for good intentions to be more mandatory.

Actal shares the Cabinet’s conclusion that as a result of the opinion additional measuresare needed to reduce supervisory burdens by 25%. As stated in the opinion, it is not somuch up to substantive possibilities to realize this reduction, but above all to the way inwhich the responsibilities are arranged and the extent to which ministries andsupervisory bodies are held to the achievement of the target.

Actal sees the ‘boosting role’ of the state secretary of Finance and the Minister for ForeignTrade as a major step forwards. They can draw the attention of the parties concerned totheir responsibility for reducing supervisory burdens. In its advisory opinion ProgressReport on Regulatory Pressure on Businesses of January 2010 Actal points out the greatrisks attached to achieving the reduction target.

Service provision by public-sector implementing bodyIn 2009 Actal completed a study of service provision by public-sector implementingbodies. The aim of the study was to check whether and how improving this service wouldresult in a reduction in regulatory pressure on businesses, citizens and professionals. Theservice improvements studied can be broken down into four categories, which all displaya strong interrelationship: focus on the client, smarter supervision, the way information isgathered and the way information is furnished. The study revealed that improving servicehas a positive impact on reducing regulatory pressure. The degree to which regulatorypressure can be reduced depends on four factors: legislation and performance contracts,collaboration with the core department, collaboration with the target group(s) and thepossibilities the internal organization has for improving these. Actal will continue todemand attention for the administrative burden and regulatory pressure that can arise inthe chain of implementation of laws and regulations.

Zero option: regularly consideredIn the autumn of 2009 Actal commenced a study of the consideration of the zero option inministries. Two questions are of importance before drafting new legislation. First of all,the question of whether this is a task for the government needs to be asked. Then it isimportant to consider whether legislation is the most suitable instrument. The study willlook at how ministries consider the zero option when developing ministerial decrees.Actal is focusing on ministerial decrees, because ministries are themselves responsible fordrawing them up and for weighing up the zero option. In the case of statutes and Orders inCouncil this is the task of the Council of State. In mid-2010 Actal will call attention indifferent ways to consideration of the zero option.

annual report 2009 | Strategic advice

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ICT A large portion of the reduction in administrative burdens is intended to be achievedusing ICT applications which will not be ready until 2011. There is a risk of it not beingpossible to achieve the reduction in the administrative burden of these projects in 2011.

Actal has commenced a study of the factors that could have an impact on the use ofICT applications and of how these factors can be influenced in order to accelerate theiruse. On the basis of this study Actal will make recommendations for how the use of ICTapplications by citizens and businesses can be effectively encouraged. By doing so, Actalaims to provide concrete assistance in order to mitigate the risks of failing to achieve adiscernible reduction in the administrative burden on time.

Strategic advice | annual report 2009

5 Reduction in regulatory pressure at local level

Introduction Since 2008 Actal’s strategic advisory task has expanded to cover the reduction inregulatory pressure at local level. Actal is aiming to bring about a culture transformationamong municipal authorities as well, so that they too lower regulatory pressureautomatically and independently.

Municipal authoritiesIn 2009 many initiatives were taken to reduce local regulatory pressure. At local level,working with ambassadors is a success. In April 2009, seven regional ambassadors,appointed by the Cabinet and VNG, set to work. They motivate municipal authorities toreduce regulatory pressure and improve service provision. They also publicize theinstruments developed through participation in regional meetings, for example.

Actal aims to deliver opinions that can be applied generally. For example, in 2008 Actalinvestigated which municipal application requirements were a frequent occurrence.Citizens and businesses submit applications to municipal authorities for permits orbenefits, for instance. These applications must be accompanied by information to enablethe authority to assess whether the application can be granted. The information to besubmitted is often stipulated in the regulations in the form of application requirements,but may also become evident on an application form.

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shaping reduction in regulatory pressure at local level

The minister and state secretary of theInterior and Kingdom Relations, theminister of Finance and the chair of the Association of NetherlandsMunicipalities (VNG) have set down inthe Administrative Agreement of June2007 ‘Working Together’ that theadministrative burden on businessesand citizens must decline by at least

25% at local level. This burden onbusinesses and citizens has beenpartially mapped out, with 1 March 2007 as reference date. This renders itpossible to assess with a subsequentmeasurement in 2011 whether thereduction target of at least 25% hasbeen achieved.

Municipal authorities are very often the ‘gateway’ to the government for citizensand businesses. Their efforts and involvement in reducing regulatory pressure areindispensible.

Reduction in regulatory pressure at local level | annual report 2009

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The investigation produced insight into the relevance of the information requested andresulted in an overview of superfluous application requirements. In 2009 Actal, togetherwith VNG, prepared a brochu re on superfluous application requirements which was sentto all municipal authorities. The brochure was positively received. VNG then commenceda study of the possibilities of reducing regulatory pressure through modifications in theapplication requirements for municipal products.

Another example is the VNG’s Model General Subsidy Regulation, through which VNGaims to realize a subsidy policy with fewer administrative burdens. At the request of VNG,Actal on 10 September 2009 delivered an initial advisory opinion on the general subsidyregulation. Actal advises VNG to map out the consequences of the regulation foradministrative burdens. VNG acted on this advice. As soon as these calculations areavailable, Actal will issue a further opinion.

In its opinion of 10 September 2009 Actal advised VNG to raise the threshold amountsfor non-accountable subsidies. Also, Actal deems it important that VNG should createmore differentiation in the general subsidy regulation when further elaborating it. Thiswill bring it better into line with the differences that exist in practice between large andsmall municipalities. Finally, Actal recommended making more use of multi-yearsubsidies.

Bringing about a culture transformation requires Actal to seek contact with municipalauthorities and lobbyists. For example, Actal participates in the local government workingparty of the employers’ organization VNO-NCW and the SME organization MKBNederland, and in consultations with VNG and individual municipal authorities.

In 2009 Actal made three working visits to municipal authorities. In talks withaldermen and civil servants in Rotterdam, Tilburg and Enschede Actal obtained muchpractice-based information on the reduction of regulatory pressure. These threemunicipalities are enthusiastically and successfully engaged in reducing regulatorypressure. Following the local council elections of March 2010 Actal will visit three othermunicipal authorities. It may visit a smaller local authority or one that is having difficultygetting the reduction of regulatory pressure off the ground.

Actal deems it important that local politicians realize the importance of reducingregulatory pressure, which is why in 2008 it issued an advisory opinion to the nationalpolitical parties on the conditions for making the reduction of regulatory pressure at locallevel a success. It is important for a municipal executive to draw up a plan with a con cretereduction target. Actal further advocates that the consequences of new policy forregulatory pressure should be mapped out and clarified in the policy proposal before theproposal is discussed by the municipal executive. Actal thinks this will get off the groundeasily if a single alderman coordinates the reduction of regulatory pressure within themunicipal authority.

In late 2009 Actal commenced a study of the consequences for regulatory pressure ofthe election programmes for the local council elections of 3 March 2010. This study of theelection programmes in the large, so-called G31, municipalities revealed that in threequarters of the programmes for the local council elections the attention focused on theprevention and reduction of regulatory pressure was substandard. Some electionprogrammes contained policy plans that would increase regulatory pressure even. Thisresult underlines the importance of the Actal advice to record agreements on restrictingregulatory pressure when drawing up municipal executive programmes.

Another result of the study is that national parties are more aware of the consequences forregulatory pressure than local parties. In only 9 of the G31 municipalities is there a localparty in the top 3 of the election programmes that focus most attention on regulatorypressure. The Maastricht Liberal Party is the only local party that tops the list within amunicipality. Of the national political parties participating in the local council electionswithin the G31 municipalities, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD)focuses most attention on reducing regulatory pressure.

Positive top 3: strong focus on regulatory pressure

1 VVD (People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy)2 D66 (Democrats 66)3 CDA (Christian Democratic Appeal)

Negative top 3: little focus on regulatory pressure

1 Partij voor de Dieren (Party for the Animals)2 SP (Socialist Party)3 GroenLinks (GreenLeft)

The political parties in Amsterdam focus most attention on reducing regulatory pressure.The top 3 comprises three of the four largest municipalities in the Netherlands.

Of the programmes studied, VVD Leeuwarden focuses most attention on the reduction ofregulatory pressure. The Socialist Party in Lelystad focuses the least attention on thissubject.

At local level regulatory pressure can arise when municipal authorities carry out their co-administration tasks, in particular those in which municipal authorities have to makechoices with regard to their precise implementation. These tasks may not always beimplemented with as little regulation as possible. In August 2009 Actal commenced astudy into regulatory pressure resulting from co-administration tasks. On the basis ofthree cases – Social Support Act (Wmo), Spatial Planning Act (Wro), Work and SocialAssistance Act (Wwb) – it examines the regulatory pressure faced by citizens or businessesin various municipalities when a concrete application is submitted. It also considers thecauses behind the choice of burdensome or less burdensome implementation. The reportwill be available in the spring of 2010.

ProvincesAt the request of the interprovincial organization IPO Actal on 19 January 2009 deliveredan advisory opinion on the Subsidy Regulation for Nature and Landscape Management.The provinces aim to reduce regulatory pressure with this subsidy regulation. Actaladvised IPO to employ a similar approach to other areas of policy, e.g. water management.Actal also recommended investigating whether by reducing the number of types of natureand the number of management types it would be possible to further simplify the subsidysystem. It further recommended reconsidering the reporting obligations from the subsidyregulation, so as to reduce regulatory pressure even further.

annual report 2009 | Reduction in regulatory pressure at local level

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Positive top 3: strong focus on regulatory pressure

1 Amsterdam2 The Hague3 Rotterdam

Negative top 3: little focus on regulatory pressure

1 Helmond 2 Venlo3 Lelystad

It is important for local politicians to devote attention to the prevention andreduction of regulatory pressure and that they record agreements in the municipalexecutive programme on this issue.

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6 Reduction in regulatory pressure at international level

Introduction In 2009 the international focus on reducing regulatory pressure remained as big as ever.This section gives the milestones on the added value of independent watchdogs such asActal and on initiatives for reducing European regulatory pressure.

European electionsAlmost 50% of the Dutch administrative burden on the business community stems fromEuro pean laws and regulations. This demands effective efforts at European level. Actalseized the European Parliament elections of 4 June 2009 to focus the spotlight on thereduction of Euro pean regulatory pressure. An Actal study revealed that in the electionprogrammes for the European Parliament elections of nine Dutch political parties therewas limited focus on regulatory pressure and better regulation. This does not square withthe natio nal ambition. Through a press release and talks Actal called on theEuroparliamenta rians to forcefully promote an effective European approach to regulatorypressure in Brussels.

Knowledge exchange, international and European collaborationIn 2009 two new external advisory bodies were set up within the European Union. Theseare sister organisations of Actal and Germany’s Nationaler Normenkontrollrat (NKR). In March 2009 Sweden’s Regelrådet, headed by Stig von Bahr, formally got under way. In October 2009 Britain’s Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) was established. The RPC is headed by Michael Gibbons. Both organizations are independent and external impactassessment boards. Actal works closely together with these sister organizations byexchanging information and practical examples.

shaping reduction in regulatory pressure at European level

In 2010 the president of the EuropeanCommission, Mr Barroso, took control in the reduction of the administrativeburden on businesses as a result ofEuropean legislation.

The European Commission carriedout a partial baseline measurement andwithin these priority areas agreed a

gross target of 25%. The European Unionhas as yet reached no decisions foreasing the administrative burden of the other target groups (citizens,professionals, institutions andgovernmental/semi-governmentalinstitutions).

annual report 2009 | Reduction in regulatory pressure at international level

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In 2009 Actal received various delegations from abroad. For example, Britain’s NationalAudit Office and Canada’s Treasury Board visited Actal in March and April respectively togain insight into Actal’s role and function. A Danish government delegation visited Actalin June. They were mainly interested in the added value of the external nature of Actal.And in November we received a Kenyan delegation headed by the World Bank to acquireknowledge about how policy on better regulation can be shaped. A research team withrepresentatives of various South Korean universities visited Actal in July to gain an overallpicture of the Dutch approach and Actal’s role in this.

At international level Actal is seen as a best practice.

Actal itself made various visits in 2009. It was present at the launch of Sweden’sRegelrådet. In March 2009, Actal attended the Bertelsmann conference ‘SCM and quality:better service for citizens’ in Vienna, where, among other things, the Dutch profilesapproach for citizens was explained.

During an NKR conference in May a mid-term review of the NKR was made, with theGerman elections of 27 September 2009 in mind. Federal Chancellor Merkel spoke at thisconference and thanked Actal, among others, for its commitment at the start of the NKRin August 2006. In October Actal gave a presentation at the Dutch embassy in Berlin,together with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relationsand the municipality of Zoetermeer. The central issue was how the German approach tobetter regulation could be reinforced by elaborating on the Dutch approach.

The German elections resulted in a coalition agreement in which the powers of theNKR were expanded. The NKR will in due course, once a methodological framework hasbeen developed, review legislative proposals for their consequences for substantivecompliance costs. Actal has been asked to help develop this framework. In addition, theGerman Cabinet supports the development of a European external, independent advisorybody on better regulation.

The Board of Swedish Industry and Commerce for Better Regulation (NNR) was one of theorganizers of the ‘International Regulatory Reform Conference’ of 11–13 November 2009.In the workshop ‘external scrutiny of proposals for new and changed regulations –European independent watchdogs’ Actal, the NKR, the RPC and Regelrådet explained theirmethods and the principal lessons learned so far.

Position paper In September 2009 Actal, the NKR, the RPC and Regelrådet sent a position paper to the re-elected president of the European Commission, Mr Barroso. This paper containedrecommendations for ambitious European measures for tackling regulatory pressure. Forexample, the organizations are calling for the provision of insight in the short term intoall obligations to provide information that arise under European regulations for

In 2009 four external advisory bodies were active in Europe. They are jointly campaigning for ambitious European measures for tacklingregulatory pressure.

annual report 2009 | Reduction in regulatory pressure at international level

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businesses, in order to establish an initial ceiling for numbers of obligations and a netreduction target for 13 priority areas. In addition, they recommend setting up an external,independent advisory body that will scrutinize proposed European laws and regulations.Expanding the mandate of the High Level Group of Independent Stake holders onAdministrative Burdens (HLG) is a potential first step.

High Level Group of Independent Stake holders on Administrative BurdensThe European Commission established the HLG in 2007. Mr Edmund Stoiber wasappointed chair. It is the task of the HLG to advise the Commission on possibilities forreducing administrative burdens on the business community.

In its Action Programme for Reducing Administrative Burdens in the EU the Commissionhas designated 13 policy areas as having priority. In 2012 the programme should haveresulted in a 25% reduction within the 13 areas. This is not a net reduction target, whichmeans that no allowance will be made in the 25% for increases in administrative burdens.

The priority areas are divided among the 14 members of the HLG. Robin Linschoten,former Actal chair, is a member of the HLG in a private capacity. He is rapporteur in thearea of financial services and pharmaceutical legislation. He is also a co-rapporteur in thefield of public procurement. Actal supports Robin Linschoten in these activities. SinceDecember 2009 Chair of the Board Steven van Eijck has been an observing member of theHLG.

The advisory opinion on pharmaceutical legislation of 5 March 2009 has encouraged theCommission to further simplify the procedure for admitting new medicines to theinternal market by, inter alia, further expanding application of the principle of automaticmutual recognition. The HLG also advocates further harmonization of the centraladmission procedure.

On 7 July 2009 the HLG opinion on financial services was published. Because Europeanregulations in this field will change considerably in the near future due to the aftermathof the financial crisis, the HLG has set out in this opinion the principles for future policy.For example, it recommends taking a risk approach when developing new regulations. Italso calls on the Commission to actively involve stakeholders in this. The HLG alsorecommends to the Commission that the same information should be requested one timeonly from businesses.

Robin Linschoten also coordinates the opinions ensuing from proposals from the businesscommunity submitted to the HLG or to the Commission. The HLG deems these so-called‘offline proposals’ of great importance to the success of the Commission’s ActionProgramme. Each offline proposal is studied. If the proposal relates to administrativeburdens, the HLG advises the European Commission on the proposal. These advisoryopinions are compiled in a so-called ‘offline opinion’. In 2009 four offline opinions wereadopted.

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Overview of HLG opinions in 2009

January Second offline opinionMarch Opinion on Agriculture and Agricultural Subsidies

Opinion on Food Safety Opinion on Pharmaceutical legislationOpinion on Transport

April Opinion on the EnvironmentThird offline opinion

May Opinion on Taxation (VAT)Opinion on FisheriesOpinion on the Working environment and Employment relations

July Opinion on Financial ServicesOpinion on StatisticsOpinion on Cohesion PolicyFourth offline opinion

September Intermediate reportNovember Fifth offline opinion

The opinions are published on ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/better-regulation/administrative-burdens/high-level-group.

Reduction in regulatory pressure at international level | annual report 2009

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Annex 1 Advisory opinions

The stage of shaping regulations is of importance for achieving permanently lowregulatory pressure. Actal aims to get lawmakers to see the consequences for regulatorypressure at this stage and to think about alternatives involving less regulatory pressure. In 2009 Actal assessed 202 dossiers. In 181 cases dossiers were dealt with by civil servants,21 cases called for a letter to the relevant minister or MP.

In connection with the covenants six ministries conducted the ex ante assessment, or a part of it, themselves in 2009. Actal will evaluate the covenants in 2010.

The overview shows how many advisory opinions on regulatory proposals Actal issued in 2009 and what the ultimate conclusion was. The last column shows the number ofdossiers on regulatory proposals that did not result in a formal opinion.

Laws and No. of Yes Yes, but No, No Other No. of dossiers with regulations from opinions only after unless no formal opinion

General Affairs 1 1Foreign Affairs 2Interior and Kingdom Relations 1Defence 0Economic Affairs 2 1 1 50Finance 2 2 8Youth and Family 1Justice 4 1 3 13Agriculture, Nature andFood Quality Covenant for the whole of 2009Education, Culture and Science 3 1 2 32Social Affairs and Employment 3 1 1 1 6Transport, Public Works and Water Management 1 1 43Housing, Spatial Planningand the Environment 3 1 2 12Health, Welfare and Sport 1 1 11House of Representatives 1 1 2Total 21 7 12 1 1 181

Annex 1 | annual report 2009

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In 2009 Actal issued the following advisory opinions on Cabinet policy for reducingadministrative burdens on businesses and administrative burdens on citizens.

Opinion on the usefulness and scope of application of the lex silencio positivo February 2009

Opinion on retain or discard duties April 2009

Opinion on Supervision Reform: from effort to result June 2009

Administrative burdens and regulatory pressure of sustainable procurement June 2009

Opinion on proposed measures for supplementary policy agreement July 2009

Opinion on Progress Report on Regulatory Pressure on Businesses August 2009

Opinion on lex silencio positivo September 2009

Annex 2 Studies

Actal carried out the following studies in 2009:

Service provision by public-sector implementing body February 2009

Regulatory pressure and better regulation in the election programmes for the European Parliament elections of 4 June 2009 May 2009

Consequences of amendments for regulatory pressure August 2009

Studies to be completed in the first half of 2010:

Consequences of regulatory pressure in electoral programmes for local elections on 3 March 2010 February 2010

Certification and regulatory pressure

Zero option: regularly considered

Local regulatory pressure resulting from co-administration

Integral assessment framework for policy and regulation user study

Third internalization study

School heads unchained

Chronic burdens

Possibilities for accelerating the use of ICT applications to speed up the reduction of administrative burdens

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Annex 3 Actal

Actal has three Board members: Mr S.R.A. (Steven) van Eijck (chair), Mr T.R.C. (Tjark) deLange and Mr E. (Eric) Helder. The Board is assisted by a secretary, Mr R.W. (Rudy) van Zijpand a staff of 13. The secretariat’s composition and tasks are as follows:

Mr J.A. (Jeroen) van Bockel Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment Housing, Communities and Integration

Mr J.J.H.W. (Robin) Hamerlinck FinanceMs F.J.G. (Saskia) van Klink JusticeMr R.G.J. (Roel) Lauwerier Social Affairs and EmploymentMr P.B. (Patrick) Lut Transport, Public Works and Water

ManagementMs C. (Claire) Mesman Health, Welfare and Sport

Agriculture, Nature and Food QualityMs P. (Paulien) Officier Youth and FamiliesMr P.H. (Peter) Sevat Economic AffairsMr J.W.M. (Jan Willem) van Schie Economic AffairsMr J.A. (Jaap) Sleifer Interior and Kingdom Relations

Education, Culture and ScienceMr A.A. (Ahmed) Moaty Policy support officerMs T.H. (Therese) Kroezen-Berg SecretaryMs A.S. (Anushka) Premchand Secretary

Actal is based on the 2006 Decree amending the Decree establishing the Advisory Board onAdministrative Burdens in connection with the extension of its mandate, the increase inthe number of its Board and the expansion of its duties, Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2008,no. 259.

The earlier Decrees are: - Decree establishing the Advisory Board on Administrative Burdens, Bulletin of Acts

and Decrees 2000, no. 162.- Decree renewing the Advisory Board on Administrative Burdens, Bulletin of Acts and

Decrees 2004, no. 66.- Decree extending the tasks of Actal to the administrative burden on citizens, Bulletin

of Acts and Decrees 2005, no. 113.- Decree establishing the Advisory Board on Administrative Burdens 2006, Bulletin of

Acts and Decrees 2006, no. 138.

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Colophon

Text Actal, The HagueTranslation sbv anderetaal, NoordeloosPhotographs Gerhard van Roon, The HagueDesign Studio Tint, The HaguePrint Drukkerij van Deventer, ’s Gravenzande

Special thanks to the following companies:TNT postVisafslag ScheveningenDrukkerij van DeventerMosmans boekbinderijHAWE IndustrialSDF TuinbouwautomatiseringWEVAB BV

Actal Lange Voorhout 58The Hague P.O. box 16228 2500 BE The Hague t +31 (0)70 310 86 66 f +31 (0)70 310 86 79e info@actal.nli www.actal.nl

© 2010 Actal, The Hague

Actal is a temporary, independent advisoryboard whose aim is to bring about a culturetransformation among lawmakers, whoseduty it is to reduce the regulatory pressure onbusinesses, citizens, institutions, professionalsand local authorities automatically and on apermanent basis.

To promote this culture transformation Actaladvises the government and Parliament on the impact of regulatory pressure fromplanned laws and regulations and onprogrammes to reduce existing regulatorypressure. Actal supports lawmakers and localauthorities by carrying out projects thatcontribute to the mitigation of regulatorypressure, for example.

Actal’s mission