Better laws can lead to more than BGN 1 billion in savings, an analysis of the Council for Administrative Reform suggests

“The goal that I set is not only to work together but to work better together”,  Deputy Prime Minister on Coalition Policy and Administrative Reform Rumiana Bachvarova said at the opening of the first annual meeting of the Council for Administrative Reform regarding the coalition nature of the Government. The Council, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Bachvarova, includes the Heads of all ministries, other state institutions, as well as representatives of regional governments and the National  Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria. 

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that the priorities of the Council for Administrative Reform are aimed at achieving even greater transparency in governance, partnership with the civil society, business facilitation and optimization of the administration. The Council will propose activities and monitor the implementation of commitments undertaken by Bulgaria under the Open Government Partnership initiative. 

The Council approved the Roadmap for implementation of the State Administration Development Strategy 2015-2020. Its implementation would be mainly funded under OP Good Governance. The measures set out in the Roadmap include strengthening the partnership between civil society and the Government by working towards increasing citizens' access to public data. Public consultation processes will also be optimized.

The Deputy Prime Minister also plans to introduce, in partnership with the National Assembly, impact assessment of regulations. It is important to consider the economic and social impact of regulations, as well as the impact on the environment and other areas “because unsustainable legislation worsens the business environment”, Anton Gerunov, Secretary of the Council for Administrative Reform and Head of the Political Office of Deputy Prime Minister Bachvarova said. According to him, the impact assessment would save businesses more than BGN 1 billion in direct and indirect costs over the next three years.