Albania implementing regulatory impact assessment

TIRANA, Dec. 13 – The implementation of Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) is one of the major reforms in the regulatory and economic fields which will have a long-lasting impact on the quality of the Albanian government’s performance, said deputy Economy Minister Enno Bozdo at a seminar held in the city of Durres last weekend.
Explaining the benefits of the RIA implementation, approved under a task force led by PM Sali Berisha, Bodo said Albania had chosen to launch a light RIA instead of a full one also on economical grounds.
“The launch of the light RIA takes into consideration Albania’s current stage of development, its budget, and institutional and human opportunities. This means the adoption of a RIA system that can be integrated into the existing policy-making process,” said the deputy minister.
Government intends to test the light RIA until 2012 when it will decide on whether a full RIA system needs to be implemented. “The implementation of this decision is a step forward towards the establishment of a system which will soon rank Albania among the most advanced countries on the legislation process,” said Bozdo.
The Regulatory impact assessment (RIA) involves a systematic appraisal of the costs and benefits associated with a proposed new regulation and evaluation of the performance of existing regulations.
The World Bank recommended in its recent report on a new growth agenda for Albania improving the clarity on the processes for enacting new laws and regulations and for
reviewing the efficacy of existing ones. “This could be accomplished through boosting the role of the Regulatory Reform Task Force (RRTF), which has a mandate to formulate and monitor regulatory reform plans, and giving it a permanent structure under the direct
responsibility of the Prime Minister’s office. In addition, completing the inspection reform and establishing a fully functional system of Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) is important. However, while both these measures are necessary, the first may have little impact on its own, while the second may take considerable time.”