Tunis, 3-4 June 2010

Transcription

1 BUILDING République Tunisienne Premier Ministère Tunis, 3-4 June 2010 Agenda Regulatory Policy Tools for a Stronger, Fairer and Cleaner Economy Sixth Regional Meeting of the MENA-OECD Working Group IV on Public Service Delivery, Public Private Partnerships and Regulatory Reform Organised by the MENA-OECD Governance Programme and the Republic of Tunisia, Prime Ministry mena-governance@oecd.org Photo credits: Ornament vanessa martineau Fotolia.com

2 AGENDA Background Information The MENA-OECD Governance Programme aims at modernising public governance in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The Working Group (WG) IV focuses on Public Service Delivery, Public Private Partnerships and Regulatory Reform. This WG is chaired by Tunisia and co-chaired by Canada, Italy and the Netherlands (for more information please visit The Sixth Regional Meeting of the MENA-OECD Working Group IV will be held back-to-back with Using the Regional Charter for Regulatory Quality Effectively A Training Course for Practitioners in Arab countries. This Capacity Building Seminar will be organised by the Regional Centre for Expertise on Regulatory Quality (RCERQ). The objectives of the Sixth Regional Meeting of the MENA-OECD Working Group IV are to: 1. Discuss the public consultation mechanisms and the role of ICT tools in regulatory management 2. Provide a step-by-step approach to implement Regulatory Impact Analysis 3. Discuss approaches for introducing gender analysis into regulatory quality frameworks 4. Explore how legal databases facilitate the access to justice by citizens and businesses 5. Discuss the contribution of the WG IV to the Rule of Law agenda, including the programme of work of the RCERQ for and the MENA Governance Indicators Project

3 Thursday, 3 June Registration Opening session Opening Remarks: Chair of the MENA-OECD Working Group IV on Public Service Delivery, Public-Private Partnerships and Regulatory Reform: H.E. Mr. Abdelhakim Bouraoui, Secretary-General of the Government in charge of relations with the chamber of deputies and the chamber of counsellors, Tunisia. Co-Chair of the Working Group IV: Mr. Benoit Turcotte, Director, Regulatory Policy, Regulatory Affairs, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada. Co-Chair of the Working Group IV: Mr. Jeroen Nijland, Director, Regulatory Reform Group, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, The Netherlands. OECD Secretariat, MENA-OECD Governance Programme: Mr. Josef Konvitz, Head of the Regulatory Policy Division, Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, OECD. Ambassador of Canada in Tunis H. E. Mr. Ariel Delouya, Ambassador of Canada in Tunis, Canada Session 1A. Public consultation in drafting laws and regulations Chair: Mr. Fethi Bdira, Director General, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, Prime Ministry, Tunisia. Public consultations in drafting laws aim to support an open policy-making process that enhances transparency and democratic quality in the regulatory processes. This session discusses stakeholder involvement and public consultation processes in drafting laws and regulations. Mr. Kheireddine Ben Soltane, Juridical Counsellor, Prime Ministry, Tunisia. Mr. Benoit Turcotte, Director, Regulatory Policy, Regulatory Affairs, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada. Mr. Rashiq Ishaq Al Kooheji, Advisor, Civil Service Bureau, Bahrain Coffee break Session 1B. Public consultation in drafting laws and regulations cont d Chair: Mr. Benoit Turcotte, Director, Regulatory Policy, Regulatory Affairs, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada. Participants will continue to discuss and analyse the consultation mechanism they are using during drafting laws and regulations. This session also presents first results of a survey on consultation mechanism in the PNA which forms the basis for the handbook on public consultation being prepared by the MENA-OECD Governance Programme. Another key issue is to analyse how to make effective use of ICT tools in the public consultation process. The application of ICT tools helps to simplify government operations and better engage citizens in policy making. They contribute to reduce regulatory complexity, promoting the rule of law, efficiency and economically enabling environments.

4 Ms. Maja Carni Pretnar, Senior Advisor, Directorate for e-government and Administrative Processes, Ministry of Public Administration, Slovenia. Mr. Rizkallah Freifer, State Councellor, State Council, Lebanon. Mr. Jeroen Nijland, Director, Regulatory Reform Group, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, The Netherlands. Ms. Nancy Namrouqa, Assistant Counselor, Legislation and Opinion Bureau, Jordan Ms. Miriam Allam, Economist, Regulatory Policy Division, Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, OECD. Mr. Amer Shaheen, Director of Legislation Department and Legal Research, President Office, Palestinian National Authority h30 Lunch Session 2A. A step-by-step approach to implement regulatory impact analysis Chair: Mr. Kheireddine Ben Soltane, Juridical Counsellor, Prime Ministry, Tunisia. MENA countries are setting the foundation to conduct Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) and to enhance the use of evidence-based tools in the decision-making process. RIA is an essential policy tool for regulatory quality. It measures the likely benefits, costs and effects of the new regulation by using a consistent analytical method. Alternatives to the regulation are assessed to provide decision-makers with necessary information about the efficiency and effectiveness of different options. This session provides a step-by-step approach to implement RIA, including the role of institutions for quality control. It discusses the following aspects of RIA in detail: How to design an action plan for RIA? How to create analytical expertise for examining different impact scenarios and alternatives to regulations? Mr. Zouhair Skander, General Director, Centre of Legal and Juridical Studies, Tunisia. Mr. Benoit Turcotte, Director, Regulatory Policy, Regulatory Affairs, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada. 15h Coffee break Session 2B. Integrating Regulatory Impact Analysis with public consultation Chair: Mr. Jeroen Nijland, Director, Regulatory Reform Group, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, The Netherlands. RIA can be only legitimate and efficient if it is integrated into public consultation procedures. The systematic integration of stakeholders views enhances RIA quality by inviting comments from people that will be affected by the regulation. It also helps to improve compliance, as the ownership of the proposed regulation is shared with stakeholders. Participants will discuss: How to integrate RIA with public consultation? How to conduct and manage the data sources for a good quality RIA? Mr. Alaa Kotb, Legal Advisor, Vice-President of the State Council, Egypt. Mr. Thomas Larouche, Policy Analyst, Regulatory Policy Division, Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, OECD.

5 Friday, 4 June Session 1. Gender analysis in regulatory quality frameworks Chair: Mr. Josef Konvitz, Head of the Regulatory Policy Division, Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, OECD. MENA governments have acknowledged the primary responsibility of empowering the civil society, including the need to overcome gender-related obstacles and to empower women in the economy. In this session, participants will discuss approaches for introducing gender analysis into legal regulatory quality frameworks. They will explore the importance of reviewing existing and new regulations that may contain direct or indirect discriminations, or, on the contrary, contribute to an enabling environment for gender equality. Participants will discuss the use of legal measures and regulatory provisions to promote gender-friendly administrative structures and mechanisms. They will present innovative approaches to RIA based on gender analysis and report on their experience with a gender approach to analyse the impact of the existing and new legislation. The session also discusses the global MENA-OECD gender strategy. Ms. Soukaina Bouraoui, Director, Centre for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR), Tunisia. Ms. Capitolina Diaz Martinez, Director General for Equality in Employment, Ministry of Equality, Spain. Ms. Malika Najib, Steering Committee Coordinator for the Integration of Gender Equality in the Public Sector, Ministry of Modernisation of the Public Sectors, Morocco. Mr. Carlos Conde, Senior Programme Coordinator, MENA-OECD Governance Programme, OECD Coffee break Session 2. Legal databases and access to justice Chair: Mr. Zouhair Skander, General Director, Centre of Legal and Juridical Studies, Tunisia Access to justice is a fundamental principle of the Rule of Law. This session presents the Rule of Law Index developed by the World Justice Project. The Index is a new quantitative assessment tool designed to offer a comprehensive picture of the adherence to the rule of law around the world and provides governments with a roadmap to target reforms. The session also presents the use of legal database as a tool to facilitate access to justice by citizens and businesses and to enhance transparency and a better understanding of the legal process. This session discusses progress made in MENA countries to develop legal database that give access to information on: fundamental rights of citizens victims rights in criminal cases competent authorities and methods of obtaining legal aid legislation and judgments drafting and processing legislation. This session also contributes to the preparation of the Ministerial Conference on Integrity and the Rule of Law to be held in Morocco in March The input of WG 4 to this conference is key, as regulatory policies, law drafting and the management of regulations is a fundamental component of the rule of law. Mr. Mohammed Alkhader, Manager of the Legislation and Court Judgments Database Al-Muqtafi, Institute of Law, Birzeit University, Palestinian National Authority. Mr. Alejandro Ponce, Senior Economist, World Justice Project, USA.

6 Session 3. Ensuring impact on the Rule of Law agenda: the contribution of the WG4 Chair: Mr. Fethi Bdira, Director General, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, Prime Ministry, Tunisia. This session reports on the ongoing and new initiatives of the WG IV: the law drafting project, the Regional Centre of Expertise in Regulatory Quality (RCERQ), Joint-Learning Studies, the MENA-OECD Progress Report and the new project MENA Governance Indicators. This session presents the programme of work for the RCERQ and discusses the business plan. It also presents briefly the MENA-OECD Joint learning studies (JLS) in Tunisia. The MENA-OECD report Progress in Public Management in the Middle East and North Africa reviews achievements in implementing public governance reforms in key policy areas. The session discusses the follow up of this much publicised and successful report. In this context, it presents the new MENA-OECD project MENA Governance Indicators. The aim of this publication is to fill the gap in regionally comparative data and general knowledge on how governments work, providing indicators describing government institutions, structures, inputs and prevailing public management practices in MENA countries. Mr. Zouhair Skander, General Director, Centre of Legal and Juridical Studies, Tunisia. Mr. Chris Moll, Director, European Academy for Law and Legislation, The Netherlands. Mr. Carlos Conde, Senior Programme Coordinator, MENA-OECD Governance Programme, OECD.