Governments increasingly focus on efforts to make administrative regulations simpler and less burdensome for citizens and business in OECD countries. This report looks at a set of commonly used tools and practices, such as one-stop shops (physical as well as electronic), simplification of permits and licence procedures, time limits for decision-making, assistance to small and medium-sized enterprises in implementing regulation, methods to measure administrative burdens, organisational and structural approaches to administrative simplification, and, the use of IT-driven mechanisms. The use of these instruments are leading to ...

The focus of administrative simplification and burden reduction programmes has tended to shift over time in Australia, from an initial concern with information provision, towards a process re-engineering approach, followed by an emphasis on technologically driven projects. The reduction of red tape on small businesses has also received special attention over the last years. Specialised regulatory reform bodies and central agency policy groups have a strong record in driving initiative, while extra-governmental reform advisory ...

Administrative simplification and burden reduction have been ongoing features of French policy on administration of the state. The improvement of the observance of the rights of citizens and their right of access to administrations and the modernisation of state structures and modes of operation have been the key objectives of the measures taken. There are several important bodies in operation (COSA for administrative simplification, DIRE for state reform, ATICA for new information and communication technologies, and COSLA for the improvement of administrative language) that are in charge of ...

Since the mid-1990s, Korea’s government has been pursuing farreaching reforms of the administrative system to deliver benefits for citizens and businesses alike. The policy stance taken so far prioritises direct action programmes at the expense of rule-setting. The government at first intends to eliminate unnecessary procedures and to reduce document requirements before setting up rules and provisions. These measures certainly improved the interaction between citizens and increased administrative transparency. The current government is also very active in efforts to establish e-Government initiatives. Forums where citizens can voice their proposals and a programme for ...

Initially, administrative simplification measures were implemented as part of sectoral deregulation and regulatory reform programmes in Mexico. Recently, a new approach emerged in the framework of the 2001-2006 Good Government Initiative that integrates administrative simplification into a management-for-quality programme. Among the most important tools implemented are the Federal Registry of Formalities and Services, the system of electronic tax declarations, various one-stop shop initiatives, the use of Regulatory Impact Analysis and the reinforcement criteria for the simplification of formalities such as “silence is consent and ‘silence is denial’”. An electronic system of government ...

The alleviation of administrative burdens on enterprises in the Netherlands is firmly on the political agenda as part of the broader regulatory quality and reform plans. The government has placed a large emphasis on the institutionalisation of administrative simplification. An independent institution set up by the government to facilitate administrative burden reduction, called ACTAL, has been a crucial driver of initiatives. The empirical scientific underpinning offered by MISTRAL, a methodology to measure burdens, helps to maintain a cost-focused pragmatic approach to administrative simplification. Based on these tools, the ...

There have been sustained attempts since the 1980s to reduce administrative burdens placed on citizens and businesses in the UK. The agenda of the government has become over time more diverse and comprehensive ranging from better regulation, alternatives to administrative regulation, to small business support to e-government. An array of institutions and taskforces (among them the Regulatory Impact Unit or the Better Regulation Task Force) have been set up to drive regulatory policies and to enhance cross-departmental ...

There is a wide-spread and bi-partisan support for the concept of burden reduction and simplification of regulatory requirements in the United States. A great number of laws and orders that require impact statements, consultations, consideration of regulatory alternatives or plain language drafting ensure that these concepts are taken into account in the regulation-writing process. At the implementation end, programme ombudsmen and one-stop shops are proliferating. Assistance to small business in implementing regulations is also very common. The spectacular improvements in information technology and the rise of the Internet as a stream of commerce and information act as an important ...