Better Regulation Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 - Government.nl
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Better Regulation Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017
Better Regulation Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017
Contents
5 9
Lower regulatory burden A €2.5 billion
through better-quality reduction in
13
legislation the regulatory
Introduction burden in
2012–2017
A noticeable reduction
25
in the regulatory burden
as a result of the
17 29
customised approach
Reducing the regulatory Better services –
burden at the local especially digital
government and EU levels services
35 In conclusion 36 Annex 1
80 Annex 2
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 3
Reducing regulatory burden in the Netherlands
SIX LINES OF ACTION
Improving Smarter, better
the quality of and more efficient
legislation supervision
+ +
A structural Cooperation with
reduction by local governments
€2.5 billion Better Regulation and at the EU level
+ for citizens and +
businesses
Noticeable Better digital
reduction through the services by
customised approach the goverment
+ +
FOUR YEARS OF REGULATORY BURDEN REDUCTION
8
,4
€2
2500
9
9
,0
,0
€2
€2
2000
1
,4
5
,3
€1
1500
€1
8
,8
1
1000
,8
€0
€0
6
2
,5
,5
€0
€0
500
01.04 01.10 01.04 01.10 01.04 01.10 01.04 01.10 01.04
2013 2013 2014 2014 2015 2015 2016 2016 2017
businesses citizens and professionals total
FOR BUSINESSES, CITIZENS AND PROFESSIONALS
Infrastructure and the Environment € -179 | € -234
Security and Justice € -344 | € -460
Economic Affairs € -150 | € -9
Social Affairs and Employment € -148 | € -48
Finance € -353 | € -63
ICT € -102 | € -119 Health, Welfare and Sports € -148 | € -33
Interior and Kingdom Relations € 39 | € -82
Education, Culture and Science € -1 | € -46
businesses citizens and professionals
Amounts in x million euro
1
Introduction
Over the past four years and more, the Cabinet has been As of 1 April 2017, €2.48 billion worth of measures aimed at
working hard on improving laws and regulations and reducing the regulatory burden have been implemented.
reducing the regulatory burden. A lower regulatory This is a €390 million increase compared to six months
burden creates scope for innovation and social initiative, ago, when this figure was at €2.09 billion. Through the
contributes to professionals and entrepreneurs’ customised approach we were also able to make
enjoyment of their work and has a positive impact on significant headway towards achieving a reduction in the
the business climate in the Netherlands. regulatory burden that is clearly noticeable for the relevant
target groups in a range of different sectors (including a
The Cabinet, the relevant regulatory authorities, the number of the government-designated Top Sectors).
business community, institutions, professionals, inspection Industries, businesses and institutions have indicated that
bodies and local government have been working together they are satisfied with the public-private approach and
intensively over this past period to identify and jointly would like to see it continue in the future. The rollout of
address obstacles existing in current laws and regulations. digital tools, such as the regulation assistance tools
The experience of the past few years has shown that (digitale regelhulpen) and the Ondernemersplein online
tackling the regulatory burden is most successful when the portal, have also contributed to greater convenience for
policy is centred on the target groups, and their entrepreneurs and a reduction in the regulatory burden
perceptions form the starting point for developing they experience.
solutions. This ensures that those elements that create the
most inconvenience in practice are addressed. At the same time, the Cabinet is aware that there is further
progress to be made. For example, entrepreneurs have
The Cabinet’s work on reducing the regulatory burden has indicated that the impact of measures that may contribute
been structured around six lines of action: quantitatively to reducing the regulatory burden are not
1. Reducing the regulatory burden by improving the quality always noticeable in practice. Other aspects of laws and
of legislation; regulations, such as their practicability, their perceived
2. A structural reduction in the regulatory burden for usefulness and their future-proofing, are also important
businesses, citizens and professionals by €2.5 billion for whether they are experienced as unnecessarily
over the period 2012–2017; burdensome. In addition, there is further progress to be
3. Bringing about a noticeable reduction in the regulatory made with improving services for citizens and
burden through the customised approach; entrepreneurs, as the quality of the contact with the
4. Smarter, better and more efficient supervision; government has a significant impact on the perceived
5. Reducing the regulatory burden through cooperation regulatory burden.
with local governments and at the EU level;
6. Better digital services. The Cabinet believes that putting citizens, entrepreneurs
and professionals more at the centre of regulation burden
After four years, the Cabinet is able to look back positively policy will contribute to a noticeable reduction in the
on the programme to reduce the regulatory burden. regulatory burden, with knock-on benefits for the quality
For one thing, it is pleased to report that the target of of government services. Policy could be geared to this
achieving a €2.5 billion reduction in the regulatory burden more explicitly in the future. The various examples in this
for citizens, businesses and professionals set out in the report will demonstrate that good progress in this
coalition agreement has been almost fully achieved. direction has already been made.
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 5
This letter is the Cabinet’s final progress report on the
Better Regulation programme for reducing the regulatory
burden. Some of the results described in this letter:
• During this government term, €2.48 billion worth of
measures to reduce the regulatory burden have been
implemented. This means 99% of the target has been
achieved;
• As part of the customised approach to the chemistry,
healthcare, hospitality and banking sectors, solutions
have been developed that contribute to reducing the
regulatory burden as experienced by entrepreneurs,
institutions and professionals. Examples include the
abolition of care needs assessment codes for
prescriptions in the healthcare sector, and the launch of
the InnovationHub to support innovative financial
products and services as part of the customised
approach to the banking sector;
• As of 1 January 2017, the Dutch central government has
switched over to electronic invoicing. Entrepreneurs can
save time and money by sending their invoices to the
government electronically. In addition, five new
regulation assistance tools have been published,
including one on ‘Decent Work’. Entrepreneurs can use
this online resource to easily and quickly find out which
HR-related rules they are required to comply with.
• At the EU-wide level, further work has been done to
develop the Council Conclusions in the fields of
innovation-friendly and future-proof regulations, SMEs,
and the quantification of targets to reduce the
regulatory burden that were adopted under the Dutch
Presidency. In addition, the Council has greenlighted a
pilot project with impact assessments. This is another
breakthrough that the Netherlands worked hard to
achieve during its Presidency.
6 Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 7
8 Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017
2
Lower regulatory burden
through better-quality
legislation
In order to improve the quality of legislation and regulatory burden more effectively, and at an earlier stage.
regulations and prevent any unnecessary regulatory Making more effective use of the Integrated Assessment
burden, the Cabinet aims to promote greater Framework (Integraal Afwegingskader, IAK) and the Business
transparency about the deliberations that lead to new Impact Assessment (Bedrijfseffectentoets, BET) could help
regulations and their impact, greater involvement on with this. In order to make improvements in this area,
the part of target groups in the establishment of the Cabinet already announced a set of measures in the
regulations, and better scrutiny of legislation and previous report. The Cabinet expects that the
regulations. Further steps were taken in this regard over establishment of the new Advisory Board on Regulatory
the past period. Burden on 1 June 2017 will also make a positive
contribution to this.
For example, the Cabinet further improved the
transparency of the legislative process with the New Advisory Board on Regulatory Burden
introduction of the public online legislative calendar The new advisory board that will be conducting regulatory
(https://wetgevingskalender.overheid.nl/), which contains burden assessments as the successor of Actal will be called
information about the development and rollout of the Advisory Board on Regulatory Burden (Aviescollege
national legislation. In addition, more frequent use is Toetsing Regeldruk, ATR) and will work under a temporary
being made of online consultation (through the mandate until 1 June 2021. After three years, the board will
www.internetconsultatie.nl platform). During this be evaluated and, within the provisions of the Advisory
government term, the number of online consultations Bodies Framework Act (Kaderwet adviescolleges), the
increased significantly: from 49 in 2012 to 198 in 2016. possibility of extending its mandate will be reviewed.
In addition, the Cabinet recently sent a letter about the The decree establishing the new advisory board and setting
transparency of the legislative process to the House of out its responsibilities in greater detail was presented to
Representatives.1 In this letter, the Minister of Security and the House of Representatives for preliminary scrutiny on
Justice announced a number of measures aimed at further 23 March 2017 and then discussed with the House. The
improving the way online consultation works in practice. decree will be amended to reflect the motions on this topic
Examples of this are more targeted communication with that were adopted on 20 April. You received further
the relevant target groups about online consultations, and information about this in a separate letter dated 12 May.
the aim to make reports and other source documents
about the feasibility of bills publicly available on the public Response to the Actal opinion ‘Regulatory burden resulting
online legislative calendar in a more systematic way going from transparency requirements’
forward. On 22 February 2017, Actal issued an opinion on the
regulatory burden resulting from statutory transparency
Looking back on this line of action, we can conclude that, requirements, such as requirements pertaining to labelling
during this government term, good progress was made in and package leaflets. In this opinion, Actal recommends
two areas in particular: making the legislative process that the use and necessity of these types of requirements,
more transparent, and involving target groups more and the associated regulatory costs, should be considered
closely. Further progress is to be made when it comes to more carefully.2 A study into 14 legal transparency
weighing up alternatives, and identifying the impact of
2
Actal opinion, 21 February 2017, ‘Regulatory burden resulting from
1
Parliamentary Papers 2016-2017, 33.009, No. 39 and Parlimentary statutory transparency requirements’ (Regeldruk als gevolg van
Papers 2016-2017, 33009, G. wettelijke transparantieverplichtingen).
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 9requirements for insurance companies, pension providers,
food producers and the medical sector revealed that the
regulatory burden that is experienced depends mainly on
the specifics of the relevant requirement. These include
things like frequency, timing and the extent to which they
depend on third parties for information. The requirement
to inform the relevant target groups by letter or other
hard-copy communication, in particular, leads to a
relatively large regulatory burden being experienced.
The researchers found that, in some cases, transparency
requirements exist even where companies would have
volunteered the relevant information of their own accord.
The Cabinet agrees with Actal that the use, necessity and
regulatory costs of these types of statutory requirements
must be considered carefully, and will therefore be
particularly mindful of the following aspects going
forward:
• When determining transparency requirements, the
Cabinet will base its approach on information that is
already available within an organisation’s primary
processes;
• When developing transparency requirements in greater
detail, the Cabinet will opt for the lowest possible
frequency that is required to still achieve the
requirement’s intended purpose;
• When drafting transparency legislation, the Cabinet will
be particularly mindful of the practical feasibility of the
requirement;
• The Cabinet will prevent any amendments (including
annual updates) to the obligations as much as is
possible.
In addition, the Cabinet expects that more effective use of
the Integrated Assessment Framework and the Business
Impact Assessment will contribute to more effective and
balanced decision-making with regard to new
transparency requirements. The new Advisory Board on
Regulatory Burden can also help to prevent unnecessary
regulatory pressure by advising ministries on the use and
necessity of transparency requirements at an earlier stage
in the legislative process.
10 Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 11
12 Goed geregeld | een kabinetsverantwoorde vermindering van regeldruk 2012-2017
3
A €2.5 billion reduction
in the regulatory burden
in 2012–2017
The coalition agreement set out the target of achieving Annex I lists all the measures for each ministry, along with
a €2.5 billion reduction in the regulatory burden for the estimated impact on the regulatory burden.
businesses, citizens and professionals between 2012 The diagram below shows the incremental progress
and 2017. toward achieving the target over the years.
As of 1 April 2017, €2.48 billion of the measures identified After successive quantitative targets set by different
have been implemented (€1.39 billion for businesses and cabinets, experience has shown that it has become more
€1.09 billion for citizens and professionals). This is an and more difficult to find new ways to reduce the
increase of about €390 million compared to the figure stated regulatory burden without jeopardising the public interest.
in the progress report six months ago. This significant The Cabinet is therefore very satisfied that, in spite of this
increase is due to the implementation of a large number of tricky starting position, it has managed to achieve such a
measures, including the introduction of the Message Box substantial reduction (€2.48 billion).
(‘Berichtenbox’) for citizens, the transition to e-invoicing and
the amendment to the Activities Decree (Activiteitenbesluit) for
existing gas turbines and gas engines. It also turns out that
the reduction achieved as a result of the National Parking
Register is higher than had been projected.
Figure 1: Working towards the €2.5 target reduction in regulatory burden
2500
2000
1095
771 818
1500
Citizens and
professionals
572 592
1000
92 142 Businesses
1315 1388
50 57 1268
500
715 734 777 814
471 506
0
April November April October April October April October April
2013 2013 2014 2014 2015 2015 2016 2016 2017
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 13“Entrepreneurs can achieve substantial savings on accountancy costs”
medium-sized enterprises save more than 300 million
euros in administrative costs annually. “Businesses can
achieve considerable savings thanks to this simplification,”
says Ingrid Verweij, Accountant and Administrative
Consultant at Van Braak Accountants. “For example,
a number of businesses no longer need an audit opinion
because the threshold amount for distinguishing between
‘small’ and ‘medium-sized’ enterprises has been increased.
All they need is the so-called compilation report. This
enables them to slash their annual accountancy costs by
half – after all, an accountant needs to perform extensive
procedures to substantiate his opinion on a company’s
financial statements. In addition, lighter requirements are
As a result of the simplified accounting and reporting rules now in place with respect to the segregation of duties and
that came into effect on 1 November 2015, small and the registration of a number of internal procedures.”
The amount would have been even higher if the Cabinet implementation of digital consignment notes at the
had not had to deal with a number of measures being international level, the reduction that will be achieved will
dropped or postponed over the past six months. largely fall outside of this government term. The uptake of
Examples of this are the digital healthcare policy digital consignment notes at the national level is also
(postponed: €45 million); the amendment to the Housing lower than expected. In quantitative terms, the use of
Act (Woningwet) concerning the provision and application digital consignment notes has reduced the regulatory
of energy labels (dropped: €14 million), and the burden by €1.7 million to date. The Cabinet is now focusing
modernisation and simplification of building regulations on promoting the acceptance of digital consignment notes
(postponed: €18 million). In addition, the previously by all EU Member States, as well as on a structured
estimated reduction of €100 million as a result of the approach to the use of digital consignment notes for all
introduction of digital consignment notes had to be modes of transport by the Logistics Top Sector.
adjusted considerably. Due to the delay incurred in the
Online tool generates tailor-made privacy statement
More and more companies – often smaller businesses –
are developing products and services that require them
to take consumer privacy into account. In these cases,
businesses need to state what data they store and how
they handle this data. The Ministry of Economic Affairs
has joined forces with the Dutch Electronic Commerce
Platform (ECP) to develop an online tool that generates a
tailor-made privacy statement for businesses based on
eight simple questions. The statement lays out clearly
and concisely what the company intends to do with than €10 million. The tool was used a total of 11,300
consumer data. This will make it easier for consumers to times in 2016.
see how the company handles their information, and
allow them to make an informed decision as to which The Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit
products and services they wish to use. A first look into Persoonsgegevens) monitored the development
the reduction in the regulatory burden that appears to of the tool, which has been tested by the
have been achieved so far revealed that the use of this Dutch SME sector and is available via
privacy tool could enable entrepreneurs to save more www.veiliginternetten.nl/privacyverklaring.
14 Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017Non-recurring costs and costs of compliance with EU law
As promised by the Minister of Economic Affairs in
response to the motion filed by Agnes Mulder, Erik Ziengs
and Kees Verhoeven on 16 April 20153, as of 2016 the
Cabinet also reports on non-recurring costs and the costs
of compliance with EU law. In this letter, we will report on
the non-recurring costs and EU compliance costs
associated with laws and regulations that came into effect
between 1 January 2016 and 1 April 2017.
The total amount of the non-recurring costs in this period
was €519 million. This represents an increase of slightly
more than €40 million compared to the preceding six
months. This increase is largely due to two regulations:
the ‘Implementation Decree on the Directive and
Regulation on statutory audits of annual accounts’
(€9.6 million) and the ‘Decree in connection with the
changing composition of gas in the Netherlands’
(€30 million). The costs of compliance with EU law have
not changed compared to those stated in the report of
autumn 2016 (€56.9 million), as since this report was
published, only a few measures that incurred costs for
compliance with EU law have been implemented, and
these costs were negligible.
A comprehensive overview of non-recurring costs and
costs of compliance with EU law can also be found in
Annex I.
3
Parliamentary Papers 2014-2015, 32637, No. 177.
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 1516 Goed geregeld | Een verantwoorde vermindering van regeldruk 2012-2017
4
A noticeable reduction in
the regulatory burden as
a result of the customised
approach
In order to give an additional boost to achieving a As part of the customised approach to the chemical sector,
noticeable reduction in the regulatory burden in specific ministries, licensing authorities, regulatory authorities,
heavily regulated sectors (including a number of the businesses and industry organisations are working together
government-designated Top Sectors), the Cabinet has to develop better regulations and smarter implementation
used the so-called customised approach. Under the of the relevant laws and regulations. The launch of the
customised approach, the government works with Helpdesk for the Chemical Sector (Chemieloket) in December
businesses, citizens and professionals to identify and 2016 was an important milestone in the customised
jointly address problem areas. approach to the chemical sector. Entrepreneurs can turn to
the Helpdesk with practical issues relating to regulations
Annex II includes a detailed overview of the current status that are an impediment to innovation and to resolve
of all customised approaches. Several of them are problem areas in the field of regulation. Since the launch,
highlighted below. 39 issues have been flagged up, 17 of which have now been
resolved (for an example, see below).
Less regulation and more common sense in urban planning
Property developers need to ensure their plans are Local governments get support from the Action Team
compatible with the policy documents that apply to the for Speeding up Decision-making in Area Development
area where they are seeking to build – sometimes, this (Actieteam Ontslakken Gebiedsontwikkeling), headed up by
can mean reviewing as many as 100 different documents. Friso de Zeeuw, Professor of Area Development at Delft
This regulatory burden is an impediment to the University of Technology, and project leader Jos Feijtel.
commencement of new construction projects. The effort to speed up urban planning procedures is
Since 2012, as part of the customised approach to heavily part of the customised approach for the construction
regulated sectors (Maatwerkaanpak regeldichte domeinen), sector and falls within the remit of the Ministry of the
a nationwide team of experts has helped more than Interior and Kingdom Relations and the Ministery of
30 municipalities to reduce this regulatory burden. Economic Affairs. http://ontslakkengemeente.nl/
The key principle of the approach is ‘working the other
way around’, says John-Paul Zigenhorn, Spatial Planning
Project Leader at the municipality of Hoorn: “We start by
looking at the value of the initiative to the city. Only then
do we look at the restrictions. You can’t ignore a zoning
plan, but sitting down with the developers to look at
what is possible can get you a long way. That’s the
approach that we have used since our very first project
– the construction of a beach pavilion on the dike near
the historical town centre. Initially, the permit application
breached virtually all the rules that apply to this area.
But this complexity made this project the ideal
opportunity for us to gain experience with simplifying
the procedures for environmental permits.”
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 17“Where do you take 57-metre turbine blades?”
As a result of obstructive regulations, recyclable plastics,
including turbine blades, were ending up in landfills.
This can be avoided – as Demacq Recycling International
CEOs Cora Burger and Alla Swets found out after
contacting the Helpdesk for the Chemical Sector with this
issue. “The Helpdesk staff were incredibly helpful. They
put us in touch with people within the government who
had the relevant expertise and were able to help us. Now
we can close the materials loop and fully reuse this
plastic, which is also used in cars and ships. Previously,
this material could be dumped in landfills, although it is
not biodegradable and there are great opportunities for
recycling that also reduce carbon emissions.”
In 2017, the Helpdesk for the Chemical Sector will be raise its profile. For example, from now on it will be present
focusing on innovation and the circular economy. In order to on location upon request, for example at the premises of
remove obstacles in this area, the Helpdesk is working to the employers’ organisation Deltalinqs in Rotterdam.
The sector’s experience with the Helpdesk for the Chemical Sector
Director of the Association of the Dutch Chemical
Industry (VNCI) Colette Alma is also happy with this
Helpdesk for businesses that are wrestling with
regulatory pressure. “For over a year now, our members
have been able to turn to the Heldpdesk, where
businesses in the chemical sector can flag up any issues
about obstructive regulations in a simple, direct and
confidential way. Reporting issues is now easy, and the
VNCI thinks this is a very positive development. A lot of
entrepreneurs have found their way to the Helpdesk over
the past year. This service is clearly meeting a need.”
Another important priority within the customised digital permit for BRZO companies that is always up-to-
approach to the chemical sector is the use of IT to reduce date. This will give the relevant companies insight into all
the regulatory burden. An example of this is the the conditions that are applicable to them, and enable
digitisation of the processes relating to permits for them to more easily design their business operating
businesses subject to the Major Accidents (Risks) Decree systems to comply with the conditions stipulated in the
(BRZO). The best way of digitising the procedure for permit, while reducing the regulatory burden.
granting permits to these companies is to start preparing
at an early stage for the introduction of the new Within the customised approach to the hospitality sector,
Environment and Planning Act (Omgevingswet) and the steps have been taken to further reduce the regulatory
associated Digital System for the Environment and burden for entrepreneurs. One of the problem areas
Planning Act (Digitaal Stelsel Omgevingswet). Working with concerned unnecessary regulations and supervision in the
the Province of South-Holland, the DCMR environmental management of legionella. As part of the Legionella
protection agency (DCMR Mileudienst) of local and regional Supervision Roundtable (Toezichttafel Legionella), various
authorities in the Rijnmond region and the Ministry of initiatives are under way, all aimed at addressing
Infrastructure and the Environment, a pilot is being bottlenecks relating to legionella. For example, the
prepared with the aim of coming up with an integrated Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations recently
18 Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017granted a subsidy for the development of a tool that will With the customised approach to the craft shop sector,
enable contractors and architects to take potential progress has been made in particular on problem
legionella ‘hotspots’ into account in the design stage. areas that relate to company emergency response
Available from mid-February 2017, this tool will make it (‘bedrijfshulpsverlening’, or BHV). According to industry players,
easier to prevent and manage legionella. a lack of clarity in regulations on company emergency response
requirements is resulting in unnecessary costs. In order to
In addition, the Human Environment and Transport address this issue, the industry associations that are members
Inspectorate (ILT) is developing the individual supervision of the Craft shop Coalition – ANKO (Dutch Organisation
agreements into a more generic approach, known as the of Hairdressers), VBW (Dutch Association of Florists), NSV
‘light supervision regime’. A ‘light supervision regime’ (Dutch Association of Cobblers), KNS (Royal Dutch Butchers
means that organisations that meet the Human Organisation) and NBOV (Dutch Bread and Pastry Bakers
Environment and Transport Inspectorate’s requirements Association) – have taken the initiative of commissioning a
will no longer be subject to active supervision. Of course, digital BHV application. This application helps companies to put
the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate the requirement set out in the Working Conditions Act (Arbowet)
reserves the right to decide at any point to do a ‘reality that they develop a company emergency response plan into
check’ to see whether a company is still eligible for the light practice. Because the content is customised for the relevant
supervision regime. Finally, the Inspectorate has developed sector, it is easy for employers to put appropriate company
a regulation assistance tool which will help entrepreneurs emergency response procedures in place, and to assign these
to comply with legionella laws and regulations to their employees. This prevents unnecessary costs. The
(https://regelhulpenvoorbedrijven.nl/legionella). companies involved have responded positively to the initiative.
“A company emergency response course, taught via smartphone, enables us to reach a lot
more employees”
“A lot of SME business owners weren’t clear on what
company emergency response plan they should be putting
in place,” says Patrick Janssen, CEO of Hoepelman Kappers
and MijnKapper.today. “The existing commercial packages
for company emergency response set the bar way too high.
I’ve taken those types of courses myself: one day of first aid,
one day of fire prevention, year after year. That cost our
company a pretty penny. Once we had grown to 18 branches
and 150 employees, I started looking for a different way of
doing things. It turned out that it was much easier to meet
the legal requirements. We discussed this with our industry
association, ANKO, with then consulted with the Ministry of
Social Affairs and Employment and its Inspectorate, which is
the relevant regulatory authority. ANKO was already
working on identifying the regulatory burden arising from
company emergency response that hairdressers are dealing
with. The solution will be available soom – a company
emergency response app that can be used to train all
employees. It will give them exactly the instructions they
need for company emergency response in a salon. After all,
our employees don’t work in a factory, and they don’t need
to be fully-fledged paramedics. Using the app, employees
can complete the course on their smartphones in two to
three hours. They can do this on their lunch break or on their
living-room sofa. This approach is perfect for the young
people working in our sector. This course enables us to reach
a lot more employees. That’s great, and it also enables us to
save a lot of time and money every year.”
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 19Supplying data only once and better data on youth care
Youth care institutions need to justify their production in year. This helps them to report more accurately. It is clear
the Annual Social Responsibility Document (Jaardocument from the reports submitted for 2016 that this results in
Maatschappelijke Verantwoording, JMV). They supply data to better data on youth care in the Netherlands.”
the CIBG (Central Information Unit on Health Care
Professions) to this end. They also have to supply much
of this data to Statistics Netherlands as part of the Policy
Information (Beleidsinformatie) research. From the
reporting year 2016 onwards, institutions can choose to
have Statistics Netherlands forward the relevant data to
the CIBG. According to Nicolet Epker, director of the
Jeugdzorg Nederland industry association, this will save
institutions a lot of time. “With one tick of a box, they
can authorise Statistics Netherlands to forward the data
to the CIBG. Clearly they like this idea, as 90% to 95% are
opting to do this. After submitting data to Statistics
Netherlands, they receive mirror information that
enables them to compare the data with the previous
Reducing the regulatory burden experienced by In the domain of specialist medical care, we are focusing
professionals in the healthcare sector is an important on addressing existing practical problems and
priority for the Cabinet. This increases healthcare implementing structural improvements to the system,
professionals’ enjoyment of their work and allows them such as the ‘Registration at the source’ programme,
to focus on their primary priority – patient care. where healthcare data is registered just once, in a clear and
comprehensive way, so that the data can be reused for
Since the summer of 2015, as part of the ‘Changing Course’ multiple purposes. Within the Innovatieplaats Cure
(‘Het Roer Gaat Om’) initiative, various forms, repeat initiative, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is
referrals and double authorisations for general practitioners creating scope for more innovative ways of working, such
have been abolished. The Ministry of Health, Welfare and as the possibility for pharmacists to save pharmaceutical
Sport is also working with dentists, pharmacists, district files digitally instead of in hard copy.
nurses and paramedics to implement a range of solutions.
For example, district nurses no longer need to complete a The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport informed the
risk assessment as standard, there is now a single House of Representatives in greater detail about its efforts
application form for bandaging aids for paramedics, and to reduce the regulatory burden in long-term care and in the
soon dentists will no longer need to complete any paper domain of youth care and social support on 30 March 2017.4
forms for insurance claims for patients in long-term care.
In late 2016, the Minister for Agriculture kicked off the
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport has also second round of the customised approach to the agrofood
intensified its approach to tackling the regulatory burden in sector. Entrepreneurs from the sector, through their
the mental healthcare sector. For example, the procedure various industry associations, identified 52 different
for referrals between basic and specialist mental healthcare problem areas. In February 2017, two meetings were held
has been simplified, and a number of patient journeys from with these associations to select problem areas and cluster
a range of different areas of regulatory remit are being them for inclusion on the action list. The action list is a list
reviewed. Those involved often experience a regulatory of problem areas that it is expected to be resolved in the
burden in the transition between different regulatory near future through a joint effort by the government and
domains, such as the Long-Term Care Act (Wet langdurige the business community. In addition, the Minister intends
zorg), the Health Insurance Act (Zorgverzekeringswet) and the in the near future to open up a digital helpdesk for the
Social Support Act 2015 (Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning agricultural sector, where entrepreneurs can flag up
2015). The patient journeys are being examined to identify
the problem areas experienced by the various parties
involved, and how these can be addressed. 4
Parliamentary Papers 2016-2017, 29515 Nos. 399 and 400.
20 Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017impediments to innovation and submit suggestions for Finally, within the customised approach to the banking
ways to reduce the regulatory burden. This helpdesk will sector, the launch of the InnovationHub in June of last year
be part of the Smart Regulation (Ruimte in Regels, RiR) was an important milestone. A joint initiative by the
online platform, which is where the Chemieloket, for Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and
example, can also be found. Any problem areas flagged up DNB (the central bank of the Netherlands), the Innovation
through this platform will be addressed, in conjunction Hub is aimed at market players who are seeking to launch
with the person/company that raised the issue, industry innovative financial products or services and have
associations and experts. Detailed design of the helpdesk questions relating to regulations. The goal of the hub is to
is currently under way. facilitate innovation in the financial sector.
First peer-to-peer insurance app made possible partly thanks to Innovation Hub
In November 2016, insurance provider Vivat introduced insight into the needs that exist in the market, and to gain
the first peer-to-peer insurance app through its subsidiary experience of developing new insurance products.
Reaal. The app, called POT, helps groups of up to 50 The banking services are provided by bunq.”
people to pay into a mutual fund, similar to the so-called
‘bread funds’ (broodfondsen), to cover risks that are difficult Although customer panels liked the idea, there was
to insure. The innovation was partly facilitated by insufficient clarity as to how AFM and DNB interpreted the
InnovationHub, a joint initiative by the Netherlands regulations for banks and insurance providers. It looked as
Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) and DNB (the if this could put a real spanner in the works: “We contacted
central bank of the Netherlands). Innovation Hub because we were stuck at a few major
roadblocks. They understood us straight away and gave us
Madelon Simons, Head of Digital Innovation at Vivat: advice as to how POT can offer sufficient guarantees to
“Using POT, customers can arrange insurance coverage policyholders. As a result, we at Vivat also became more
without having to liaise with an insurance company. The confident about taking on this challenge. We are now
users arrange everything themselves. One can imagine a working on further developing the app, and are keeping
wide range of groups of users that might wish to make use AFM and DNB updated via InnovationHub.”
of this scheme, from a homeowners’ association to a
kitesurfing club, a band or a retailers’ association seeking InnovationHub contributes to more effective, tailor-
to insure automated external defibrillators in public made supervision and reduces the regulatory burden
places. This enables groups to insure against risks that for innovative businesses in the financial sector.
most insurers don’t dare get involved with. Vivat doesn’t The initiative is part of the customised approach to the
make a profit from POT. We launched the app to get banking sector.
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 21InnovationHub enables new and existing market players to Companies have indicated that they indeed experience
discuss any issues directly with the relevant regulatory less regulatory pressure as a result. An example of one of
authorities. The Netherlands Authority for the Financial the measures implemented as part of the customised
Markets and DNB have indicated that more than approach to the logistics sector that companies were
100 parties have already found their way to InnovationHub particularly positive about is the Netherlands Food and
since it was launched. This demonstrates that there is a Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA)’s approach to
huge need for a central point of contact and a helpdesk for tackling problem areas in phytosanitary and veterinary
innovative newcomers in the sector. The Cabinet is very imports. Companies have stated that the NVWA is clearly
excited about InnovationHub and the continuing more mindful of the issues that companies run up against,
development of this initiative. Given the level of need in and wants to work on improving compliance by companies
the sector, the Cabinet feels it is important that other not just by imposing penalties, but also through
regulatory authorities, such as the Netherlands Authority consultation and cooperation. Companies have also stated
for Consumers and Markets (ACM) and the Dutch Data that it is easier to reach the NVWA when they encounter
Protection Authority (AP), get involved with problems. The parties involved are so satisfied with the
InnovationHub in the future. cooperation between the NVWA and the business
community that they wish to make this consultation an
Evaluation of the customised approach programme to tackle the established practice. The NVWA’s approach to
regulatory burden experienced by businesses phytosanitary and veterinary imports is an example of how
In order to establish, after the end of the government the ‘smarter, better and more efficient supervision’ line of
term, how the customised approach has contributed to action was given shape as part of the customised approach
achieving a noticeable reduction in the regulatory burden, to the logistics sector.
an Evaluation tool (MerkbaarheidsScan) has been developed.
This tool is currently being run in the healthcare, logistics The preliminary results of the Evaluation tool that was run in
and agriculture sectors. The Evaluation tool is a qualitative the healthcare sector among general practitioners also show
evaluation method centred on the target group of that the set of measures that were implemented as part of
the policy. the ‘Changing Course’ programme have indeed reduced the
regulatory burden experienced by general practitioners.
Although the evaluations have not been completed yet, Your House will receive further information about this
the first results are promising. For example, the research before the start of the summer in a separate letter
preliminary results of the evaluation the logistics sector from the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport.
show that the customised approach results in a reduction The Evaluation tool results for the agricultural sector will
in the experienced regulatory burden. On the whole, the also become available before the summer, and the
parties involved were positive, as the customised approach definitive results of the study into the customised
has resulted in implementing bodies and businesses approach for the logistics sector will be available by then
consulting with each other in a systematic way to identify too. The preliminary results are positive, and demonstrate
problem areas and work together to find solutions. Many that the stakeholders appreciate the customised approach
of those problem areas have been addressed by the strategy and that it has a positive impact on reducing the
provision of information via campaigns, alerts and apps. experienced regulatory burden.
22 Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017Programme Customised approach
Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en
Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport Werkgelegenheid
Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu
Ministerie van Infrastructuur
en Milieu
Nederlandse Voedsel- en
Rijksoverheid Warenautoriteit
Ministerie van Economische Zaken
Nederlandse Voedsel- en
Warenautoriteit
Ministerie van Economische Zaken
Ministerie van
Financiën
Ministerie van Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend
Economische Zaken Nederland
Ministerie van Infrastructuur
en Milieu
Douane
Belastingdienst
Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en
Werkgelegenheid
19 1
2
Ministerie van
18
Economische Zaken
3
Ministerie van Volksgezondheid,
17
Welzijn en Sport
16 4
Inspectie van het Onderwijs
Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en
Wetenschap
15 5
Dienst Uitvoering Onderwijs
Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en
Wetenschap
14 6 Ministerie van
Economische Zaken Ministerie van
Infrastructuur
en Milieu
13 7
12 8
11 9
Inspectie voor de Gezondheidszorg
Ministerie van Volksgezondheid,
10
Welzijn en Sport
Ministerie van
Financiën
Nederlandse Voedsel- en
Warenautoriteit
Ministerie van Economische Zaken
Ministerie van
Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Infrastructuur
Welzijn en Sport en Milieu
Ministerie van
Inspectie SZW Veiligheid en Justitie
Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en
Werkgelegenheid Ministerie van
Veiligheid en Justitie
Inspectie Leefomgeving en Transport
Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu
Nederlandse Voedsel- en
Warenautoriteit
Ministerie van Economische Zaken
Ministerie van Sociale Zaken en Ministerie van
Werkgelegenheid Financiën
CUSTOMISED APPROACH AND DEPARTMENTS
1 Logistics 8 Hospitality economics 15 Education
2 Chemistry 9 Craft shop sector 16 Public transport for people with
3 Agrofood 10 Childcare disabilities
4 Lifesciences & Health 11 Metal 17 Process optimization Social support
5 Banks 12 Volunteers act (WMO)
6 Construction 13 Criminal justice 18 Pleasant contact with the government
7 Heatlhcare 14 Police 19 Urban Agenda and EU Urban Agenda
This page provides a summary of the organisations that contributed to the Customised approach.24 Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017
5
Reducing the regulatory
burden at the local
government and EU levels
It is not only national laws and regulations that impact method is to make this journey as convenient and efficient
upon the regulatory burden that is experienced by as possible. Examples of some of the improvement
citizens, companies and institutions. Municipalities and measures implemented using this method are the
the European Commission can also make a significant introduction of personal account management, asking
contribution to achieving a noticeable reduction in the entrepreneurs targeted questions instead of using generic
regulatory burden through better legislation, forms, and approaching the entrepreneur at an earlier
regulations and services. stage in the journey.
Municipalities In addition, 52 municipalities used a survey among
The Quality Institute for Dutch Municipalities entrepreneurs (the ‘Ondernemerspeiling’) to gain insight into
(Kwaliteitsinstituut Nederlandse Gemeenten, KING) supports their local economy and how local businesses rate their
local governments in reducing the regulatory burden in services. This number is growing rapidly: 42 other
various different areas. For example, over the past year, municipalities are currently conducting the survey. KING is
municipalities have used the ‘customer journey’ method, facilitating the analysis of the findings and the exchange of
developed by the Quality Institute’s Knowledge Centre on good practices, for example through learning groups.
Public Services (Kenniscentrum Dienstverlening), to map the
regulatory burden that is experienced and to implement a In the province of Drenthe, the various local governments
number of improvements. A customer journey is the conducted the survey together in order to improve services
entrepreneur’s journey past organisations and services to businesses at the provincial level. It emerged that the
that he makes in connection with specific events, such as approach used by the municipality of Hoogeveen was
starting a business. The objective of the customer journey particularly popular (see the box below).
Hoogeveen grants permit or replies to permit requests within a week
Entrepreneurs applying for a permit from the had made a plan and the alderman got the go-ahead
municipality of Hoogeveen receive either the requested from the council. Ever since, we’ve been working
permit, or a clear response indicating any further closely with local businesses. In principle, we’re willing
processing their application requires, within a week. to throw our support behind everything – unless the
The survey conducted by the Quality Institute for Dutch proposal is completely impossible.”
Municipalities (KING) among entrepreneurs reveals that
they greatly appreciate this approach. The survey measures businesses’ satisfaction with
municipal services, administrative and regulatory
The introduction of this fast-track permit procedure burdens, and the local business climate overall.
in Hoogeveen was prompted by the slump in the This standard for research was developed by KING and
construction sector. “In 2013, the municipality was the Ministry of Economic Affairs in cooperation with
looking into ways to stimulate the construction sector, municipalities, interest groups and consultancy firms.
as unemployment rates were high at the time,” says The findings will be published on
project leader Gert Bolkestein. “Within four weeks we www.waarstaatjegemeente.nl.
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 25Finally, in late 2016, KING began a quick scan of the most fast-track permits to enable entrepreneurs and private
effective elements of the approaches to tackling the individuals to save time, and a strong focus on improving
regulatory burden used by ten municipalities that were the quality of services. In addition, the quick scan revealed
particularly successful at doing this. Key elements that that successful municipalities invest in contact with
emerged from this quick scan are, for example, the entrepreneurs and their approach is responsive to the
importance of commitment among higher officials and feedback gained as a result. The results of the study can be
administrators, a good organisational set-up for tackling found on http://www.kinggemeenten.nl/ and will be
regulatory burden, creating scope for experimentation (see disseminated among municipalities in order to inspire
also the example of Rotterdam below), working with them with these good examples.
Broader scope for food trucks in Rotterdam
Sydney inspired Rotterdam to experiment with food The initiative is possible thanks to the article on
trucks in the city. Heleen Lobbe, coordinator of the City of experimentation included by Rotterdam – the first
Rotterdam’s legal team: “Until recently, food trucks were municipality to do so – in its General Municipal By-Law.
only permitted at events and in fixed locations. At the Lobbe: “Here in Rotterdam, we have extensive experience
request of entrepreneurs, we are now experimenting in with reducing the regulatory burden for local businesses.
twelve locations with food trucks in varying We have learned over time that experimentation is a
combinations. Experience in Australia and the US has great way to get people on board and create space for
shown that three to five food trucks per location is a good something new. We have also found that experiments are
number, ensuring a pleasantly small-scale presence with more likely to succeed when you let entrepreneurs take
sufficient variation. By introducing these food truck hubs, the lead. It has to come from them. Then we can sit down
we want to make the city a more lively place.” together and look at the possibilities.”
The EU level in the regulatory burden and targets for reducing the
In the second half of 2016, the Slovak Presidency of the regulatory burden’ and ‘a focus on SMEs’. As part of the
Council of the European Union has done further work on implementation of the Interinstitutional Agreement on
the topics that formed part of the Council Conclusions Better Law-Making, during its Presidency the Netherlands
adopted last year under the Dutch Presidency. The most also worked on the topic ‘the use of impact assessments
important topics in this context were ‘future-proof and by the Council’. Recently a number of new steps have been
innovation-friendly regulation’, ‘quantifying the reduction taken with regard to all of these topics.
26 Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017For example, the Commission has launched a new website The Cabinet is pleased to note the boost that the topic
(http://ec.europa.eu/info/law/contribute-law-making_en) ‘Better Regulation’ received at the EU level during this
intended to improve the transparency of the European government term after the arrival in office of First
legislative process. On this website, which is similar to the Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who has specific
Dutch online legislative calendar, you can keep track of the responsibility for the Better Regulation Agenda. Significant
law-making process from start to finish. This makes it improvements have been made to the legislative process,
easier for stakeholders, including SMEs, to offer feedback including the transformation of the Impact Assessment
about planned EU regulations. With regard to the topic of Board into a Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB) that consists
future-proof and innovation-friendly legislation and in part of independent members. The Netherlands hopes
regulations, the Maltese Presidency has started the that, in future, the Regulatory Scrutiny Board will become
process of taking stock of, and exchanging, good practices fully independent , so that proposed EU legislation and
between Member States and the European Commission. regulations can be reviewed externally and independently.
Malta aims to publish a report with the results of this The European Commission was also quick to recognise the
exchange in June 2017. With regard to the targets for importance of future-proof and innovation-friendly
reducing the regulatory burden, REGWATCH-Europe, regulation, and incorporate this priority into its own
following consultation with the European Commission, internal assessment frameworks. The Netherlands
has commissioned a feasibility study. REGWATCH-Europe supports this, as scope for innovation is an important
is a partnership between the various independent scrutiny prerequisite for the EU’s future earning power. As regards
and advisory bodies for regulatory pressure in Europe, the quantification of the impact on the regulatory burden,
including Actal. The results of this study are expected the Netherlands feels the Commission could be more
to be made available before the summer of 2017. proactive. As the recently published REFIT scoreboard
The Netherlands is hoping that the Commission will use revealed, the Commission currently provides insufficient
these results as a basis for steps to implement targets for insight into the actual benefits from the various REFIT
reducing the regulatory burden. actions that it has set in motion. The Netherlands would
like the Commission to take action quickly, also where
The Interinstitutional Agreement on Better Law-Making targets for the reduction of the regulatory burden are
(IIA) came into effect on 13 April 2016. In this agreement, concerned. The feasibility study commissioned by
the Council has committed to conducting impact REGWATCH mentioned above will hopefully act as a
assessments on any substantial amendments that it catalyst in this. Finally, the Netherlands considers it
proposes to make to the legislative process. The General particularly important that the Commission is able to
Secretariat of the Council proposed a two-year pilot on the achieve an actual reduction in the regulatory burden for
use of impact assessments by the Council. The Netherlands private individuals and entrepreneurs. The Cabinet sees
is pleased that the Council recently accepted this proposal, the establishment of the REFIT Platform as an important
which means that an initial, fact-finding pilot can probably step in the right direction. Over the coming period, the
be launched before the end of this year. Netherlands would like to continue working with the
Commission to make this shared ambition into a reality.
Finally, at the end of last year, the Commission included
nearly all the recommendations made by the REFIT
Platform in its Work Programme for 2017. The Commission
has also announced the actions it wishes to take in order
to address the problem areas that have been identified in
EU laws and regulations. So far, the Netherlands is positive
about the progress and impact of the REFIT Platform.
The Commission has taken the recommendations to heart,
and has come up with proposed improvements to address
them fairly quickly. The Netherlands will continue to
actively participate in the REFIT Platform and will be
keeping a close eye on its progress, along with other
Member States.
Better Regulation | Towards a Responsible Reduction in the Regulatory Burden between 2012-2017 27You can also read
