Key industry leaders say the government is reneging on commitments to improve the business environment by ensuring that new laws do not add to the burden on companies. The matter is further clouded by the apparently contradictory positions of different arms of the Czech government.
Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) has been a compulsory element of lawmaking in the Czech Republic since 2007, ensuring that new economic, social and environmental rules are in line with the 'Think Small First' principle set out in the Small Business Act.
Jaromír Drábek, chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Czech Republic), said RIA is vital for business. "We unambiguously need RIA because we need to know what regulatory instruments – changing tax and administrative burden – the government prepares," he claims.
However, in August 2009, the Office of Government in Prague complained that RIA is too complicated and proposed to change it so that public authorities could decide for themselves whether to apply the test.
"If this was approved, 80% of analysis would have been gone," Drábek argues, accusing civil servants of trying to lighten their workload by scrapping the RIA.
Milan Mostýn, a spokesman for the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic (SPČR), believes the assessment is worthwhile because it benefits business. "Properly done, RIA is kind of complicated for those who propose legislation. On the other hand, not doing it would seriously hit business representatives," he said.
Under pressure from the business lobby, the Czech government has agreed not to make RIA optional, but will instead simplify it in certain cases. Štefan Weber, spokesman for the Czech Chamber of Commerce (HKČR), welcomed the move, saying that "the main benefits of RIA were here to stay".
Nevertheless, the Office of Government last month published a study focused on solving the lengthy legislative process in the Czech Republic and is proposing not to carry out RIA when implementing EU legislation.
Moreover, the proposal specifically mentions that regulatory impacts on businesses should not be assessed.
"This proposal is in contradiction with the widely accepted policy of cutting the administrative burden of businesses," HKČR chief Petr Kužel said.
However, the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for providing RIA, assured EurActiv.cz that it was working on ways to simplify the assessment when only one way of implementing EU legislation is possible. "Discrimination against entrepreneurs is not acceptable," it adds.
Business groups said they would watch developments with interest, but noted conflicting signals from government. It was the Office of Government which presented the plan to make the RIA optional, but this was heavily criticised by the Ministry of the Interior.
