Slovak Republic Results Report 2022-2024

The 2022-2024 action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... saw early resultsEarly results refer to concrete changes in government practice related to transparency, citizen participation, and/or public accountability as a result of a commitment’s implementation. OGP’s Inde... More in two policy areas, with four out of seven commitments completed. The most successful were the commitments on whistleblower protection and open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... policy, driven by strong institutional support and cross-sector collaboration. However, political changes in 2023 disrupted the progress of several commitments, highlighting the need for consistent political backing to achieve meaningful implementation.

Early Results

Two out of seven commitments achieved moderate early results. Notably, Commitment 1 on strengthening internal systems for reporting antisocial activities and protection of whistleblowers within central state institutions resulted in more than 200 contact persons responsible for processing whistleblower complaints being trained and the adoption of multiple documents of methodological guidance for effective and transparent internal reporting systems. Commitment 6 delivered a new methodology on measuring the impact of open data on various sectors. This has helped the Slovak Republic to substantially improve its maturity of open data score.[1]

Of the two commitments identified as promising in the Action Plan Review, only CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... 1 on whistleblower protection produced early results. The other commitment identified in the APR as promising, Commitment 7 on improving beneficial ownershipDisclosing beneficial owners — those who ultimately control or profit from a business — is essential for combating corruption, stemming illicit financial flows, and fighting tax evasion. Technical... More data quality in the commercial register produced no notable results due to the stalled procurement procedure and a lack of clarity regarding the impact of the Court of JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... of the European Union (CJEU) ruling of 22 November 2022 on public beneficial ownership registers. Priority shifts accompanying two government changes in the second half of the implementation period (March 2023–June 2024) negatively affected the remaining four commitments: Commitment 2 on participatory policy-making educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ..., Commitment 3 on data-driven policy visualization, Commitment 4 on open governance good practices, and Commitment 5 on improving legal regulationGovernment reformers are developing regulations that enshrine values of transparency, participation, and accountability in government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or reforming ... of the legislative process.

Completion

Commitments in this action plan covered the topics of whistleblower protection, participatory policy-making education, open data, public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... in the legislative process, and beneficial ownership transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More. Four out of seven commitments were fully completed, whereas three achieved only limited completionImplementers must follow through on their commitments for them to achieve impact. For each commitment, OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) evaluates the degree to which the activities outlin... More. The level of completion is comparable with the 2019–2021 action plan where seven out of eleven commitments were fully or substantially completed.

Commitments on whistleblower protection and open data were the most successful both in terms of results and completion. The progress in whistleblower protection can be attributed to the proactiveness of the Whistleblower Protection Office. Open data policy has been improved thanks to cross-sector collaboration on the new methodology of measuring the impact of open data. On the other hand, changes in government in 2023 limited the completion of three commitments, including the commitment on improving the quality of beneficial ownership data in the commercial register, which has been carried over to the next action plan.

Participation and Co-Creation

The OGP process in the Slovak Republic is coordinated by the Office of the Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society, which also manages the multi-stakeholder forum (MSF). Compared to previous action plan cycles, co-creation of this action plan benefitted from the formal establishment of the MSF, in line with previous IRM recommendations, as well as from dialogue facilitated by an independent expert.[2]

Proactive engagement of the OGP Point of Contact attracted new actors from academia, CSOs, and the private sectorGovernments are working to open private sector practices as well — including through beneficial ownership transparency, open contracting, and regulating environmental standards. Technical specificat... More to the MSF, resulting in a diverse membership and collaborative atmosphere. The inclusionOGP participating governments are working to create governments that truly serve all people. Commitments in this area may address persons with disabilities, women and girls, lesbian, gay, bisexual, tr... More of new actors also led to more ambitious commitments, such as Commitment 7 on improving beneficial ownership data. However, changes in government in 2023 resulted in staff turnover at the Office of the Plenipotentiary. This disrupted the MSF’s functioning during for the rest of the implementation period and limited civil society’s interest in the process. Only three MSF meetings took place throughout the implementation period, which mostly focused on action plan implementation.

The Slovak Republic did not meet the OGP Participation and Co-Creation StandardsCollaboration between government, civil society and other stakeholders is at the heart of the OGP process. The Participation and Co-Creation Standards are intended to support this collaboration throug... during action plan implementation, as the government did not hold at least two meetings per year with civil society to present action plan implementation results and collect comments (Requirement 5.1).

Implementation in Context

Changes in government in 2023 including a caretaker government for May–October 2023 as well as early parliamentary electionsImproving transparency in elections and maintaining the independence of electoral commissions is vital for promoting trust in the electoral system, preventing electoral fraud, and upholding the democr... More in September 2023 disrupted the implementation of commitments that depended strongly on high-level political support. Commitments with strong institutional backing, such as the commitment on whistleblower protection implemented by the independent Whistleblower Protection Office and the commitment on open data policy led by the Ministry of Investment, Regional Development, and Informatization, achieved notable progress despite a challenging implementation context.

[1] “2023 Open Data Maturity Index,” European Commission, December 2023, https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/odm2023_report.pdf, 20–21.

[2] Mária Žuffová, “IRM Design Report: Slovak Republic 2017–2019,” Open Government Partnership, 14 June 2019, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/slovakia-design-report-2017-2019; Mária Žuffová, “IRM Design Report: Slovak Republic 2019–2021,” Open Government Partnership, 30 October 2020, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/slovakia-design-report-2019-2021.