Slovak Republic Action Plan Review 2022-2024

The Slovak Republic’s fifth 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... includes promising commitments on strengthening the protection of whistleblowers and expanding the number of companies disclosing 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... information. Existing data control mechanisms will need to be well-resourced to cope with the expectation of rapid beneficial ownership data disclosure. The action plan was adopted by the newly created Multi-Stakeholder ForumRegular dialogue between government and civil society is a core element of OGP participation. It builds trust, promotes joint problem-solving, and empowers civil society to influence the design, imple... (MSF) dedicated to the OGP process.

The Slovak Republic’s fifth action plan covers six policy areas and builds upon work achieved on whistleblower protection, education for participatory policy-making, open data, capacity-building, public participation in the legislative process, and beneficial ownership transparency.

The thematic focus corresponded to priorities of government and civil society stakeholders. Interviewed stakeholders from public authorities and civil society agreed that the action plan is well-designed, but some civil society representatives thought it could have been more ambitious. Several commitments are research-oriented and could be strengthened with actions to concretely implement the research findings.

The action plan was co-created by the MSF, created in the fall of 2021, under the auspices of the Office of the Plenipotentiary for the Development of Civil Society (Office of the Plenipotentiary).[1] Establishing an inclusive MSF was a recommendation from the IRM’s 2019–2021 Design Report.[2] The Office of the Plenipotentiary actively engaged the MSF and other experts in the co-creation process, which facilitated new synergies compared to previous years.[3] In addition, the MSF events organized by the Office of the Plenipotentiary raised the visibility of OGP in the country.[4]

Interviewed stakeholders from public authorities and civil society praised the significant improvements in the co-creation process and acknowledged the added value in having a dedicated MSF. The drafting process was participative, creative, and flexible.[5] All commitments proposed during MSF meetings were included in the action plan and underwent a public consultation process, except for Commitment 7, which was added by the Ministry of Justice at the later stage. During a public consultation in February 2022 and three online events, civil society had the opportunity to propose and comment on the commitments. The draft action plan was also published on the legislative platform Slov-Lex.[6] Limited capacities of civil society organizations (CSOs) to participate in the consultations resulted in a relatively low number of comments from the third sector. Still, new synergies between the public authorities and CSOs were created thanks to the MSF, which points toward a potential dynamic in favor of good results in the implementation of the action plan and more ambitious commitments in the future.

IRM identified two commitments as promising. Commitment 1 could strengthen whistleblower protection by improving internal reporting policies and empowering the persons responsible to receive whistleblowing complaints. Strong leadership from the recently established Whistleblower Protection Office (WPO) is key to fulfill the commitment’s ambition. Commitment 7 continues a commitment from the fourth action plan for full disclosure of beneficial ownership data. It envisages an extensive reform of the scrutiny of data on beneficial owners of all entities in the Business Register. It seeks to implement an IRM recommendation to ensure that beneficial ownership data meet the highest international standards and are interconnected.[7] If completed, the quality of data on the beneficial owners of up to 300,000 businesses would be better controlled and improved. However, the fallout from the recent ruling from 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) could hinder efforts to provide full public access to beneficial ownership data from the Business Register.

Promising Commitments in Slovak Republic 2022–2024 Action Plan

The following review looks at the two commitments that the IRM identified as having the potential to realize the most promising results. Promising commitments address a policy area that is important to stakeholders or the national context. They must be verifiable, have a relevant open government lens, and have modest or substantial potential for results. This review also provides an analysis of challenges, opportunities, and recommendations to contribute to the learning and implementation process of this action plan.

Table 1. Promising commitments

[1] The Office of the Plenipotentiary coordinates the open government agenda within the Ministry of Interior, https://www.minv.sk/?ros_my_urad.

[2] Mária Hunková (Whistleblower Protection Office), interview by IRM researcher, 4 October 2022; Lukáš Jankovič (Alvaria) interview by IRM researcher, 5 October 2022; Dagmar Celuchová Bošanská (Futuristiq), interview by IRM researcher, 7 October 2022.

[3] Lucia Lacika (Advisor at the Office of the Plenipotentiary and OGP Point of Contact), interview by IRM researcher, 14 September 2022.

[4] Office of the Plenipotentiary, “V Iniciatíve pre otvorené vládnutie podporujeme nové partnerstvá medzi veľvyslanectvami a mimovládnymi neziskovými organizáciami” [In the Open Government Initiative, we support new partnerships between embassies and non-governmental non-profit organizations], 27 September 2022, https://www.minv.sk/?ros_ogp_spravy&sprava=v-iniciative-pre-otvorene-vladnutie-podporujeme-nove-partnerstva-medzi-velvyslanectvami-a-mimovladnymi-neziskovymi-organizaciami; Marianna Leontiev (Nadácia Zastavme korupciu), interview by IRM researcher, 21 October 2022.

[5] Lacika, interview; Jankovič, interview; Leontiev, interview.

[6] The draft received around 40 comments, mostly from public authorities. See “PI/2022/38 Predbežná informácia k návrhu Akčného plánu Iniciatívy pre otvorené vládnutie na roky 2022 – 2024” [PI/2022/38 Preliminary information on the draft action plan of the Open Government Initiative for 2022-2024], Slov-Lex, https://www.slov-lex.sk/legislativne-procesy/SK/PI/2022/38. On 20 May 2022, the final draft action plan was published in Slov-Lex and sent to the interdepartmental commenting procedure. See “LP/2022/281 Akčný plán Iniciatívy pre otvorené vládnutie na roky 2022 – 2024” [LP/2022/281 Open Government Initiative Action Plan 2022-2024], Slov-Lex, https://www.slov-lex.sk/legislativne-procesy/SK/LP/2022/281.

[7] IRM, Slovakia Design Report 2019–2021, p. 4.