Slovak Republic Design Report 2017–2019

Country: Slovak Republic
Action Plan: Slovakia Action Plan 2017-2019
Report Publication Year: 2019
Researcher: Mária Žuffová

Slovakia’s third action plan focuses on 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... agenda in several policy areas. The consultation process for developing the action plan was open and inclusive with opportunities for various civil society groups to provide input. Establishing a formalized 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... could benefit the future action plan design and implementation. The next plan could contain a smaller number but more ambitious commitments with clear links to tackling systemic corruption.

The Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More (OGP) is a global partnership that brings together government reformers and civil society leaders to create action plans that make governments more inclusive, responsive, and accountable. The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM)The Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) is OGP’s accountability arm and the main means of tracking progress in participating countries. The IRM provides independent, evidence-based, and objective ... monitors all action plans to ensure governments follow through on commitments. Slovakia joined OGP in 2011 and has implemented two action plans. This report evaluates the design of Slovakia’s third action plan.

General overview of action plan

The design and creation of Slovakia’s 2017–2019 action plan preceded a period of significant political transition involving the resignation of Prime Minister Robert Fico and his cabinet in March 2018. Prior to the political crisis, Slovakia had made significant strides in areas of open government. The Slovak Parliament adopted the Law on the Register of Public Sector Partners in October 2016, which replaced the country’s Register of 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... with an expanded scope beyond public procurementTransparency in the procurement process can help combat corruption and waste that plagues a significant portion of public procurement budgets globally. Technical specifications: Commitments that aim t.... Additionally, access to information has improved with increasing availability of government datasets. The murder of a journalist investigating political corruption, which precipitated the resignations, brought the country’s current anti-corruption measures, as well as diminishing press freedom, to the forefront of civil society activism.

The action plan design process was open and inclusive, with opportunities for participation by civil society representatives and public servants. The multi-stakeholder consultations were done through three thematic working groups that had various compositions and frequencies of meeting. Each group had a different thematic focus: open 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 ... and science, participatory policy making, and judiciaryWhile a majority of open government reforms occur within the executive branch, OGP members are increasingly taking on commitments to increase the openness of the judicial branch. Technical specificati... and prosecutors. A fourth thematic group focused on open data, but participation was not as open as the other three. Additionally, public servants have a separate, specialized forum (the OGP working group) for coordination. Despite the discrete mechanisms, public servants and civil society representatives view collaboration with the Office of the Plenipotentiary, which is the lead agency in charge of OGP commitments, as excellent.

The Office of the Plenipotentiary created new information channels and opportunities for wider engagement with the public with regular updates to its official website as well as updates on social media sites. Physical workshops were held in in three different regions that contributed to a broader consultation process. Feedback from these workshops resulted in the incorporation of multiple commitments in the final action plan (e.g., commitments 60 and 61 to analyze the disciplinary and selection procedures for prosecutors). Despite the open and transparent process in Slovakia, a formalized multi-stakeholder forum is lacking that could better facilitate dialogue between government and civil society.

Similar to the previous action plan, Slovakia’s third action plan focused on four main themes: open data, API, and software; open education and research; participatory policy making; and, open judiciary and prosecutors. Although comprising 68 commitments, the action plan contains only one transformative 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..., and many are technical in nature and represent only a minor improvement in the respective policy area. The next action plan could benefit from a smaller number of commitments that are more ambitious and seek a more transformative impact.

Table 2. Noteworthy commitments

Recommendations

The IRM recommendations aim to inform the development of the next action plan and guide implementation of the current action plan.

Table 3. Five KEY IRM Recommendations