Reducing Bureaucracy and a Simpler State – the Zero Bureaucracy Project (EE0040)

Description of the current situation or problem resolved through the commitment Reduction in unnecessary bureaucracy for companies when communicating with the state to enable companies to focus on their principal activity instead of spending time and resources on communicating with the state. Main aim The aim of the government is to reduce the bureaucracy arising for citizens and companies when communicating with the state. For this, over 250 proposals have already been gathered from interest groups and companies, and their applicability has been analysed. The analysis showed that it is possible to implement in part or in full a total of 164 proposals. The proposals will be implemented gradually by 2019. Short description of the commitment (max. 140 characters) To ensure the implementation of proposals for a reduction in bureaucracy made by business organisations and to develop and implement a mechanism for a constant reduction in the burden arising for entrepreneurs when communicating with the state and when dealing with the requirements of legislation, and bureaucracy within the public sector. Originally, proposals were gathered from entrepreneurs for a reduction in bureaucracy, but the opportunity to make proposals is constantly open to everyone. To simplify this, a web-based opportunity will also be created for the constant submission of proposals for a reduction in bureaucracy. Furthermore, regular collections of proposals and analyses of options for their implementation will be organised in cooperation with entrepreneurs. The representatives of non-governmental partners and government authorities are also involved in the work of the task force responsible for implementing the proposals. The Ministries have analysed the proposals submitted so far and have decided together with the representatives of entrepreneurs which proposals can be implemented in full and which in part. Each Ministry shall prepare a more precise plan for a reduction in bureaucracy. Proposals which presume greater changes than a reduction in bureaucracy are reviewed separately. Meetings at ministerial and business organisational levels shall be organised to discuss the implementation of these proposals and deal with further reduction in bureaucracy (e.g. fieldbased special requirements).

Commitment 2: Reducing bureaucracy and a simpler state – the Zero Bureaucracy project

Commitment Text:

To ensure the implementation of proposals for a reduction in bureaucracy made by business organizations and to develop and implement a mechanism for a constant reduction in the burden arising for entrepreneurs when communicating with the state and when dealing with the requirements of legislation, and bureaucracy within the public sector.

Originally, proposals were gathered from entrepreneurs for a reduction in bureaucracy, but the opportunity to make proposals is constantly open to everyone. To simplify this, a web-based opportunity will also be created for the constant submission of proposals for a reduction in bureaucracy. Furthermore, regular collections of proposals and analyses of options for their implementation will be organized in cooperation with entrepreneurs.

The representatives of non-governmental partners and government authorities are also involved in the work of the task force responsible for implementing the proposals. The Ministries have analyzed the proposals submitted so far and have decided together with the representatives of entrepreneurs which proposals can be implemented in full and which in part. Each Ministry shall prepare a more precise plan for a reduction in bureaucracy.

Proposals which presume greater changes than a reduction in bureaucracy are reviewed separately.

Meetings at ministerial and business organizational levels shall be organized to discuss the implementation of these proposals and to deal with further reduction in bureaucracy (e.g. field-based special requirements).

Milestones:

2.1. Gathering proposals from business organizations and companies for a reduction in bureaucracy

2.2. Analysis of proposals by government authorities

2.3. Making decisions about the implementation of the proposals for a reduction in bureaucracy

2.4. Developing organization-based plans (projects) for implementing proposals to reduce bureaucracy

2.5. Coordinating the development of the applications of IT developments

2.6. Developing and launching the monitor for reducing bureaucracy

2.7. Interim report to the Government on the status of implementing the proposals for reducing bureaucracy

2.8. Agreeing on the priorities for a reduction in special requirements arising from activity licenses, and launching the reduction

2.9. Final report to the Government on the results of implementing the proposals

Responsible Institution: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications

Supporting Institutions: Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of the Environment, Ministry of Social Affairs, Bank of Estonia, Health Insurance Fund, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Employers’ Confederation, Service Industry Association

Start Date: 1 June 2015          

End Date: 30 April 2018

Commitment Aim

This commitment aimed to crowdsource proposals from businesses to reduce unnecessary bureaucratic procedures and requirements. More specifically, it involved the collection and analysis of proposals and determining how best to implement them in collaboration with the relevant public sector organizations. It also called for launching a website to enable the collection of new proposals on a rolling basis and for monitoring the implementation of the proposals.

Status

Midterm: Substantial

The commitment was substantially completed by the midterm. However, this was largely possible because the first three milestones were already completed before the official start of the OGP action plan period.

During the first year of the action plan, a special task force coordinating the “Zero Bureaucracy” initiative continued the synthesis and implementation of the 252 proposals that had been collected from businesses and NGOs before the action plan’s inception. By the end of 2016, 26 proposals had been implemented, and 50 more were scheduled to be implemented in 2017. An interim report was presented in April 2017 as planned, but the milestones related to developing action plans for the implementation of the proposals and for launching a monitor of the initiative were delayed.

End of term: Substantial

The implementation of the commitment activities continued into 2018. However, due to the large number and wide scope of the proposals received, the implementation of the proposals has taken longer than originally foreseen, and the completion of some milestones (e.g., 2.8) has been further delayed beyond 2018. In 2018, the government decided to extend the work of the task force until the end of December of that year. Therefore, milestone 2.9 (final report of the Zero Bureaucracy initiative) was also delayed until several months after the end of the action plan period. Nevertheless, a number of activities took place in the second year of the action plan. According to the task force’s website, 92 proposals had been carried out based on the organization-based implementation plans by April 2018, covering 52% of all proposals that government institutions considered possible to implement.^{[Note 7: Website of the Zero Bureaucracy initiative, accessible at https://www.mkm.ee/et/nullburokraatia ]} By the time the task force ended its work in December 2018, 115 proposals had been partly or fully implemented, composing 70% of all proposals made.^{[Note 8: Final report of the Bureaucracy Reduction task force to the government, accessible at https://www.koda.ee/sites/default/files/content-type/content/2018-12/B%C3%BCrokraatia%20v%C3%A4hendamise%20rakker%C3%BChma%20l%C3%B5pparuanne.pdf ]}

As many of the proposals require complex solutions, some will only be implemented in 2019–2020 according to the government’s end-of-term self-assessment report. The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications also updated the initiative’s website^{[Note 9: https://www.mkm.ee/et/nullburokraatia]} with more information on the implementation status of the proposals to provide the public the possibility to better monitor the commitment’s implementation (milestone 2.6).

Did It Open Government?

Civic Participation: Marginal

Despite the general ease of conducting business in Estonia,^{[Note 10: Estonia,” Doing Business, World Bank, http://www.doingbusiness.org/data/exploreeconomies/estonia.   ]} prior to the start of this action plan, companies have not been satisfied with the level of bureaucracy involved in their interactions with public administration.^{[Note 11: „Kaubandus-tööstuskoda: bürokraatia ettevõtluses kasvab iga aastaga“, 5 January 2015. Accessible at https://www.err.ee/527456/kaubandus-toostuskoda-burokraatia-ettevotluses-kasvab-iga-aastaga  ]} This commitment aimed to reduce the administrative burden for businesses to enable companies to focus on their core activities. The goal of reducing bureaucratic requirements and the administrative burden of companies is not directly relevant to OGP values. However, as the process placed the interests and needs of companies and citizens at the center and was designed in a highly participatory and collaborative manner, the initiative has had an impact on civic participation practices. At the start of the initiative, a large-scale crowdsourcing exercise was carried out, yielding 252 proposals by 35 organizations and groups that in turn represented thousands of member organizations.^{[Note 12: The list of proposals and proposers can be accessed at https://www.mkm.ee/sites/default/files/nullburokraatia_ettepanekute_kokkuvote.xlsx ]}

As a result of the proposals, the government has implemented a number of changes in its administrative procedures. These include, for example, expanding data reuse within the public sector (this relieves companies from the need to submit certain data to government institutions several times), the abolishment of certain duties (e.g., the reporting duties of travel companies), and so on. The proposals have also led to the government piloting an e-service that saves small companies from submitting income and social tax declarations to the government and to the consolidation of a large number of environmental permit and reporting procedures into one information system.

During implementation, the initiative expanded to include an additional 900 proposals by public sector organizations for reducing bureaucracy within the public sector itself. As the task force kept the option of proposing new ideas open throughout the implementation process, the Estonian Employers’ Confederation initiated a smaller spin-off initiative, comprising 80 proposals from companies for simplifying the process of employing foreign workers.^{[Note 13: Liis Kasemets (Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications), interview by IRM researcher, 26 November 2018]} Business representatives were also involved in the task force’s composition along with a committee of ministers that oversaw the task force’s work. Mait Palts from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry evaluates the initiative as extremely participatory and open to input from businesses.^{[Note 14: Mait Palts (Chamber of Commerce and Industry), interview by IRM researcher, 16 November 2018]}

However, the scale of the change remains marginal because the participation process has been limited to one specific initiative and time frame. According to Liis Kasemets, coordinator of the task force, it is not likely that such a large-scale participation will continue after the task force ends its work. Although the crowdsourcing model implemented during the initiative could constitute an excellent example and a good practice to be widely disseminated across the government, no measures have been implemented so far to disseminate and replicate the model in other policy-making initiatives.

Carried Forward?

The commitment has not been carried forward to Estonia’s fourth action plan. The work of the Zero Bureaucracy task force ended in December 2018, and its final report contains proposals for sustaining the results of the commitment by means other than the OGP action plan. For example, the government continues to accept proposals for bureaucracy reduction by e-mail. However, the results of the task force’s work may have a bearing on Commitment 1 in Estonia’s next OGP action plan, which involves the creation of a proto-type IT-platform for policy making that officials and the public can use for co-creation. In their final report, the Zero Bureaucracy task force recommended that this platform also provide guidelines and tools for policy-makers to assess new policies’ potential impact on the administrative burden.