Better Regulation Practices across the European Union

Luxembourg

Overview and recent developments

Since 2015, Luxembourg has made some minor improvements to its regulatory management tools. Digital means of consultations are now undertaken in Luxembourg, albeit not systematically. Members of the public can now choose to participate in some consultations through a central government website in addition to ministry websites. Over time, it will be important to expand the usage of the central website to all regulatory proposals.

RIA is undertaken for all regulations in Luxembourg and takes the form of a checklist mainly focussing on administrative burdens and enforcement costs. . In order to enhance the usefulness of RIA, the analysis included in the impact assessments could be deepened and extended to other types of impacts and benefits of regulation. While Luxembourg currently refers to European Commission best practice instead of providing own guidance material, the limited current focus of RIA in Luxembourg does not reflect EC standards. Luxembourg may consider creating bespoke guidance material to enhance domestic support for regulatory policy.

Ex post evaluations have been undertaken in Luxembourg although they remain an inconsistently applied regulatory management tool. Putting in place an evaluation framework, including a clear methodology, could help to ensure that regulations remain fit for purpose.

Institutional setup for regulatory oversight

The Ministry of the Civil Service and Administrative Reform is the central oversight body responsible for quality control of regulatory management tools in Luxembourg. Its oversight functions apply to stakeholder engagement, RIA, and ex post evaluations; however it has no gatekeeper role with respect to any of these areas. It does however provide advice and guidance to ministries in the use of these regulatory management tools. It is also responsible for a range of other oversight functions including the evaluation of regulatory policy, identifying areas where regulation can be made effective, and co-ordination on regulatory policy. The Council of State is an arm’s length body that is responsible for providing legal scrutiny of regulatory proposals. It has a gatekeeper function with the possibility of stopping a regulation from proceeding any further where it considers that certain legal criteria have not been met.

Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG): Luxembourg, 2018

Note: The more regulatory practices as advocated in the OECD Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance a country has implemented, the higher its iREG score.

Source: Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance Surveys 2014 and 2017, http://oe.cd/ireg.

Requirements to use regulatory management tools for EU-made laws: Luxembourg

Stakeholder engagement		Regulatory impact assessment
Development stage
The government facilitates the engagement of domestic stakeholders in the European Commission’s consultation process	No
Negotiation stage
Stakeholder engagement is required to define the negotiating position for EU directives/regulations	No	RIA is required to define the negotiating position for EU directives/regulations	No
Consultation is required to be open to the general public	No
Transposition stage
Stakeholder engagement is required when transposing EU directives	Yes	RIA is required when transposing EU directives	Yes
The same requirements and processes apply as for domestically made laws	Yes	The same requirements and processes for RIA apply as for domestically made laws	Yes
Consultation is required to be open to the general public	No	RIA includes a specific assessment of provisions added at the national level beyond those in the EU directives	No
		RIA distinguishes between impacts stemming from EU requirements and additional national implementation measures	No

Source: Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance Survey 2017, http://oe.cd/ireg.