Better Regulation Practices across the European Union

Portugal

Overview and recent developments

In March 2017 through Resolution n. 44, the Council of Ministers took key steps in installing RIA in Portugal. Under its current implementation, the so-called Legislative Impact Analysis requires policy makers to qualitatively describe benefits and to quantify the impact of new regulations on businesses. It also includes an SME Test and a competition impact assessment. The Technical Unit for Legislative Impact Assessment (UTAIL), was established to provide oversight and support for the new RIA. Since June 2018, ministries are required to assess legislative impacts on citizens and as of 2019 impacts on public administration.

Although the role of RIA has expanded, it is not yet used in consultation with stakeholders. Stakeholders often only have a chance to comment when there is a draft regulation. Portugal could approach stakeholders earlier and before a preferred option is selected. A RIA could also be made available to stakeholders to support discussions.

In 2016, Portugal updated its administrative simplification programme from the Simplex to the Simplex+. The programme centres on the measures that the public service commits to implement within a year to simplify the life of citizens and companies. A team criss-crossed the country over four months to gather feedback, interviewing 2,000 citizens and business and holding special forums within the public sector. A key factor supporting the success of Simplex+ is the thorough follow-up and monitoring. Members of the public can submit suggestions at any time about administrative processes. Portugal could consider introducing “in-depth” reviews in particular sectors or policy areas.

Institutional setup for regulatory oversight

To support the implementation of RIA, the Council of Ministers created the Technical Unit for Legislative Impact Assessment (UTAIL) within the Legal Centre of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers (CEJUR). UTAIL acts as a supervising body that supports the implementation of RIA. It develops the impact assessment methodology, gives technical support, provides training to the Ministries and other public administrative bodies and produces and reviews reports for each impact assessment analyses. The Agency for Administrative Modernization (AMA) is a public institute under indirect government administration. The AMA promotes public administration modernisation, through administrative simplification, namely through the evaluation of administrative burdens of Simplex+ projects; the research and the dissemination of good practices in administrative and regulatory simplification; and contributing to the simplification environment.

Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance (iREG): Portugal, 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. The indicators on stakeholder engagement and RIA for primary laws only cover those initiated by the executive (80% of all primary laws in Portugal).

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: Portugal

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	No	RIA is required when transposing EU directives	Yes
The same requirements and processes apply as for domestically made laws	No	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	Yes
		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.