Lithuania

Overview and recent developments

There is no single formal government regulatory policy in Lithuania, though some elements are embedded in several strategic documents. While impacts are required to be assessed for any legislative acts, RIA remains a largely formal exercise to justify choices already made, rarely based on data or analysis of alternative options. Around two-thirds of about 900 draft laws submitted to the Seimas every year are parliamentary drafts with similar requirements for conducting RIA and public consultations as for those developed by the executive, however, without any oversight. Consultations in the development of regulations are anchored in the administration and interaction between stakeholders and the government sometimes takes place before a decision to regulate is made. Yet consultations currently lack methodology and technical guidance.

A major part of the Lithuanian government’s efforts focuses on administrative burden reduction, mainly for businesses. There are some general requirements to conduct monitoring and ex post reviews of existing regulations, and the government plans to introduce a pilot of more in-depth ‘fitness checks’. Concerning regulatory enforcement and inspections reform, Lithuania is ahead of most of OECD countries. Lithuania could consider building on existing efforts for better co-ordination of regulatory policy by bringing the different elements of regulatory policy together in an integrated strategic plan and strengthening the role of the Government Office. It should also improve RIA processes, with a special focus on starting early in the regulation-making process and better quantification of regulatory impacts.

Institutional setup for regulatory oversight

The institutional responsibility for co-ordinating regulatory policy and promoting regulatory quality is spread across several institutions, with the main role attributed to the Government Office. Its co-ordination role is gradually being strengthened. It co-ordinates and supervises the law-making process when draft laws are initiated by the executive and is in charge of preparing the annual legislative programme. It monitors the overall quality of impact assessment and provides guidance and training. The Ministry of Economy co-ordinates initiatives in the field of administrative simplification for business, including licencing and business inspection reforms and administrative burden reduction plans. The Ministry of Interior is responsible for developing the administrative burden policy for citizens and public sector organisations. Once the draft law is submitted to Parliament, the Legal Department of the Office of the Seimas checks compliance of the draft with the laws which are already in effect and technical law-making requirements.

Requirements to use regulatory management tools for EU-made laws: Lithuania
Stakeholder engagement		Regulatory impact assessment
Development stage
The government facilitates the engagement of domestic stakeholders in the European Commission’s consultation process	Yes
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	Yes
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	Yes	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	NA
Source: Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance Survey 2017, http://oe.cd/ireg.

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