Turkey
Overview and recent developments
Turkey started its better regulation agenda in the early 2000s. The “By-Law on Principles and Procedures of Drafting Legislation” decree issued 17 February 2006 by the Council of Ministers (referred to as the By-Law), is the foundational framework for improving and maintaining legal and regulatory quality in Turkey.
Turkey has conducted burden reduction initiatives through simplification programmes in 2005 and 2009. It reviewed over 14 000 laws, created one-stop shops, and used e-government tools to improve citizen and business experiences of regulation.
In order to build on the existing legal framework and to improve the regulatory environment, Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) could be more formally required when developing subordinate regulations. Currently RIA only applies to subordinate regulations if the Prime Minister’s Office requires it to be undertaken.
There is no evidence of consultation open to the general public in Turkey over the last few years. Stakeholder engagement could be improved by instituting a systematic approach to consultation on new regulatory proposals, as well as through the creation of early warning documents which inform the public of upcoming consultations.
The review of existing regulations is not a formal part of Turkey’s regulatory management practices. There are ad hoc opportunities for regulators to receive complaints from affected parties, although it is up to the individual ministry to determine whether anything further will be done with them. The practice of ex post evaluation should be systemised to inform new policy design as well as assess the progress of existing regulations.
The General Directorate for Laws and Decrees is the central oversight body in Turkey. Its core responsibility is the oversight and quality control of regulatory management tools, specifically relating to Regulatory Impact Assessment. However, its quality control assessment does not include a gatekeeper function. It is additionally responsible for advocacy of better regulation across government, and for providing coordination on regulatory policy as well as guidance and training in the use of regulatory management tools. Further, it is responsible for the scrutiny of the legal quality of regulations in Turkey.
Notes: 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 (74% of all primary laws in Turkey).
Source: Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance Surveys 2014 and 2017, http://oe.cd/ireg.