6. Taking a strategic approach to open government in Romania: Towards an Open Government Strategy
This chapter aims to support Romania in the process to design, implement, monitor, and evaluate its first holistic government policy to foster the government-citizen nexus. The chapter starts by analysing the space for an Open Government Strategy in Romania, the chapter finds that there is a need for a more holistic and integrated approach to open government in the country. It then provides targeted recommendations aiming to facilitate the preparation for the design and the process to draft an integrated Open Government Strategy. This chapter builds on the findings of the Civic Space Review of Romania which is conducted in parallel to the presented Open Government Review.
As a sign of the importance they attribute to the open government principles of transparency, accountability, integrity and stakeholder participation, all OECD Member and Partner countries are today designing and implementing an increasing number of initiatives to foster their capacity to inform, respond to and interact with citizens and stakeholders in all parts of their public administration and in a wide range of policy areas (OECD, forthcoming[1]). However, evidence collected through the more than 20 OECD Open Government Reviews and Scans conducted over the past decade (OECD, 2019[2]; OECD, 2022[3]) also shows that, in most countries, strategies and initiatives that aim to foster the open government principles are still designed and implemented in a scattered and isolated manner, without building the critical mass needed to create a full-fledged and shared government vision of openness and without being linked to broader national policy objectives. In order to address this challenge, over the past years, an increasing number of OECD Member and Partner countries, including Argentina, Colombia, Finland and Italy, have started taking a more strategic approach to improving the government-citizen nexus and designing holistic Open Government Strategies as an integrated whole-of-government roadmap for their open government agendas (OECD, forthcoming[1]).
The Government of Romania has already advanced reforms to open the government through several strategic policy documents, including the Government Programme, the recurring OGP action plans, and the National Anticorruption Strategies. Recognising that there is a need for a more strategic approach to the promotion of the principles of open government and, in particular, highlighting the need for a clearer vision and a better “business case” for open government reforms, Romania included the design of the country’s first fully-fledged Open Government Strategy in its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) (Government of Romania, 2021[4]). In particular, reform 1.1 entitled “Improving the predictability and efficiency of decision-making processes (…)” under Component 14 on “Good governance” includes an explicit reference to the design of an Open Government Strategy. The inclusion of an explicit reference to an Open Government Strategy in the NRRP which will guide policymaking in Romania for the years to come represents a unique opportunity for Romania to change the tide and design a transformative Strategy.
Assessing Romania against Provision 1 of the Recommendation of the Council on Open Government (OECD, 2017[5]) which stipulates that adherents should “take measures, in all branches and at all levels of the government, to develop and implement open government strategies and initiatives in collaboration with stakeholders” and taking into account the mandate provided by the NRRP, this chapter of the OECD Open Government Review aims to support Romania in the process to design, implement and monitor and evaluate its first holistic Open Government Strategy. The chapter recognises that an Open Government Strategy is not an end but rather a tool to foster a better and more constructive relationship between the government and the citizens it serves. In this regard, the preparation for the design of the strategy and the process to draft the strategy are as important as the resulting policy document itself. Accordingly, after analysing the space for an Open Government Strategy (OGS) and discussing the existing policy framework for open government in Romania, this chapter provides recommendations to support the country in preparing for the design of its OGS, for example by discussing ways to foster political commitment to the Strategy process. The chapter also provides targeted recommendations on the drafting process itself, including by proposing different models of Open Government Strategies that Romania could consider. This chapter should be read in conjunction with Chapter 6 of the present Review which discusses mechanisms that facilitate the operationalisation and implementation of the Strategy and with Chapter 7 which focuses to its monitoring, evaluation and oversight in order to ensure results over time.
Source: Author’s own elaboration.
The chapter takes into consideration Romania’s ongoing process to design a country-owned strategy for engaging civil society in decision making and a related implementation roadmap, which is underpinned by the findings of the Civic Space Review of Romania (OECD, 2023[6]). The overarching open government strategy will thus include a dedicated component on engaging civil society in public decision making, which is being developed in parallel by the government.1 Finally, the advice contained in this chapter takes into account the Romanian government’s own Methodology on the Development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and updating of government strategies (Decision no. 379/2022).
The Recommendation of the Council on Open Government (OECD, 2017[5]) defines an Open Government Strategy as:
“A document that defines the open government agenda of the central government and/or of any of its sub-national levels, as well as that of a single public institution or thematic area, and that includes key open government initiatives, together with short, medium and long-term goals and indicators”.
An Open Government Strategy presents a whole-of-government roadmap for a government’s policy agenda to create a stronger and more productive relationship with citizens and stakeholders. It provides an umbrella policy framework that can align all strategies and initiatives that are linked to the promotion of openness and bring them together under a coherent medium- to long-term narrative (OECD, 2020[7]). As such, it differs from an action plan (such as the OGP action plan) in many ways (Table 6.1).
Recognising the benefits of having such an umbrella policy framework for open government in place, an increasing number of OECD Member and Partner Countries have started designing and/or implementing Federal/Central Open Government Strategies (Box 6.1). More detailed information on existing country practice can be found in the OECD paper Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholder participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy (2020[7]).
Costa Rica presented its first National Open Government Strategy in 2015. The stated aim of the OGS was to achieve the goal of an open, transparent and efficient government to fight against corruption. The strategy, which was declared “of public interest” by means of a decree, connected the country’s OGP Action Plan with the National Development Plan 2014-18 (OECD, 2016[8]).
Finland adopted its first integrated long-term policy framework for open government - the Open Government Strategy 2030 – in 2019. Pursuing the vision that “open government is a key resource in Finnish society” and that it “builds trust, security and confidence in the future among citizens”, the Strategy has four priorities, each with a number of concrete and measurable objectives. The four priorities are: 1) Open government reinforces dialogue in society; 2) Open government promotes everyone’s right to understand and be understood; 3) Leadership and competence ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate; and 4) Finland actively promotes open government on the international level.
In 2021, Colombia adopted Policy guidelines for the implementation of an open state model. The policy guidelines will be applied over a period of four years and include more than 40 lines of action linked to fostering the open government principles in all branches of the state and at all levels of government.
Argentina adopted a Strategic Plan on Open Government in 2020, following an inclusive consultation process. Valid for the period 2020-2023, the Strategic Plan provides a comprehensive policy that defines specific objectives, actions and products in terms of transparency, open data and information, citizen participation, innovation and accountability.
Other Adherents, including Canada, Italy, Tunisia, and Morocco are currently in the process of designing their first Open Government Strategies.
Source: OECD (forthcoming[1]), Report on the Implementation of the 2017 OECD Recommendation on Open Government.
Designing a new government strategy is of course no guarantee for success by itself. As part of the review process, the OECD Secretariat therefore first assessed if – given the particularities of the Romanian context – the development of an Open Government Strategy would be an adequate way to address existing challenges or if, to the contrary, there would be other policy options that would allow Romania to achieve its objectives. The main findings of the present Open Government Review and of the Civic Space Review of Romania (OECD, 2023[6]) confirm that there is indeed a clear need to foster a better and more constructive relationship with citizens and civil society stakeholders (see also Chapters 4 and 6 of the Civic Space Review of Romania). Romanians continue to have very low levels of trust in public institutions and the country is characterised by relatively low levels of engagement overall (see also Chapter 2 of the present Review). An Open Government Strategy that is co-designed with all relevant stakeholders can be a tool to outline an ambitious agenda to foster the government-citizen/stakeholder nexus. In particular, Figure 6.2 presents some of the key challenges that are identified by the two Reviews and that could be (partly) addressed through an Open Government Strategy, notably:
The need for a coherent understanding of the concept of open government and its benefits across the Romanian state (see also Chapter 4). Public officials and civil society stakeholders in Romania would benefit from a coherent understanding of the values and benefits of open government policies and practices. An Open Government Strategy can be a way to mainstream the concept and create stakeholder buy-in and awareness.
The need for a better business case and a clearer vision. Open government reforms are currently mostly implemented as part of legal requirements and not seen as core to achieving public institutions’ mandates. An Open Government Strategy can set a clear vision for the agenda and give a purpose to the agenda to open the government.
The need for leadership and long-term commitment (“scale-up”). The open government agenda has been heavily dependent on individual people. An Open Government Strategy can give long-term sustainability to the open government agenda and be a tool to increase buy-in from top-level leadership.
The need to foster standardisation. In a legalistic administrative culture, standards and legal provisions are key to promote change. An Open Government Strategy can act as an effective governance tool and allow the government to institutionalise policies and practices that aim to foster open government.
The need to foster co-ordination and prevent fragmentation. Open government initiatives in Romania are implemented in a scattered manner and do not always “add-up”. An Open Government Strategy can foster whole-of-government policy coherence and promote integration.
The need to foster measurements and show impact (see also Chapter 7). Just like its peers across the OECD, the Romanian government is still not able to demonstrate the impact that reforms that aim to promote open government are having. Functioning also as a tool for data collection and public accountability, an Open Government Strategy can foster the evidence-based and allow the government to justify investments in open government.
The need to foster innovation. According to the findings from the OECD Surveys, Romania’s public sector is currently characterised by a strong resistance to change and low levels of proactivity/innovation. Acting as a soft policy tool, an Open Government Strategy can foster innovative approaches and show a way to move beyond compliance.
The analysis conducted for this Review could feed into the public policy proposal that the General Secretariat of the Government will have to design, in line with Government Decision 523/2016 for the modification and completion of the Regulation on the procedures for the development, monitoring and evaluation of public policies at the central level, approved by Government Decision 775/2005.
Source: Author’s own elaboration.
Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan provides a clear mandate to design the Open Government Strategy
The Recovery and Resilience Facility is an instrument of the European Union that aims to mitigate the economic and social impact of the coronavirus pandemic and make European economies and societies more sustainable, resilient and better prepared for the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions. The Facility allows the European Commission to raise funds to help Member States implement reforms and investments that are in line with the European Union’s priorities and that address the challenges identified in country-specific recommendations under the European Semester framework of economic and social policy co-ordination. To access the funds, all EU Members have designed Recovery and Resilience Plans.
Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) which was designed over the course of 2021 makes explicit reference to an Open Government Strategy. As such, it provides the foundation for the Romanian government’s ambition to design the OGS. It is therefore in the NRRP that the strategy could primarily be anchored. In particular, the good governance axis (component 14) of Romania’s NRRP includes an important focus on open government policies and practices. Notably, it includes a commitment to “enhance the quality of public consultations and developing civil society involvement in the decision-making process by strengthening the legislative and procedural framework for the co-ordination and effective implementation of open government initiatives”. This commitment also includes an explicit reference to an Open Government Strategy which shall result in “a 20% increase in the number of draft legislative acts subject to public consultation and involvement of stakeholders at central level by 30 June 2026” (target 407), among others. According to the timetable assumed in the PR, the strategy will be developed and adopted by March 2024. In implementing its NRRP, Romania should pay particular attention to ensuring transparency and accountability and could take note of the good practice principles recently developed by the OECD (Box 6.2).
The OECD recently published a policy paper, developed in collaboration with the European Ombudsman, which provides guidance to governments on ensuring transparency and accountability in the use of COVID-19 recovery funds. With a specific focus on the funding provided through the European Union’s Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the paper identifies ways for local, national and EU administrations to promote access to information, enhance public communication, and strengthen citizen and stakeholder participation and oversight in the implementation phases of recovery funding. Finally, it highlights the role of regional, national and supranational organisations (such as the aforementioned European Ombudsman) in fostering the open government principles of transparency, accountability, and stakeholder participation throughout the public decision-making and spending cycle, within the remits of their respective mandates.
Source: OECD (2022[9]), “Towards good practice principles for government transparency in the use of recovery funds”, OECD Public Governance Policy Papers, No. 24, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/0d0f2c90-en.
Romania’s current policy framework for open government
According to the results of the 2020 OECD Survey on Open Government (OECD, 2021[10]), the policy frameworks for the promotion of openness in OECD Member and Partner Countries are usually very diverse, reflecting the breadth of initiatives that are related to the promotion of openness (OECD, forthcoming). As visible from Figure 6.3, the main policy documents for open government in OECD Member and Partner countries usually include the OGP action plans; whole-of-government policy documents outlining the government agenda (e.g. National Development Plans); public sector reform and modernisation strategies; as well as policy documents focusing on one or more of the open government principles (e.g. Access to Information/Open Data Strategies, Integrity Strategy) (OECD, 2022).
In Romania, the 2021-2024 Government Programme highlights transparency as one of its basic principles and includes numerous objectives relating to fostering transparency and citizens’ access to information, including in areas such as budgeting and public procurement. For example, the Programme highlights that the government will put a focus on “the execution of legal obligations (on access to information) by all central and local public authorities through a more intensive monitoring and control activity, including the sanctioning of those who do not comply with the law”. The Programme further includes a number of objectives and commitments to consult citizens and stakeholders in policymaking, including on decentralisation and civil service reform, among others. Various other policy documents include initiatives that aim to foster the government-citizen nexus, including the National Anticorruption Strategy, and, of course, the OGP action plan.
The National Anticorruption Strategy includes a focus on open government
Since 2001, Romania has been adopting National Anticorruption Strategies which have traditionally included open government policies and practices both as fundamental values and priority objectives. For example, the National Anticorruption Strategies 2016-2020, approved by Government Decision 583/2016 highlighted open government as the guiding approach and included “Developing a culture of transparency for an open government at the central and local level” as its first general objective. The initiatives included in the Strategy led, among others, to the development of the Single Register of Transparency of Interests (RUTI), the transparenta.gov.ro platform and the consultare.gov.ro platform (see also Chapter 5).
The current National Anticorruption Strategy (NAS) 2021-2025 includes transparency (defined as “the representatives of public institutions and authorities shall ensure free access to information of public interest, the transparency of the decision-making process and the consultation of the civil society during this process”) as one of its four implementation pillars. It includes a specific objective of “Extending the culture of transparency for an open government in public administration” (objective no. 3.2.) (Box 6.3). The Strategy further includes a wide range of commitments to foster citizen and stakeholder participation. For example, specific objective 4.7 on “Increasing integrity, reducing vulnerabilities and the risk of corruption in the activity of the members of Parliament” aims to improve the transparency of the legislative process, including “by further developing the rules on public debates, consultations and hearings, including criteria for a limited number of circumstances where in camera meetings can be held, and ensuring their implementation in practice”.
1. Monitoring and evaluating the application by the central and local public administration of the general standard for publishing information of public interest provided in Annex no. 4; (Annex 4 shall also include the following indicators: annual publication of the European funds attracted by each central institution and highlighting this on the institution's website; publishing contract execution documents on the contracting authority’s website: quality and compliance statements, minutes of receipt, payment orders);
2. Amending the legal framework in order to ensure the uniform application of the general standard for the ex-officio publication of public interest information at the level of central and local public authorities;
3. Ensuring the operational and legal framework for the use of the platform E-consultare - centralised catalogue for the publication of draft laws for public consultation purposes;
4. Developing the CONECT platform (Catalogue of Non-Governmental Organisations for Evidence, Consultation and Transparency) to support the proper takeover by the public administration authorities of the specialisation at the level of civil society; 52
5. Strengthening and extending the Single Register of Transparency of Interests (RUTI) platform at the level of the Romanian Parliament and local public administration, as well as by raising awareness of the importance of the principles of integrity and transparency and integrity in decision-making processes.
6. Updating the single record of non-profit legal entities with public utility status and supporting the initiating authorities in order to monitor and assess the application of the provisions of GO no. 26/2000 regarding the public utility status.
Source: (Government of Romania, 2021[11])
The recurrent OGP action plans are key short-term policy levers to foster openness
As in many OECD Member Countries, Romania’s National Action Plan on Open Government (the “OGP action plan”) currently constitutes one of the main policy documents that the country implements to promote open government.2 The OGP action plan constitutes an action-oriented series of priority initiatives focusing mainly on short-term policy issues. Romania joined the OGP in 2011 and has made 75 open government commitments as part of its five action plans to date:
These commitments were developed (and at times implemented)3 in collaboration with over 60 civil society organisations, in accordance with the Open Government Partnership's Participation and Co-creation Standards (OGP, 2021[12]). Each of the action plans was adopted following a participatory process, which included online consultations, public debates, working groups on specific areas, both with civil society and with public institutions from the central level.
Like in all OGP member countries, due to its focus on implementation and its two-year length, Romania’s OGP action plan is composed of a series of priority initiatives focusing on short-term policy issues. For example, the OGP action plans have traditionally been used by Romania as tools to implement key initiatives included in the NAS. For example, commitment no. 1 on the "Unification of practices regarding public consultation processes" from Romania’s 2018-2020 action plan was directly linked to a specific commitment of the NAS. At the same time, certain objectives assumed by the General Secretariat of the Government in the National Anti-corruption Strategy 2021-2025 have their origin in previous commitments included in the OGP Plans (e.g. the monitoring and evaluation of the application by the central and local public administration of the general standard for publishing information of public interest).
Over the past decade, Romania has successfully used the OGP process to promote important open government reforms, such as the creation of the E-Consultare platform and the establishment of a portal to provide access to legislation (http://legislatie.just.ro). However, according to information collected during the OECD fact-finding missions and through the OECD Surveys on Open Government, the OGP process in Romania also faces several challenges: notably, frequent changes in government and reorganisations, excessive use of temporary leadership positions and a lack of political support have constituted stumbling blocks to the successful implementation of commitments. Moreover, the number of ministries that are active and promote OGP is limited. Last but not least, the OGP process is not funded. All initiatives, events and projects initiated under the OGP are funded from public institutions’ own resources, which hinders the successful achievement of all proposed objectives. The limited impact of the OGP process was also mentioned by non-governmental stakeholders’ answers to an OECD Survey conducted for this Review. When asked “In your opinion, on a scale from 1 to 10, how impactful has Romania’s Open Government Partnership (OGP) process been in opening the government?”, the average score given was 5.3.
Romania’s current sixth action plan which was designed over the course of 2022 outlines that “open governance is the key to maintaining a functioning democracy in a modern and inclusive society”. The action plan explicitly reaffirms its complementarity with other national strategies with similar objectives, such as the National Anti-Corruption Strategy 2021-2025, the National Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Romania 2030, the Strategy on Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction 2015-2020, and the National Strategy in the field of Youth Policy 2021-2027. The action plan features 10 commitments related to civic space, public participation & consultation, digitalisation, gender inclusion and equality, open data, transparency, justice and integrity (Box 6.4).
1. Standardisation of administrative procedures regarding the recognition of public utility status
2. Pilot programme - Transparency of the participatory budgeting process
3. Increasing the degree of transparency, debureaucratisation and integrity of decentralised services of the Ministry of Culture
4. The development of an integrated national IT system for recording debts arising from crimes
6. Increasing transparency regarding allocations from national investment funds
8. Balanced participation of women and men in the decision-making process in public and political life
9. Ensuring access to justice for victims of domestic violence and gender-based violence
10. Preparation of Romania's accession to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative/EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative)
Source: Government of Romania (2022[13]), Romania 2022-2024 National Action Plan, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Romania_Action-Plan_2022-2024_EN.pdf
What kind of policy instrument is an Open Government Strategy in the Romanian context?
Each country has its own policymaking tradition and strategies/policies therefore differ widely. To foster standardisation and create a common framework, Romania, through Government Decision 379/2022, adopted a mandatory Methodology for the development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and updating of government strategies (hereafter referred to as “the Methodology on Romanian Government Strategies”). The Methodology builds on Government Decision 775/2005 for the approval of the Regulation on the procedures for the development, monitoring and evaluation of public policies at the central level and Government Decision 523/2016 for the modification and completion of the Regulation on the procedures for the development, monitoring and evaluation of public policies at the central level, approved by Government Decision 775/2005.
The Methodology on Romanian Government Strategies includes four chapters, each of which contains relevant guidance and mandatory provisions that each strategy that is developed by a Romanian public institution needs to follow:
Chapter I General provisions, for example, defines a government strategy as a ”public policy document initiated and applicable at government level that defines the vision, priorities, objectives, actions, resources and associated performance indicators, as the case may be, regarding a certain field of activity, in the medium and long term” (Article 4) and outlines that the “General Secretariat of the Government, co-ordinates at the national level the process of developing government strategies” (Article 3).
Chapter II The objectives and principles of the methodology and the structure of the government strategy establishes general principles applicable to the development of any Romanian government strategy, such as the “principle of participation” and the “principle of transparency” and includes a minimum structure for government strategies (see Box 6.5).
Chapter III Working groups/interministerial structures and co-ordination of their activity establishes that “within each initiating institution, a working group is established that is responsible for the process of identifying the options that will result in obtaining technical solutions for public policy issues in the field of competence, with the process of elaboration, consultation, approval and finalisation of the draft government strategy, as well as with the implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation and results of the strategy, co-ordinated by the general secretary or another designated person” (Article 8(1). It further outlines that “depending on the field to be regulated by the draft strategy, interministerial structures may be established” (Article 9(1)).
Chapter IV Monitoring, evaluation and updating of government strategies which, for example, establishes that “each strategy includes a chapter for monitoring and evaluating the achievement of results, which establishes criteria for measuring the evolution of indicators” (Article 14(1).
While outlining key steps to be taken based on best international practice in the field, the advice contained in this chapter considers the Romanian government’s own Methodology noting that the Open Government Strategy will need to be designed respecting the framework provided by Romanian legislation.
Designing and implementing an Open Government Strategy is an ambitious undertaking that has to be planned well from the outset. In fact, the process to design the Strategy is as important as the resulting Strategy itself. For example, the Open Government Strategy needs to be underpinned by evidence and a clear business case and buy-in has to be ensured from the very beginning of the process to ultimately ensure successful implementation. Inspired by the principles that Romanian public institutions have to follow when developing a government strategy (Box 6.5), this section provides contextual recommendations that Romania could consider prior to starting the design of its Open Government Strategy.
According to the Methodology (Article 6), the strategy development process should be based on the following principles:
a) the principle of participation – refers to the consultation processes in the development of strategies, involving central and/or local public administration authorities, non-governmental organisations, social partners, professional associations, representatives of the private sector, as appropriate;
b) the principle of responsibility – represents the assumption by the initiators of an explicit set of results within a defined budget allocation in a specified period of time;
c) the principle of substantiation – represents the use of concrete, factual data in the documentation and analysis processes that precede the development of strategies;
d) the principle of sustainability – represents the set of actions and decisions of the initiators regarding public policies that contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development;
e) the principle of predictability – represents the set of actions and decisions of the initiators regarding public policies and budgetary allocations established in the medium-term budgetary framework and which contribute to the implementation of strategic objectives and the achievement of assumed results;
f) the principle of transparency – it represents the prior information of citizens on issues that are of public interest, in their consultation regarding the draft strategies aimed at the public interest, as well as their active participation in the decision-making process, in the development of strategies, such as and ensuring their access to the relevant information regarding the allocation and spending of public resources to achieve the planned results, according to the provisions of art. 5 and art. 7 para. (1) and (2) of Law no. 52/2003 on decisional transparency in public administration, republished, with subsequent amendments.
Source: Government of Romania, Methodology on the Development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and updating of government strategies approved by Decision no. 379 of March 23, 2022, https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/253159.
Assessing the current situation and looking back and ahead
Before moving forward, it is essential to look back and analyse past experiences. Romania’s Open Government Strategy should therefore be based on a thorough assessment that maps efforts to date, discusses achievements and highlights challenges ahead (OECD, 2020[7]). This initial and fundamental step provides both the government and non-public stakeholders with the necessary information and data to make better decisions (OECD, 2020[7]). The assessment should analyse what kind of initiatives to foster the government-citizen/stakeholder nexus have already been implemented (and with which results) and include the government’s own assessment of the levels of openness of the public sector at the time of drafting. To the extent possible, the analysis should also include forecasting and the analysis of data and evidence of the impact of previous open government reform efforts.
Based on the findings and recommendations of the present Review, an open government assessment will facilitate Romania’s effort to draft sections “a) introduction” and “d) analysis of the context and definition of the problems” of the Strategy, as outlined in the Methodology on Romanian government strategies. The assessment can also feed into the establishment of a robust monitoring and evaluation system (section “j) monitoring and evaluation procedures”) since it can provide the basis for an initial benchmarking, leading to the development of realistic intermediate targets and outcomes. Past monitoring and evaluation reports, such as the one on the practices in the decision-making process and in ensuring access to information that was conducted by the General Secretariat of the Government in 2021 (Government of Romania, 2021[14]), as well as the present OECD Open Government Review and the Civic Space Review of Romania can provide a basis for Romania’s own assessment.
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
Preparing a clear roadmap for the design of the Strategy
Forward planning allows governments to improve transparency, predictability and co-ordination of policy processes (OECD, 2022[15]).4 Prior to launching the drafting of its Open Government Strategy, the General Secretariat of the Government as the main co-ordinating entity should therefore establish a clear roadmap and ensure that this roadmap is well-communicated across government and the wider society. This roadmap could include elements such as:
An overview of key steps and milestones for the development of the Strategy (e.g. planned launching date; intermediary steps that are foreseen; etc.), coupled with a clear timetable;
A citizen and stakeholder participation plan, including an analysis of interested public/non-public stakeholders, including sub-national governments, as well as a plan on how to reach out to them (see below).
According to information received from the Romanian government, and according to the timetable that the government assumed in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, the strategy will be developed and adopted by March 2024, which allows for sufficient forward planning.
Ensuring political commitment and raising awareness
As stipulated by Provision 1 of the OECD Recommendation on Open Government,5 political commitment is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of open government reforms. In addition to the support that is needed to initiate the design process of an Open Government Strategy, there needs to be a long-term high-level commitment in order to sustain the momentum for reform during the implementation phase.
Ensuring this kind of long-term commitment requires, for example, creating buy-in and identifying political champions (OECD, 2022[3]). The General Secretariat of the Government, as the main initiator of the Strategy process, could start by informing and actively involving the most senior leadership of the government, including the Prime Minister and the Secretary General of the Government in the preparatory phase of the Strategy and personally invest them in the process. While the GSG remains in charge of leading the co-ordination of the Strategy, the recent restructuration of Romania’s centre-of-government provides new opportunities for an effective tandem approach for open government that combines the GSG’s expertise and the Prime Minister’s Chancellery’s political weight. Since its restructuring in June 2022 (Decision no. 832/2022), a dual structure of the Romanian centre of government has become apparent that includes a “political v. technical” delineation. In that setting, the PMC is often perceived to be the “political” arm of the centre of government, and the GSG as the “technical arm” (OECD, forthcoming[16]). The Strategy clearly needs the commitment of both to be successful and its elaboration appears timely: As noted by the OECD’s report on Romania’s centre-of-government, “having political heavyweights and gravitas at the Romanian chancellery could present an opportunity to probe and challenge line ministries effectively on prime ministerial priority areas, especially when it comes to cross-cutting issues” (OECD, forthcoming[16]). Interviews conducted for this Review showed that there is already awareness and willingness on the PMC’s side to engage in the design of the Open Government Strategy.
Efforts to ensure commitment may also involve reaching out to and informing all Cabinet Ministers and Deputy-Ministers from the very beginning to foster whole-of-government buy-in and ensure that they lead the process to implement the Strategy in their institutions. In particular, dedicated efforts should be made to fully involve the Ministry of Finance in the preparation and drafting of the Open Government Strategy in order to ensure full alignment with the budget cycle.
Ultimately, decision-makers, public officials at a technical level and non-public stakeholders need to be aware of the upcoming Strategy and its ambitions. Romania could therefore design a dedicated communications campaign/plan to reach out to all relevant stakeholders, defining adequate ways to reach each of them (by applying different tools). The OECD-OPG Guide on “Communicating Open Government” provides useful insights on ways to adequately communicate around an open government agenda (Box 6.6).
This publication was developed jointly by the OECD and the Open Government Partnership and provides a step-by-step process for developing a communications plan for an open government strategy or initiative. It highlights the following key steps:
The guide also contains insights about communication tools and their use for open government reforms, as well as guidance on how to partner within and beyond public administrations for effective communication.
The publication targets public officials in charge of steering and implementing strategies and initiatives in the field of open government, as well as communication officers in public institutions that are looking to play a bigger role in this context. The guide is also a useful tool for anyone interested in making governments more open, including journalists and civil society.
Source: OECD/OGP (2018[17]), Communicating Open Government: A How-to Guide, https://www.oecd.org/gov/Open-Government-Guide.pdf.
Deciding on the adequate time horizon for the Strategy
Strategies can have different time horizons, which vary according to a country’s specific needs and institutional culture (OECD, 2019[2]). In most cases, the implementation horizon of whole-of-government policies ranges from one to two electoral cycles/government terms. In light of the adoption of the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), some countries elaborated longer-term policies (e.g. Finland’s Open Government Strategy which was adopted in 2019 has a horizon until 2030). Longer-term policies (i.e. more than one electoral cycle) usually focus on providing a vision and high-level objectives, while shorter-term policies (one electoral cycle or less) commonly include more concrete initiatives.
In Romania, many existing government strategies, such as the National Anti-Corruption Strategy (NAS), foresee a 4-year timeframe for implementation. For example, the current NAS is being implemented over the period from 2021 to 2025, while the previous NAS was valid for 2016-2020. Other strategies such as Romania’s previous Strategy for Consolidating the Public Administration had a longer timeframe (2014-2020). As part of the preparation for its Open Government Strategy, the Government of Romania, in consultation with all relevant stakeholders, should decide which timeframe it considers most adequate for this specific policy document. The selection of the timeframe will also depend on the model that Romania ultimately decides to select (see below).
Conducting a stakeholder mapping and involving all relevant stakeholders from both the central and local levels
A mapping of stakeholders (possibly as part of the open government assessment that is discussed above) can allow the government to determine “who” key stakeholders are and “how” interested and influential they are (OECD, 2020[7]). A mapping exercise can allow Romania to develop a solid understanding of stakeholders’ roles, responsibilities and limitations to contribute to the design and implementation of OGS and foster a move beyond involving the “usual suspects” (OECD, 2022[15]). A systematic stakeholder analysis usually consists of three stages: 1) Identifying groups of stakeholders; 2) Analysing and sorting stakeholders; and 3) Foreseeing specific measures to ensure an inclusive process (OECD, 2020[7]).
In Romania, the mapping could be led by the team in the General Secretariat of the Government. The Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration could be a partner contributing to the process at the local level.
Based on the results of the stakeholder mapping and in a true open government spirit, Romania could then involve all key institutions from within and outside of the government (including civil society leaders, parliamentarians, local governments, political parties and younger generations of decision-makers, etc.) in the design of the Strategy. In this regard, the process to design an OGS can present a unique momentum to broaden the “open government community” in and out of government, build up long-term expertise and create ownership.
At a minimum, citizens and stakeholders should be involved prior to starting the drafting of the strategy (to jointly decide on priorities) and have the opportunity to comment on the draft document. In an ideal case, participation would go beyond consultation and give a more active role to citizens and stakeholders, including during the drafting process (e.g. by using co-creation mechanisms, etc.). Specific measures could further be foreseen to reach beyond the usual suspect and involve subnational governments in the process (e.g. regional meetings during the preparatory phase).
Public consultations on the initial proposals started in May 2015. Hundreds of experts were involved in drafting the document, which was then consulted with more than a hundred civil society, private, and academic organisations and institutions. The participatory process involved six roundtables (world café format), a digital consultation, a presentation of the draft in both chambers of the Parliament and discussions at the GCSD. Nine expert committees of the GCSD provided significant support in this process. The final version of the Czech Republic 2030 was adopted by the Government in April 2017.
The drafting of the Implementation plan started in February 2017 through a broad participatory process (consisting of 8 round tables/world cafes in regions and discussing in GCSD committees) to ensure the engagement of all relevant actors in the discussion on its form, then it was also adopted in the fall of 2018. A similar approach was applied in 2021, when the second Implementation plan was drafted, although the structure of the discussions had to be rearranged for the new online environment because of COVID-19 restrictions.
Source: Government of the Czech Republic (2017[18]), Strategic Framework Czech Republic 2030, https://www.vlada.cz/assets/ppov/udrzitelny-rozvoj/projekt-OPZ/Strategic_Framework_CZ2030.pdf.
Identifying model policies to learn from
As part of the preparation for the development of the Strategy, the GSG team should select existing Romanian government strategies (e.g. the National Anti-corruption Strategy) and existing Open Government Strategies from across OECD Member and Partner countries that it wishes to take inspiration from (see Box 6.8 for an example from Argentina). This exercise could include peer-to-peer exchanges to learn from colleagues’ experiences, avoid common mistakes and replicate good practices.
Argentina’s Strategic Plan for Open Government was adopted in 2019 following the recommendations of the OECD Open Government Review of Argentina. Covering the period of 2020-2023, the Plan was designed through a highly participatory process which includes workshops, online consultations, etc. with agencies of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches, provinces, municipalities, academia and civil society organisations.
The Plan itself is 69-pages long and it includes definitions, vision/mission statement, objectives, background (e.g. legal analysis, historical elements), a methodological section, etc. It clusters initiatives under five strategic axes:
Source: Government of Argentina (2019[19]), Strategic Plan on Open Government 2020-2023, https://nube.innovacion.gob.ar/s/ojc9nbPWR7qpPxp.
Embedding the Strategy in Romania’s existing policy framework
Given its cross-cutting ambition, Romania’s future Open Government Strategy needs to be fully embedded in the existing policy frameworks (see above). The Open Government Strategy needs to bring added value to what already exists. Ultimately, the OGS can only be successful if it considers all present and envisioned policies and strategies and provides a framework for a more coherent and ambitious implementation of open government reform. This also includes fully integrating the OGS into the policy framework provided by Romania’s membership in the European Union (EU). By providing a wider context and a vision coupled with concrete measurable objectives for the wider open government agenda, the Open Government Strategy can function as the overarching umbrella to all initiatives that aim to promote open government in Romania.
Anchored in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and in the current Government Programme, the OGS should be clearly linked with the National Anticorruption Strategy 2021-2025. As discussed above, the NAS includes numerous open government initiatives. It will be important for the OGS to build on these and not create overlaps/duplications. Finally, the OGS should also provide an umbrella to all future OGP action plans that Romania will design, providing them with a clear vision and ensuring their coherence over time. By setting a clear vision and objectives for the process to open the government to citizens’ inputs and scrutiny, the Strategy can contribute to increasing the ambition, relevance and impact of the OGP commitments.
Source: Author’s own elaboration.
An inclusive and rigorous drafting process is fundamental for a successful Open Government Strategy, as it can help set a clear vision and select objectives that are meaningful to both citizens and stakeholders, prioritise and sequence actions, and provide the necessary evidence for the interventions that are most cost-effective and likely to have the greatest impact.
Based on the abovementioned OECD paper (OECD, 2020[7]), this section presents general elements that are common to most policy documents and existing Open Government Strategies and that Romania could also consider including in its Open Government Strategy (Figure 6.6). First, any Open Government Strategy should have a clear and compelling vision that is based on a thorough review of the status quo of open government in a country. The vision and the review help countries establish priorities and define objectives for their OGS. The narrative and the inclusion of concrete open government initiatives then link the review with the stated vision and with priorities and objectives. To ensure that all institutions involved in the design and implementation of the strategy share common understandings, it is fundamental to also include definitions of key concepts and principles.
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
As mentioned above, Romanian has developed a Methodology for the development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and updating of government strategies which includes a minimum structure that any Romanian government strategy should have (Decision no. 379/2022). The Romanian Methodology is very much aligned with the OECD’s template for Open Government Strategies. In addition to also mandating the inclusion of elements such as a vision and objectives, it requires that Romanian government strategies include expected results, indicators and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms (for this, see also Chapter 7 of the present Review). Whenever relevant, references to the Romanian minimum structure are made throughout this section.
(1) A government strategy is developed in the form of a structure that must include at least the following sections:
a) introduction - arguing the need to develop the strategy, mentioning the implementation period, describing the way of working and presenting the institutions involved
b) the vision - presents a desirable, long-term evolution of the field that is the object of the strategy; this is implemented by achieving general and specific objectives
c) the existing priorities, policies and legal framework - identification of the governmental or European priorities, policies and strategies in force, as well as the existing legislation in the field of the strategy, which influences the respective strategy and are found in close correlation with the general priorities of the Government
d) analysis of the context and definition of the problems - analysis of the current situation and identification of the current problems that justify the need to develop the strategy
e) general and specific objectives - the objectives of the strategy by which the identified problems are solved. The objectives represent the targets that the Government undertakes to achieve by initiating measures in a certain field of public policy
f) programmes - the directions of action that will support the achievement of objectives and the implementation of the strategy, ensuring consistency with the programmes included in PSI
g) expected results - presenting the expected effects of the strategies and related results in a quantifiable manner, describing the economic, social, environmental and cultural changes, including the contribution to sustainable development objectives, as a result of the impact of the strategy implementation
h) indicators - the presentation of the indicators on the basis of which the evolution of the implementation of the strategy will be measured, with reference to the targeted national sustainable development indicators, as the case may be
i) monitoring and evaluation procedures - presentation of how the implementation and impact of the strategy will be monitored and evaluated
j) the responsible institutions - the institutions involved, responsible for their tasks
k) budgetary implications and sources of financing - estimation of the necessary financial resources and identification of the sources of financing necessary for the implementation of the actions of the strategy
l) the implications on the legal framework - the description of the impact of the strategy on the normative acts in force and the proposal of changes or the adoption of new normative acts for the implementation of the measures provided for in the strategy.
(2) The strategies are accompanied by an annex containing an action plan - broken down by actions, responsible institutions, implementation periods, expected results and monitoring indicators and evaluation stages.
Source: Government of Romania, Methodology on the Development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and updating of government strategies approved by Decision no. 379 of March 23, 2022, https://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/253159.
The drafting process
Involving all key stakeholders in drafting
In addition to involving citizens and stakeholders in the preparation of the Strategy, Romania could consider involving them more directly in the drafting process. This could, for example, include workshops with public and non-public stakeholders to jointly define key elements of the OGS, such as the vision and the objectives, as well as co-production workshops to decide on initiatives. In this regard, the experience Romania gathered through the co-creation process that is part of the OGP action plan cycle can provide useful elements that could be adapted to the Strategy process. In any case, Romania needs to ensure that the feedback loop is closed at all stages and that those responsible for drafting report back on the way inputs are incorporated (i.e. explain what was taken on board and what not, and why not). In practical terms, the Strategy could for example jointly be written by a group of public and non-public stakeholders (led by GSG). This core group could organise the abovementioned co-creation workshops and continuously report back to the public.
In 2020, the National Directorate of Open Government spearheaded a participatory elaboration of the Open Government Strategic Plan (2020-2023) bringing together diverse actors from the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society organisations.
From September to November, they held four workshops (three on open government and one on open data) with more than a hundred representatives from all three government branches, provinces, municipalities, academia, and CSOs to develop a shared diagnosis about the state of open government in Argentina.
In parallel to the process of elaborating the Strategic Plan, the directorate, along with other government actors, led the participatory design of the Federal Open Government Programme, a commitment of the Fourth National Open Government Action Plan. As part of this, three participatory instances were carried out between April-December 2020, which, in turn, were integrated into the diagnosis of the Strategic Plan:
During April and May, they conducted in-depth interviews with over 20 key stakeholders from provincial and municipal governments, CSOs and academic institutions. A workshop was also facilitated with six CSOs involved in the open government and institutional strengthening agenda.
A survey was carried out between July-September and was answered by more than 550 representatives of provincial and municipal governments, civil society, and academia.
From November-December, a public consultation open to the public was implemented in which 4 144 unique visits were registered, 1 400 users entered the platform, and 130 contributions were received.
Source: Government of Argentina (2019[19]), Plan Estratégico de Gobierno Abierto 2020-2023, https://nube.innovacion.gob.ar/s/ojc9nbPWR7qpPxp
Having the Strategy peer-reviewed
Once drafted, the Strategy should be peer reviewed, including by non-public stakeholders, the legal counsel, etc. in order to ensure that it both respects the legal framework in place and responds to the needs of different groups of stakeholders. The peer review may even involve sending the draft OGS to the open government co-ordinators of other countries (e.g. the peer reviewers involved in this Open Government Review) to get an external perspective.
Additionally, as done by countries such as Argentina (see Box 6.8), Romania should submit the draft to public consultation in order to allow public and non-public stakeholders that were not part of the drafting process to provide their comments. Dedicated communication/outreach activities should be conducted to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the consultation. Finally, as also recommended in Chapter 4, Romania should provide feedback to all those that participated in the consultation of the OGS (e.g. through a summary report).
Writing in plain language
Plain language refers to writing clearly, concisely, and in a way that precisely communicates a message to the intended audience. As such, plain language initiatives have become an important part of countries’ efforts to open their governments and administrations, aiming to make it easier for any citizen from any background to see, understand and get involved in policy processes. In order to foster accessibility, to the extent possible, Romania’s Open Government Strategy should be drafted in plain language, avoiding complex legal terminologies, etc.
Incorporating a regular review into the Strategy to ensure sustainability over time
Depending on the time horizon that the Government of Romania decides to select for its OGS, it may be warranted for the country to include a regular review of priorities, initiatives and budgeting/spending in the Strategy itself. Such a review can help navigate changes in government and ensure that the Strategy remains relevant over time. The review should be systematic and based on the information retrieved through the strategy’s robust monitoring and evaluation system (see Chapter 7). A regular review will be particularly relevant should Romania decide to make the OGS a long-term policy roadmap (i.e. more than one electoral mandate).
Elements to include in the Strategy
Adding a telling subtitle
As mentioned in Chapter 2, open government initiatives do not have to be named as such in order to be impactful. In some countries and contexts, the term open government and its implications often remain unclear or underutilised beyond the open government community. Nevertheless, the policies and practices that open government promotes (i.e. a government that gives access to government information, provides opportunities to engage in the policymaking process, and responds to public feedback and demands) are key to citizens’ trust in institutions (OECD, 2022[20]).
Chapter 4 shows that the concept of open government and its benefits are still partly unknown in Romania. Therefore, in order to make the Strategy more tangible for citizens, Romania could consider putting a larger focus on the policies and practices that are part of an open government approach and add a telling subtitle such as “getting closer to citizens” or “communicating better with citizens” to its title.
Including an introduction and a foreword
Literally, all policy documents include introductory statements and considerations. In Romania, the Methodology for Romanian government strategies (Decision no. 379/2022) requires public policies to include an introduction (element a) – see Box 6.9). The introduction usually links the policy document with the country’s broader policy agenda and other government priorities and provides public institutions and external stakeholders with a common understanding of why this strategy has been developed. To the extent possible, it should be written in plain language to ensure that all citizens and stakeholders easily understand it and see the rationale for developing the OGS.
The introductory sections of Romania’s OGS could also include a foreword signed by a high-level government representative and/or a civil society leader to enhance its effectiveness/ownership and demonstrate that this is supported at the highest levels of government. The foreword could for example be written by the Prime Minister or the Secretary General of the Government of Romania.
Defining a clear vision
The Open Government Strategy will be the key tool to set a vision for Romania’s open government agenda in the next years. A vision constitutes a clear statement of what the government and stakeholders aim to achieve through the implementation of open government reforms (OECD, 2020[7]). It constitutes a shared long-term expectation of outcomes and of how these outcomes can contribute to broader governmental and societal objectives. As such, the vision guides the process to design objectives and of initiatives which build the substantive part of the OGS. The clearer the vision, the more compelling it will be.
According to the OECD (2020[7]), a vision should be ambitious, bold, inspiring and realisable in a realistic time horizon at the same time. While the vision can be created within the government, involving other stakeholders (including non-public stakeholders) in its definition can ensure shared ownership of the strategy beyond government, and foster links with broader objectives and priorities.
Including key definitions
As discussed in Chapter 2, different stakeholders in Romania have different understandings of the concept of open government. To clarify expectations and foster coherent implementation, the OGS therefore needs to include definitions of key concepts, such as open government and open state, as well as of key principles, including transparency, accountability, integrity, and stakeholders participation. To the extent possible, these definitions should be co-created with all relevant stakeholders. Clearly outlined definitions can:
Inform stakeholders about the essential elements of open government, including the extent and limitations of key concepts.
Provide guidance to policymakers and ensure that all government institutions share a similar understanding of what is meant by certain terminology.
Facilitate a robust analysis of the impact of open government initiatives across different institutions and levels of government (OECD, 2020[7]).
Establishing clear priorities
Achieving a change towards an open government culture takes time and requires sustained long-term effort and commitment. Not all objectives can be pursued and not all initiatives can be implemented at once, as government resources and capacities are limited. For example, reforms in certain key open government areas (e.g. citizen participation) may over time require the adaptation of new laws and regulations or the creation of new institutions, which can be time-consuming and cost-intensive.
It will therefore be important for Romania to be selective and set clear priorities from the very beginning (which means making compromises). Whenever possible, priorities should be established jointly with all relevant stakeholders (both from within government and from civil society). Romania could consider using the existing co-ordination spaces or any newly created spaces (see below) to discuss priorities with all interested stakeholders. Once established, priorities should then be communicated to the wider public to manage expectations.
Defining objectives
The Strategy’s objectives translate the vision into targets. According to OECD research (OECD, 2020[7]), the objectives included in an OGS should be:
Setting clear objectives is a key step to enable monitoring, evaluation and learning. In this regard, Romania could consider mixing whole-of-government objectives (i.e. those that aim at changing the culture of government in general) with more specific objectives (e.g. those that aim to foster change in a specific sector/policy area) (OECD, 2023[21]). In the process of defining strategic objectives, citizen and stakeholder participation is fundamental to help the government prioritise and make choices. Objectives included in the OGS should further contribute to and be clearly linked with broader government objectives and priorities, as outlined in the Government Programme and the NRRP.
While objectives need to be achievable in general, it is unlikely that they are equally achievable for all public institutions. For example, some public institutions may have advanced in certain areas previously and therefore have a default “starting advantage”. While not leaving any public institution behind, the objectives –in selected priority areas – should be ambitious enough to give certain institutions the possibility to champion the agenda and push boundaries.
Ways to cluster actions/initiatives in an Open Government Strategy
The open government initiatives that are included in the Open Government Strategy are the concrete means to reach the identified objectives and ultimately move towards the vision. Given that open government is a wide field, before designing initiatives, it can be useful to define clusters/activity streams to which initiatives will contribute to (OECD, 2020[7]).
Clustering can be done in different ways, including through a principle-based, sectorial, open state or target-audience approach (OECD, 2020[7]). These approaches are not exclusive and can be matched (e.g. a principle-based approach can be coupled with a target-audience approach). Clustering should always reflect specific priorities and take into account budgetary and human resource limitations (OECD, 2020[7]). In the specific case of Romania, the Open Government Strategy will build on the findings of the Civic Space Review of Romania (OECD, 2023[6]) and will fully integrate the proposed Civil Society Engagement Strategy, something which needs to be reflected in the clustering.
Taking a principle-based approach
It is commonly accepted that open government includes initiatives that aim to promote the principles of transparency, accountability, integrity and citizen and stakeholder participation. Hence, some countries across the OECD have taken the four principles of open government as a basis to structure and cluster their policy documents in the area.
While keeping a similar basic clustering methodology, other countries have added different/additional dimensions to their definitions of open government. For example, the United States’ Open Government Directive from 2009 was structured around the three axes of transparency, participation and collaboration. Along similar lines, Spain’s 2017-2019 OGP Action Plan had the five following axes: collaboration, participation, transparency, accountability and training.
When taking a principle-based approach the main challenge stems from the fact that the four principles of open government are, in practice, intrinsically related and that the distinctions between them are not always clear (OECD, 2020[7]). Indeed, the most successful initiatives take a holistic open government approach, i.e. they incorporate elements of and contribute to each of the principles (e.g. an open data portal can contribute to making the government more transparent while also increasing citizen participation through the use of data. The increased use of data may in turn foster accountability and integrity; etc.).
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
Taking a sectorial approach
Countries can also take a sectorial approach to the clustering of initiatives in their Open Government Strategies, or they can enrich a principle-based/functional approach with a sectorial approach. The open government assessment may for example identify important opportunities for open government approaches in policymaking and service delivery in the environment or education sectors. In that case, it can be useful to include concrete sectorial open government measures into the strategy (e.g. design the new climate change strategy through a participatory approach; create an open data portal for the education sector; etc.).
Taking a sectorial perspective has important advantages (Boehm, 2014[22]; Campos and Pradhan, 2007[23]; OECD, 2015[24]):
Broad approaches do not always take into account the specificities of open government in all sectors. A thorough understanding of how a given sector works, its processes and actors, may however be required to design effective initiatives.
Promoting open government in sectors can translate into more concrete goals and results that directly affect people’s well-being. Fostering openness in a sector can create positive spill-overs to other sectors, as citizens and stakeholders start recovering trust in their government and ask for more reforms.
There may be windows of political opportunity making reforms at the sector level more feasible (Matsheza, 2012[25]).
A sectorial approach can be a tool to ensure full buy-in from concerned sectors from the outset.
While a sectorial approach bears great transformative potential, initiatives should always be bound together by a common narrative and shared objectives (e.g. all sector-specific open data initiatives should contribute to the OGS’ overall open data objectives) (OECD, 2020[7]). For a sectorial approach to work in practice, it is of key importance that all actors share a common understanding of open government and of its benefits. In addition, a sectorial approach usually needs to be complemented with elements of a principal-based or target-audience approach, as some open government initiatives necessarily concern more than one sector or the whole-of-government.
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
Taking a tool-based approach
Some countries have structured their open government agendas by organising initiatives around specific tools that can foster openness such as open data, public sector innovation, or access to information frameworks. This kind of approach can be used to empower communities that contribute to the broader open government agenda (e.g. the open data movement; the access to information community; the civic space movement; etc.). When taking a tool-based approach, it is particularly important to ensure that there is a strong common narrative and that all initiatives contribute to shared objectives. Usually, tool-based approaches therefore complement principle-based and sectorial approaches.
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
Taking a target audience approach
In some cases it may be advisable to design clusters of initiatives to be included in the OGS according to their target audience. In particular, governments may wish to include streams of activities targeting specific groups of stakeholders (e.g. CSOs, women, LGBTQI, minorities, etc.). For example, a government may wish to strengthen interactions with youth organisations through their inclusion in the agenda-setting and elaboration of major government policies (e.g. education, environment, health, etc.).
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1
Taking an open-state approach
An OGS can even include an open state perspective. Depending on each country’s specific legal context, the strategy may, for instance, include clusters of initiatives to be implemented by each of the branches of power and of independent public institutions and/or a cluster of initiatives targeting the subnational level(s) of government/initiatives to be implemented by subnational governments.
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
Ways to design open government initiatives
No matter which clustering approach Romania ultimately selects (if any), in order to make the link to day-to-day policymaking, the Open Government Strategy needs to define practical ways to achieve its stated vision and the shared objectives (OECD, 2020[7]; OECD, 2023[21]). Initiatives/actions outline the steps that the government aims to take to implement the OGS.
Box 6.11 details the characteristics of successful open government initiatives while Figure 6.6 above shows the key role of initiatives in building the bridge between the initial assessment and the country’s vision and objectives (OECD, 2020[7]). Initiatives can either be “general” or “detailed and concrete” (OECD, 2020[7]). While general initiatives (e.g. develop standards, tools and resources to support a new spirit of participation across government) have to be complemented with actions plans that outline concrete steps to implement them, detailed and concrete initiatives which often follow a sectorial approach (e.g. involve citizens in the design of a new youth strategy through the use of a targeted mobile application) do not necessarily need to rely on additional action plans to be implemented as they are usually already coupled with clear milestones and timelines (OECD, 2020[7]).
When developing new open government initiatives or incorporating existing initiatives into the whole-of-government Open Government Strategy, certain key features of successful open government initiatives should be considered. In an ideal case, initiatives should be:
Aligned with the overall vision and the objectives of the strategy
The purpose of the open government initiatives is to give substance to the Open Government Strategy. The initiatives, therefore, have to be coherent with the strategy’s intended vision and its objectives/priorities.
Open government initiatives to be included in the whole-of-government Open Government Strategy do not have to be new. Initiatives that are already in place can also be assimilated into the new Strategy, which in turn legitimises, rationalises and strengthens them by providing them with a powerful narrative and a broader framework. A Whole-of-government Open Government Strategy can make those initiatives that are already in place more coherent and stronger by working together under the same coherent narrative and methodological setting.
Linked to other national strategies
Linking open government initiatives to other national strategies can make them more feasible and successful. For example, an open data/transparency initiative can be part of the OGS as well as the national anti-corruption strategy. Along similar lines, an indigenous consultation initiative can be in the OGS and in the local development strategy.
Developing and implementing an Open Government Strategy may involve reforming laws and institutions, developing new skills, new technologies and platforms etc., all of which require human and financial resources. Adequate funding is therefore vital for an efficient and sustainable implementation of open government reforms. The Whole-of-government Strategy should ensure that funding is as transparent and as consistent as possible. Costs should be assessed realistically and wherever possible integrated into the national budget.
Anchored by the open government approach
Initiatives should, whenever possible, be designed in collaboration with different stakeholders and foster collaboration between civil society and public bodies.
Communicated both internally and externally
Communicating about open government initiatives can help expand their impact. Internally, this helps build coalitions and strengthen commitment to this cause across the public sector, including among senior-level executives. Externally, citizens and CSOs who are more aware of such initiatives, and who understand them better are more likely to participate in such efforts.
Source: Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
There are different ways to integrate initiatives into Romania’s Open Government Strategy.
Model 1: All initiatives are included in the Open Government Strategy
In this approach, Romania’s Open Government Strategy defines the overall vision, sets objectives and specifies all initiatives that are going to be implemented by public institutions over the implementation period (designing what could be referred to as a “master open government action plan”). This model is closest to the one proposed by the OGP Action Plan. The model has the disadvantage that it can never cover the entire open government agenda of a country and many ongoing initiatives will be excluded. It may therefore be most suited to countries that are not members of the OGP and that aim to initiate an open government agenda.
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
Model 2: The suggested National Open Government Committee periodically defines a whole-of-government working/action plan to implement the strategy
In this approach, the strategy provides the narrative, sets the vision and details the objectives while initiatives are designed periodically (in most cases annually or biannually) along the implementation process by means of a whole-of-government open government working plan. The definition of initiatives is centralised by a single institution or by a Steering Committee which involves all key stakeholders (e.g. the suggested National Open Government Committee, in the case of Romania, see Chapter 3). In some cases, the whole-of-government working plan may be adopted by decree or another legal document.
Countries that participate in the OGP can also use their OGP Action Plan to implement specific targeted commitments (which should of course also be aligned with the strategy’s objectives) while the whole-of-government open government working plan defines additional initiatives and priorities that affect the whole-of-government. Initiatives that conform to the working plans should be broad enough to be implemented by a variety of institutions. In this model, the strategy usually takes a medium to long-term perspective.
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
Model 3: Each institution defines its own open government working plan
In this approach, the Open Government Strategy foresees that all public institutions elaborate their own open government working/action plans to achieve the commonly agreed vision and objectives. The resulting institutional open government working plan is an official document. Institutions have autonomy to decide initiatives that they are going to implement initiatives that contribute to the vision and objectives of the OGS. Oversight/steering could be provided by the Open Government Steering Committee (see Chapter 4) which would make sure that the individual institutions' working plans are consistent. Under this scenario, OGP participants can use their action plans for targeted key initiatives that they wish to give national and international visibility to.
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
Model 4: Institutions define initiatives that contribute to the achievement of the strategy’s objectives at their own pace
In this scenario, the whole-of-government Open Government Strategy’s vision and its objectives function as a general guideline that public institutions follow at their own pace. Each individual institution designs and implements its own open government initiatives without developing an institutional action/working plan.
This model grants a high level of autonomy to public institutions and is best applied in those countries that have a mature open government agenda. The main role of the co-ordinating institution is to raise awareness, support institutions in the elaboration of their own open government initiatives and monitor the achievement of the objectives of the overall policy.
Source: OECD (2020[7]), Taking an integrated approach to the promotion of transparency, integrity, accountability and stakeholders’ participation: Towards an Open Government Strategy, Internal paper presented to the Working Party on Open Government, GOV/PGC/OG(2020)4/REV1.
Adopting the Strategy
Once designed, the Open Government Strategy will need to be formally adopted for public institutions to begin implementing it. In the Romanian context, and as foreseen by the Methodology for Romanian government strategies (Decision no. 379/2022), the Strategy will in all likelihood be adopted by Government Decision.
Rather than taking the adoption by Government Decision as a simple formality, Romania could consider using it as a moment to raise awareness and organise a widespread communication campaign around its adoption. This may involve high-level events involving all different kinds of stakeholders, including from Parliament, subnational governments, civic society and other non-state actors.
Making the Strategy budget responsible
Failure to implement the Strategy may lead to adverse effects such as lower levels of trust in government. Therefore, each initiative that will be included in the Strategy, as well as the Strategy as a whole need to have a dedicated budget. Some reforms that will be required may for example need the purchasing of new IT systems (which can be costly) or the contracting of external facilitators (e.g. a deliberative process), while others can be implemented at minimal costs. In any case, each initiative should be assigned a dedicated budget (e.g. on an annual basis).
Creating a dedicated online portal for the Strategy
In order to foster monitoring and enhance communication around the Strategy, Romania could consider creating a dedicated online portal for it (e.g. as part of the suggested Open Government Portal, see Chapter 5). In addition to showcasing the Strategy and its implementation plans, the portal could for example also include a dashboard that allows stakeholders to track Strategy-implementation on a continuous basis (see also Chapter 7). The portal could further be used as a platform for peer exchange between implementing institutions.
In most OECD Member and Partner countries, including in Romania, the enabling environment for open government is the result of a combination of different layers of laws, policies and institutions, coupled with very diverse implementation modalities and practices (OECD, 2023[21]). This is due to the fact that, traditionally, public policies that aim to foster the open government principles of transparency, accountability, integrity, and stakeholder participation and related policies and practices have most commonly been treated through separate policy agendas, each with their own (often well-established) policies, governance processes and mechanisms (OECD, 2023[21]). The concept of open government invites countries to put all policies that aim to foster government-citizen/stakeholder relationships under one common umbrella to foster synergies and achieve more coherent and better outcomes for citizens. Recognising the benefits of integrated open government agendas, an increasing number of OECD Member and Partner countries started designing and implementing holistic and integrated Open Government Strategies in recent years.
The recent adoption of Romania’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan provides a unique momentum for Romania to bring its open government agenda to the next level. Joining a growing community of pioneering countries, including Canada, Colombia, Finland and Italy, Romania should move forward with the design of its first integrated and holistic policy on fostering the government-citizen nexus, building on the ongoing discussions on the civil society strategy. This chapter finds that Romania’s first Open Government Strategy has the potential to fundamentally transform the relationship between the government and the citizens its serve, provided it is well prepared, designed, drafted, implemented and monitored and evaluated. The chapter provides recommendations that are inspired by international good practices and that outline a clear roadmap for a successful strategy process. Over the course of 2023, the OECD will support Romania in their implementation.
1. Move forward with the design of Romania‘s first holistic and integrated Open Government Strategy (as committed to in milestone 407 of the Recovery and Resilience Plan) to create a clear vision of the agenda to open government and bring open government approaches to the political level (“scale-up”).
2. Prepare for the design of the Open Government Strategy.
Using the results of the present Open Government Review, conduct an assessment of the status quo of open government in Romania to analyse what kind of initiatives to foster the government-citizen/stakeholder nexus have already been implemented (and with which results).
Establish a clear roadmap for the design of the Strategy and ensure that this roadmap is well-communicated across government and the wider society.
Design a dedicated communications campaign/plan to inform all relevant stakeholders about the Strategy, defining adequate ways to reach each of them.
Ensure political commitment to the Strategy process, including by informing and actively involving the most senior government leadership of the government in the preparatory phase and by personally investing them in the process.
Fully involve the Ministry of Finance in the preparation and drafting of the Open Government Strategy to ensure full alignment with the budget cycle.
Conduct a stakeholder mapping. The mapping could be led by the team in the General Secretariat of the Government in partnership with the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration.
Involve all key institutions from within and outside of the government (including civil society leaders, parliamentarians, local governments, political parties, and younger generations of decision-makers, etc.) in the preparation of the Strategy.
Foresee specific measures to reach beyond the usual suspect.
Fully involve subnational governments in the process (e.g. regional meetings during the preparatory phase).
Identifying model policies to learn from, including Romanian government strategies and existing Open Government Strategies from OECD Member and Partner countries.
Fully embed the Strategy in Romania’s existing policy framework.
Anchor the Strategy in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and in the current Government Programme.
Clearly link the Strategy with the National Anticorruption Strategy 2021-2025.
Use the Strategy to provide an umbrella to all future OGP action plans that Romania will design, giving them a clear and coherent vision and ensuring their coherence over time.
Involve all relevant stakeholders in the drafting process, including through co-creation workshops with public and non-public stakeholders to jointly define key elements of the OGS, such as the vision and the objectives, as well as co-production workshops to decide on initiatives.
Close the feedback loop at all stages of the process and ensure that those responsible for drafting report back on the way inputs are incorporated.
Have the draft Strategy peer reviewed, including by non-public stakeholders, the legal counsel, etc. to ensure that it both respects the legal framework in place and responds to the needs of different groups of stakeholders.
To the extent possible, draft the Strategy in plain language to make it easier for any citizen from any background to see, understand and get involved in the process.
Include a regular review of priorities, initiatives, and budgeting/spending in the Strategy to help navigate changes in government and ensure that the Strategy remains relevant over time.
Use the adoption of the Strategy (by Government Decision) as a moment to raise awareness and organise a widespread communication campaign n. This may involve high-level events involving all different kinds of stakeholders, including from Parliament, subnational governments, civic society, and other non-state actors.
Create a dedicated online portal for the Strategy (e.g. as part of the suggested Open Government Portal, see Chapter 5) to foster monitoring and enhance communication. In addition to showcasing the Strategy and its implementation plans, the portal could also include a dashboard that allows stakeholders to track Strategy-implementation on a continuous basis (see also Chapter 7).
Add a telling subtitle such as “getting closer to citizens” or “communicating better with citizens” to the Strategy’s title in order to make it more tangible for citizens.
Include an introduction to ensure that all citizens and stakeholders easily understand the Strategy and see the rationale for developing it.
Include a foreword signed by a high-level government representative and/or a civil society leader to enhance ownership and demonstrate that this is supported at the highest levels of government.
Define an ambitious, bold, inspiring and realisable vision for the Strategy, possibly by co-creating it with relevant stakeholders.
Include definitions of key concepts, such as open government and open state, as well as of key principles, including transparency, accountability, integrity, and participation to clarify expectations and foster coherent implementation. To the extent possible, these definitions should be co-created with all relevant stakeholders.
Be selective and set clear priorities from the beginning. Whenever possible, priorities should be established jointly with all relevant stakeholders, for example by using existing co-ordination spaces or any newly created spaces. Once established, communicate priorities to the wider public to manage expectations.
Set objectives that are measurable, achievable, and relevant; evidence-based; ambitious without over-committing the government or creating unrealistic expectations; and budget responsible.
Define clusters/activity streams to which initiatives included in the Strategy will contribute to.
Define initiatives/actions to achieve the stated vision and the shared objectives of the Strategy.
Ensure that each initiative that will be included in the Strategy, as well as the Strategy as a whole are fully funded.
References
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Notes
← 1. As part of its motivation to request the Civic Space Review of Romania, the government of Romania had identified the need to streamline civic engagement “in order to make a real contribution to improving the predictability and adequacy of public policymaking processes”. It also identified the need to ensure the necessary conditions for a “robust civil society that can promote the rule of law”. To respond to these challenges, the OECD Observatory for Civic Space is currently supporting the development of a strategy and implementation roadmap for civil society involvement in decision-making in Romania. First workshops involving preliminary discussions on how to design such a strategy and implementation roadmap took place in September 2022. One of the key findings of these workshops and the present Review is that the strategy and implementation roadmap for civil society involvement in decision-making cannot operate in isolation. Rather, they have to become an integral part of the wider Open Government Strategy in order to be successful.
← 2. 29 out the 38 OECD Member countries are members of the OGP.
← 3. In its assessment of Romania’s fifth action plan, the OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) recommended ensuring better stakeholder engagement during implementation and highlighted that future action plans could benefit from greater dialogue with civil society during co-creation on which topics to prioritise and on the overall direction of OGP in Romania.
← 4. The OECD’s “Strengthening the Innovative Capacity of the Government of Romania: Interim Assessment Report” (OECD, 2022[26]) provides an in-depth assessment of innovative capacity in Romania and includes recommendations to better embed forward planning (including through strategic foresight, etc.) in policy processes.
← 5. Provision 1 of the Recommendation of the Council on Open Government stipulate that Adherents “take measures, in all branches and at all levels of the government, to develop and implement open government strategies and initiatives in collaboration with stakeholders and to foster commitment from politicians, members of parliaments, senior public managers and public officials, to ensure successful implementation and prevent or overcome obstacles related to resistance to change”.