Malta
Overview and recent developments
Since its first better regulation strategy introduced a decade ago, the Maltese government has put a strong emphasis on the improvement of the regulatory environment for businesses and citizens and the reduction of regulatory burdens. The “Small Business Act” (SBA), adopted in 2011 and revised in 2017, introduced a framework for ex ante impact assessment to be applied by ministries when developing regulations, including an SME-Test. RIA is however only formally obliged for subordinate regulations. Separately, the Maltese government has conducted several ad hoc reviews of existing laws and regulations in specific sectors aiming at reducing administrative burdens. However, Malta currently lacks a systematic approach towards reviewing whether laws and regulations achieved the intended policy goals, including a requirement to periodically evaluate existing regulations and a standardised methodology for ex post evaluation.
Stakeholder engagement is currently required for all subordinate regulations as part of the RIA process as well as for some primary laws in selected policy areas. Recent better regulation initiatives have been targeted at improving the accessibility of the regulatory process, for example through the introduction of a central portal for online consultations. Each online consultation is accompanied by a feedback report, summarizing the views of participants and providing feedback on the comments received. The transparency of the Maltese regulatory framework could be further strengthened by making RIAs available for consultations with stakeholders. Additionally, Malta could more systematically engage with stakeholders during the development of primary laws, specifically at an early stage, before a preferred regulatory decision has been identified.
Competences for regulatory policy and regulatory reform are dispersed among multiple bodies in the centre of government and a couple of ministries. The Office of the Parliamentary Secretary for Reforms, Citizenship and Simplification of Administrative Processes is responsible for the government's better regulation and simplification agenda and its implementation in the wider public administration. The Office of the Principal Permanent Secretary conducts and co-ordinates simplification and bureaucracy reduction measures. The Maltese Cabinet Office provides oversight on the quality of RIAs by reviewing ministerial proposals and their accompanying RIAs against the criteria in the Small Business Act. The Ministry for European Affairs and Equality is responsible for developing standards and procedures for online consultations and overseeing their application. The Ministry for Justice, Culture and Local Government ensures the legal quality of draft laws and regulations.
Note: The more regulatory practices as advocated in the OECD Recommendation on Regulatory Policy and Governance a country has implemented, the higher its iREG score. The indicators on stakeholder engagement and RIA for primary laws only cover those initiated by the executive (97% of all primary laws in Malta).
Source: Indicators of Regulatory Policy and Governance Survey 2017, http://oe.cd/ireg.