Is the regulatory tsunami over?
We often say that bad and stable rules for business are better than the good but constantly changing ones. The last year had a low level of changes that may indicate the end of the regulatory tsunami.
For example, there were 3 times fewer changes in the legislation in 2016 than in 2015, with the largest decline rates (by 5 times) in laws. The only indicator remained at the same level is the adoption of new regulations by ministries and other central executive bodies.
However, it should be noted that the decrease in total number of changes does not necessarily mean reducing the number of really significant changes for business. For example, an amended law could change just one phrase or propose the whole text as a new version, which is not friendly to businesses.
Does the frequency of changes in by-laws depend on changes in laws?
In Ukraine, there are laws along with by-laws, the number of which is much larger and which are taken to implement the laws. Accordingly, there should be a correlation between the activity of legislators and activity of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, ministries and other central executive bodies that implement the laws in the by-laws. The diagrams reflect this correlation to some extent, with the exception of 2016, when the number of by-laws almost didn’t change compared to 2015.
How did we count up that?
The analysis was carried out on the basis of regulatory acts, which are included in the database “Legislation of Ukraine” of the VRU, with the exception of international agreements.
If a law “On Amendments” amended 10 laws, this would mean for lawyers and businessmen the need to analyze 10 amended laws or risk to break the law. Therefore, we determined the primary regulatory acts (with the exception of the international ones) and counted up the number of stages they have passed through: the adoption of a new act, making amendments to it and the loss of effect. So, we’ve got a true picture.
Why do we count up that?
It is necessary to work out the decisions to change the rules for businesses. The analysis of data helps us determine what these decisions influenced on in the past and predict their impact in the future.
What is next?
We make every effort to understand whether it has become easier to live for businesses or the lawmakers have focused on critical changes. Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
If you need to make the similar analysis under other criteria (in terms of subject areas, lawmakers, etc.), we are open to cooperation, please, contact us.