Western Balkan recommendations on public consultations on draft legislation and public policy documents

Aim Codification of best practices in the field of public consultations to encourage and assist governments to design policies and legislation in an inclusive and efficient manner

Two parts: Key/general rules Specific recommendations for individual stages of policy-making

Key rules on effective public participation (12) Embeddedness into policy making cycle & Early involvement Proportionality Careful planning & Sufficient resources & time Targeted approach & proactiveness Advance notification & accessibility of information Responsiveness, transparency and traceability Continuous quality control

Recommendations on policy making stages Issue identification Both broad and deep engagement of all stakeholders affected Targeted and proactive approach with tailor-made invitations Methods adjusted to the individual characteristics of stakeholders

Policy formulation (drafting) Time for expert deliberation with expert groups and representative associations (business associations, trade unions, umbrella NGOs, think tanks, research institutes, academia, etc.) Methods: working group, focus groups, deliberative workshops Need to share all background documents and materials

Decision-making Time for final public consultations Broad e-consultations with live hearings for those not using electronic tools or writing in general Single e-platform Reasonable timeline with a minimum deadline of 20 days Report on the outcome of consultations

Implementation phase Evaluation phase Cooperation with stakeholders that were engaged in policy formulation in on-going monitoring Comprehensive reforms: possibility of advisory council with external members Need to enable the public to communicate their experience with new legislation Evaluation phase Last step of old policy = first step of new policy Hence all recommendations that apply for “issue identification”

Thank you