On May 6, 2015, in Bratislava, the F. A. Hayek Foundation organized an international seminar titled: “Gold plating – National Issues vs European Legislation”, reflecting an increasing interest of Slovak stakeholders on the topic of Gold plating. The seminar was co-organized by 4liberty.eu network, Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, European Commission Representation in Slovakia, Entrepreneurs Association of Slovakia, National Union of Employers and media partners Hospodarske Noviny daily and web portal aktuality.sk.
Gold-plating is a term that describes the process where an EU directive is given additional powers when being transposed into the national laws of member states. This is quite common approach within any European Union country.
The seminar was opened by Mr. Dušan Chrenek, Head of Representation of the European Commission in Slovakia. First panel was focused on the topic “Gold plating – Legislation from Brussels: Helping Hand or Unnecessary Hurdle? Problems and Solutions”. The keynote speech was delivered by Mrs. Elizabeth Golberg from European Commission under the name “What Can the EC do to Minimise Gold-Plating in Member States?” The presentation was focused on new findings and plans of the Commission concerning “Better Regulation Agenda” and the problems of Gold plating within member states. Second speaker was Mr. Peter Ondrejka from Ministry of Economic Affairs who introduced opinions of the Ministry on Gold plating in Slovakia and what should be done to reduce it. The Ministry of Economic Affairs as an entity responsible for the “Better Regulation agenda” prepared new methodological procedures concerning the impact assessment process for new regulations which were presented as well. The third speaker was Mr. Christian Ardhe, representative of the Employers Group from ECOSOC, with presentation focused on the view of employers within ECOSOC on legislation process of the EU and its impact on business environment in Europe.
The second panel of the seminar was focused on topic “Making Business Environment More Business-Friendly”. Mr. Aleš Pecka from Regulatory Impact Assessment Unit of the Government Office of Czech Republic – RIA process in Czech Republic introduced Czech experiences concerning legislation process and its impacts on business environment. Mrs. Lívia Vašáková from the European Commission Mission in the Slovak Republic presented findings of the Mission on the state of the public sector in Slovakia and RIA process. Mr. Daniel Pitoňák from the Slovak Business Agency described the view of the agency on the topic of Better Regulation and problems of SMEs and introduced to the audience new “Center of Better Regulation” which will be focused on the impact assessment process of new legislation with special focus on SMEs. The last speaker was Matúš Pošvanc, director of the F. A. Hayek Foundation who presented development of regulatory burdens in Slovakia and opinions of entrepreneurs on legislation process in Slovakia and regulations coming from the EU and their impact on business environment.
The seminar has met with huge interest among the representatives of Slovak entrepreneurs, public sector, media and young leaders (more than 90 participants). The impact of the seminar was ensured by the media coverage (STV – state television, Hospodárske noviny economic daily, actuality.sk – the most readable online media server in Slovakia).
All presentations from the event are available here: Gold_plating_presentations
