Policy development and co-ordination

About

Governments initiate various policies, laws and regulations, and spend billions of euros developing services and activities intended to solve problems and improve the quality of life of their citizens. The consequences of poorly designed and implemented policies can be significant and may affect the quality of public services, create unnecessary burdens and costs, cause social exclusion and damage economic competitiveness. Effective and evidence-based policy making is key to ensure governments achieve their policy objectives. Policy development and co-ordination is also crucial for governments to effectively manage national priorities and overarching processes, such as central planning and co-ordination of activities related to European integration, to ensure these are fully aligned with other cross-sectoral and sectoral policies.

Key elements

Effective policy making is comprised of:

Well-organised and effectively functioning centre of government (CoG) institutions that facilitate and support policy co-ordination, ensure quality control and clear, transparent government decision making.
Harmonised policy planning, monitoring and reporting, covering all policy areas, including European integration, aligned with the financial circumstances of the country.
Systematic use of evidence and analysis to inform key decisions during policy development.
Clear and consistent drafting of laws and regulations that are easily and freely accessible.
Regular consultation with all key internal and external stakeholders throughout the policy-making process.
Effective monitoring and evaluation of policy, to enhance policy outcomes and promote administrative simplification and burden reduction.
Strong parliamentary scrutiny, effective legislative planning and co-ordination between the government and parliament during lawmaking.

What SIGMA does

SIGMA assists countries in strengthening their policy development and co-ordination systems. Activities include:

Conducting reviews and contextual analysis.
Developing methodologies, guidance and technical notes to help design and implement new procedures and tools to enhance policymaking and policy planning .
Strengthening the capacities of governments and parliamentary administrations on various aspects of policymaking.
Helping to ensure coherence among sectoral and cross-sectoral policies.
Advising on better regulation, quality of legal drafting and regulatory management policy and tools, and approaches to co-ordination of acquis transposition.
Assisting with the creation of preconditions for developing inclusive, evidence-based and effective policies and legislation, which can be implemented and monitored.
Providing practical solutions and examples from EU Member States and other countries that have faced similar challenges.