AN EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF IMPACT ASSESSMENT: THE CASE OF SLOVAKIA AND SLOVENIA

Regulatory reforms in Europe and OECD countries in the last decade have focused on various tools that would improve ‘regulatory quality’. Impact assessment (IA) is considered to be a tool that assists decision-makers in making choices by systematic appraisal of the potential effects (fiscal, social, economic and other) of proposed legislation. IA is a relatively new tool introduced into the legislative systems of CEE countries. This article intends to assess in a systematic and critical way institutional framework for IA in Slovakia and Slovenia, as well as the quality of information contained in regulatory impact assessments as part of the explanatory memoranda. The aim is to demonstrate the gap between the formal framework and the reality of IA, and to explain why this has occurred.