Abstract
The present paper intends to provide an overview and a critical assessment of the administrative simplification policies implemented in Portugal over the past 20+ years. Throughout these decades, the major instruments for administrative simplification have been: (i) Decree-Law n. 135/99, of 22 April; (ii) the Simplex programme; (iii) the 2015 new Code of Administrative Procedure and its 2021 amendment; and (iv) the COVID-19 legislation. Although Decree-Law n. 135/99 (i) was the first attempt to specifically address simplification, it was a very thin one. The Simplex programme (ii), created in 2006, was the first cross-sectoral robust policy of simplification; its motto is “the simpler the better” and it encompassed reforms in all government areas aiming at cutting red tape, promoting administrative efficiency, and making the citizens’ and the corporations’ lives easier when dealing with State. The new Code of Administrative Procedure (iii), approved in 2015, brought about specific normative solutions to simplify procedures, namely, prior communications, administrative assistance, procedural conferences, and the electronic one-stop shop. Finally, the COVID-19 legislation (iv) was made necessary by the COVID-19 pandemic and by the fact that public health restrictions made it impossible for citizens to establish personal contact with the administration in many cases.
Highlights
The present paper intends to provide an overview and a critical assessment of the administrative simplification policies implemented in Portugal over the past 20+ years
It starts by presenting the conceptual framework of administrative simplification, which is followed by the analysis of the major instruments for administrative simplification approved throughout these two decades, i.e., (1) Decree-Law n. 135/99, of 22 April; (2) the Simplex programme; (3) the 2015 new Code of Administrative Procedure and its 2021 amendment; and (4) the COVID-19 legislation
The purpose of this paper is to define what should be understood as simplification of administrative procedures as well as to distinguish it from the reduction of administrative burdens, better regulation, reduction of red tape, and reduction of context costs, as this is critical to understand the scope of this article
Summary
The present paper intends to provide an overview and a critical assessment of the administrative simplification policies implemented in Portugal over the past 20+ years. Other concepts are commonly used on similar matters such as reduction of administrative burdens, better regulation, reduction of red tape, and context costs Such expressions do not necessarily mean the same as the simplification of administrative procedures but may partially include identical realities. The reduction of such burdens includes the simplification measures aimed to eliminate administrative interventions or requirements, to speed up and streamline administrative procedures, but not the actions to better manage complex administrative procedures and different administrative procedures with different interested parties on the same subject. The reduction of context costs (“custos de context”) should be considered, this is usually a term used in political speech rather than in research analysis It may include the simplification of administrative procedures and better regulation policies, but it is broader because it includes other measures not related to administrative acts and procedures or aimed at improving the regulatory environment. With a Code of Administrative Procedure and a law on access to administrative documents in force at the time of its approval, it is hard to understand the reason why it was approved separately. Still, regardless of its flaws, the truth is that it laid the ground for second generation simplification policies
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