The organization notes that the current practice of public consultations often limits the participation of business in the discussion of draft laws. The main problems include non-compliance with the statutory deadlines for consultations and shortening procedural steps without sufficient justification.
According to AmCham, draft regulations are in some cases submitted for discussion for a shorter period of time than stipulated by law, which reduces the opportunity for businesses to analyze and prepare proposals. The association believes that this leads to the formal nature of consultations and increases the risk of adopting difficult to apply or uncoordinated norms.
Separately, they note cases when the terms of consultations are actually “retroactively” adjusted. For example, a document may be published later than the date given as the start date for discussion. AmCham believes that the consultation period should only begin when the draft is actually published.
The organization proposes to introduce mechanisms to monitor compliance with the deadlines for public consultations, to oblige state bodies to explain any deviations from standard procedures and to publish a unified calendar for the passage of normative acts.
Other proposals include centralizing all public consultations on the particip.gov.md platform, including the initiatives of subordinate agencies and inspectorates. According to AmCham, currently some projects are published only on the websites of individual agencies, which makes the process fragmented and makes monitoring difficult for businesses.
The organization also advocates for stronger requirements for regulatory impact analysis. AmCham notes that such assessments are either published with a delay or do not contain sufficient justification, which reduces the ability to assess the impact of proposed regulations on the economy and business.
Additional proposals include the publication of explanatory notes in the State Register of Legal Acts legis.md as a mandatory part of the adopted documents, as well as the introduction of practices explaining the objectives and logic of regulation along European lines.
