Sensemaking
#22Key Findings
Slovakia performs relatively poorly in international comparison (rank 22) in the category of sensemaking.
The government has had established analytical units within ministries to focus on strategic foresight and innovation since 2016. These units explore ideas, provide guidance and organize activities, operating independently. Various other institutes provide reliable macroeconomic and fiscal analyses and forecasts.
The government office does not have a central unit overseeing regulatory impact assessments (RIAs). The practice was introduced in 2001, and the methodology has been improved over time, but implementation has been erratic.
Systemic sustainability checks are not legally required as part of RIA, but may be performed. In practice, sustainability checks are neither prominent nor conducted systematically. Ex post evaluation is not required by law, and the country receives very low international ratings in this area.
The government has had established analytical units within ministries to focus on strategic foresight and innovation since 2016. These units explore ideas, provide guidance and organize activities, operating independently. Various other institutes provide reliable macroeconomic and fiscal analyses and forecasts.
The government office does not have a central unit overseeing regulatory impact assessments (RIAs). The practice was introduced in 2001, and the methodology has been improved over time, but implementation has been erratic.
Systemic sustainability checks are not legally required as part of RIA, but may be performed. In practice, sustainability checks are neither prominent nor conducted systematically. Ex post evaluation is not required by law, and the country receives very low international ratings in this area.
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To what extent can the central government foster the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization?
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9
9
The central government can foster the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization.
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7
6
Most of the time, the central government can foster the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization.
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3
4
3
The central government is rarely capable of fostering the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization.
2
1
1
The central government is not capable of fostering the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization.
Since 2016, Slovakia’s central government units, known as analytical units, have been established within ministries to focus on strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation. These units independently explore ideas and scenarios, provide tools and guidance, coordinate and monitor activities, offer training and coaching, and organize events. The primary funding source for these policy units has been the EU-financed Efficient Public Administration operational program. The national Building and Development of Analytical Units at Selected Central State Administration Bodies project supported the creation of analytical units at 14 central administration bodies.
Before this project, the Institute of Financial Policy at the Ministry of Finance and the Institute of Health Policy at the Ministry of Health were established and widely recognized as effective public policy units. However, the Institute of Health Policy was transformed into the less effective Institute for Health Analyses in 2021 (see Čunderlíková, 2021).
The Institute of Financial Policy (IFP) has maintained its important cross-sectoral position during the 2022–2024 period. The IFP’s mission is to provide reliable macroeconomic and fiscal analyses and forecasts to the Slovak government and the public. It also functions as the policy unit of the Finance Ministry. The IFP comprises several core departments:
The Macroeconomic Department: Analyzes and forecasts developments within the Slovak economy, such as GDP growth, inflation, and unemployment.
The Tax and Fiscal Department: Analyzes and forecasts public budget revenues (taxes and social insurance), fiscal policy, and public finance sustainability.
The Structural and Expenditure Policies Department: Evaluates government spending and structural policies, such as education, health, and the environment, from the Finance Ministry’s perspective.
The Value for Money Department (UHP): Aims to enhance the value received by the public for their money. Its primary objectives are to increase the effectiveness of general government expenditures, improve public services, and consolidate public finance. This department reviews public spending and assesses planned public investment projects, particularly those costing above €40 million or €10 million in the IT sector.
Beyond the IFP, the Office of Government and other ministries generally do not promote policy experimentation through innovation labs, behavioral insights, or delivery teams using techniques such as prototyping, human-centered design, randomized controlled trials, project-based employment, or data analysis.
The government occasionally allocates financial and human resources to external bodies for establishing test beds for new ideas, but it often expects predetermined results (see Sedlačko and Staroňová, 2022).
Citations:
http://www.reformuj.sk/projekt/budovanie-a-rozvoj-kapacit-analytickych-utvarov-na-vybranych-ustrednych-organoch-statnej-spravy/
https://www.mfsr.sk/sk/financie/institut-financnej-politiky/o-institute/o-institute.html
Čunderlíková, J. 2021. “Inštitútu zdravotnej politiky vzali jeden z odborov. Bol tam dočasne, reaguje ministerstvo.” Aktuality SK, June 10. https://www.aktuality.sk/clanok/795807/institutu-zdravotnej-politiky-vzali-jeden-z-odborov-bol-tam-docasne-reaguje-ministerstvo/
Sedlačko, M. and Staroňová, K. 2023. “Putting Experts in Their Place: Achieving Policy Impact as an Outsider-Academic in Civil Service Reforms in Slovakia.” International Journal of Social Welfare 32 (1): 86–100.
Gajduschek, G., and Staroňová, K. 2023. “Politicization beyond the Merit-system Façade. The Intricate Relationship between Formal and Informal Institutions of the Senior Civil Service Systems in Central and Eastern Europe.” International Journal of Public Administration 46(9): 647-658.
Before this project, the Institute of Financial Policy at the Ministry of Finance and the Institute of Health Policy at the Ministry of Health were established and widely recognized as effective public policy units. However, the Institute of Health Policy was transformed into the less effective Institute for Health Analyses in 2021 (see Čunderlíková, 2021).
The Institute of Financial Policy (IFP) has maintained its important cross-sectoral position during the 2022–2024 period. The IFP’s mission is to provide reliable macroeconomic and fiscal analyses and forecasts to the Slovak government and the public. It also functions as the policy unit of the Finance Ministry. The IFP comprises several core departments:
The Macroeconomic Department: Analyzes and forecasts developments within the Slovak economy, such as GDP growth, inflation, and unemployment.
The Tax and Fiscal Department: Analyzes and forecasts public budget revenues (taxes and social insurance), fiscal policy, and public finance sustainability.
The Structural and Expenditure Policies Department: Evaluates government spending and structural policies, such as education, health, and the environment, from the Finance Ministry’s perspective.
The Value for Money Department (UHP): Aims to enhance the value received by the public for their money. Its primary objectives are to increase the effectiveness of general government expenditures, improve public services, and consolidate public finance. This department reviews public spending and assesses planned public investment projects, particularly those costing above €40 million or €10 million in the IT sector.
Beyond the IFP, the Office of Government and other ministries generally do not promote policy experimentation through innovation labs, behavioral insights, or delivery teams using techniques such as prototyping, human-centered design, randomized controlled trials, project-based employment, or data analysis.
The government occasionally allocates financial and human resources to external bodies for establishing test beds for new ideas, but it often expects predetermined results (see Sedlačko and Staroňová, 2022).
Citations:
http://www.reformuj.sk/projekt/budovanie-a-rozvoj-kapacit-analytickych-utvarov-na-vybranych-ustrednych-organoch-statnej-spravy/
https://www.mfsr.sk/sk/financie/institut-financnej-politiky/o-institute/o-institute.html
Čunderlíková, J. 2021. “Inštitútu zdravotnej politiky vzali jeden z odborov. Bol tam dočasne, reaguje ministerstvo.” Aktuality SK, June 10. https://www.aktuality.sk/clanok/795807/institutu-zdravotnej-politiky-vzali-jeden-z-odborov-bol-tam-docasne-reaguje-ministerstvo/
Sedlačko, M. and Staroňová, K. 2023. “Putting Experts in Their Place: Achieving Policy Impact as an Outsider-Academic in Civil Service Reforms in Slovakia.” International Journal of Social Welfare 32 (1): 86–100.
Gajduschek, G., and Staroňová, K. 2023. “Politicization beyond the Merit-system Façade. The Intricate Relationship between Formal and Informal Institutions of the Senior Civil Service Systems in Central and Eastern Europe.” International Journal of Public Administration 46(9): 647-658.
Graph View
To what extent does the government conduct high-quality impact assessments to evaluate the potential effects of prepared legislation before implementation?
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9
9
The government draws on high-quality RIAs to assess the potential impact of prepared legislation before implementation.
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7
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In most cases, the government draws on high-quality RIAs to assess the potential impact of prepared legislation before implementation.
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3
The government rarely draws on high-quality RIAs to assess the potential impact of prepared legislation before implementation.
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1
The government does not draw on high-quality RIAs to assess the potential impact of prepared legislation before implementation.
The standard formal mechanisms for evidence-informed policymaking are almost fully implemented in Slovakia. The Government at a Glance report (OECD, 2021) ranks Slovakia above the OECD average for the indicator “Regulatory Impact Assessment, Primary laws” and exactly at the OECD average level for the indicator “Systematic Adoption of Regulatory Impact Assessment.” The same is true for the set of indicators that evaluate the level of stakeholder engagement. However, the report does not show visible progress for 2017–2021.
Since the RIA approach was de facto introduced in Slovakia in 2001, no central unit has been established at the government’s core office. This situation did not change during the period under review. Gradually, consecutive governments have improved the methodology; however, its implementation has been rather erratic.
One key issue is that impact assessments apply only to measures initiated by the government on a regular basis (three rounds of reading in the parliamentary legislative procedure). Ministries, when drafting legislation, still often struggle with quantifying wider impacts and focus mainly on budgetary impacts and, to a lesser extent, impacts on the business environment. Since the COVID pandemic, the RIA process has been further limited by the increase in the fast-track legislative process.
The quality of the implementation of RIA and the transparency and openness of the legislative process significantly decreased during the COVID-19 crisis, and the situation did not return to “normal” even after the crisis (Staroňová, Lacková, and Sloboda, 2023). The quality of the legislative process is also confirmed by the Value for Money Unit report, published in October 2023 (Ministry of Finance, 2023). The report stresses that the system of ex ante evaluation is too formal and complex, without specific criteria depending on the level and content of the submitted proposal. It particularly highlights that ex ante assessment is often omitted. According to this report, in 2021 and 2022, more than 35% of the laws adopted by the parliament were parliament-sponsored legislation, or had more than 50 amendments longer than six standard pages submitted during the legislative process in 2022. According to research conducted in 2019, only seven out of 165 laws were adopted by the non-standard procedure. In 2021, this proportion changed to 60 out of 123, and in 2022, although it slightly dropped, it remained insufficient at 21 out of 175.
Citations:
Haluš, M., Mykhalchyk Hradický, J., and Hronček, P. 2023. Ako nestrieľať naslepo. Bratislava: Ministry of Finance.
Staroňová, K., Lacková, N., and Sloboda, M. 2023. “Post-Crisis Emergency Legislation Consolidation: Regulatory Quality Principles for Good Times Only?” European Journal of Risk Regulation. Pre-print version.
OECD. 2021. Government at Glance. Paris: OECD
Since the RIA approach was de facto introduced in Slovakia in 2001, no central unit has been established at the government’s core office. This situation did not change during the period under review. Gradually, consecutive governments have improved the methodology; however, its implementation has been rather erratic.
One key issue is that impact assessments apply only to measures initiated by the government on a regular basis (three rounds of reading in the parliamentary legislative procedure). Ministries, when drafting legislation, still often struggle with quantifying wider impacts and focus mainly on budgetary impacts and, to a lesser extent, impacts on the business environment. Since the COVID pandemic, the RIA process has been further limited by the increase in the fast-track legislative process.
The quality of the implementation of RIA and the transparency and openness of the legislative process significantly decreased during the COVID-19 crisis, and the situation did not return to “normal” even after the crisis (Staroňová, Lacková, and Sloboda, 2023). The quality of the legislative process is also confirmed by the Value for Money Unit report, published in October 2023 (Ministry of Finance, 2023). The report stresses that the system of ex ante evaluation is too formal and complex, without specific criteria depending on the level and content of the submitted proposal. It particularly highlights that ex ante assessment is often omitted. According to this report, in 2021 and 2022, more than 35% of the laws adopted by the parliament were parliament-sponsored legislation, or had more than 50 amendments longer than six standard pages submitted during the legislative process in 2022. According to research conducted in 2019, only seven out of 165 laws were adopted by the non-standard procedure. In 2021, this proportion changed to 60 out of 123, and in 2022, although it slightly dropped, it remained insufficient at 21 out of 175.
Citations:
Haluš, M., Mykhalchyk Hradický, J., and Hronček, P. 2023. Ako nestrieľať naslepo. Bratislava: Ministry of Finance.
Staroňová, K., Lacková, N., and Sloboda, M. 2023. “Post-Crisis Emergency Legislation Consolidation: Regulatory Quality Principles for Good Times Only?” European Journal of Risk Regulation. Pre-print version.
OECD. 2021. Government at Glance. Paris: OECD
To what extent does the government effectively incorporate sustainability assessments within the framework of RIAs?
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High-quality sustainability assessments are incorporated within regulatory impact assessments.
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High-quality sustainability assessments are, for the most part, incorporated within regulatory impact assessments.
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High-quality sustainability assessments are rarely incorporated within regulatory impact assessments.
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Sustainability assessments are not incorporated within regulatory impact assessments.
Slovakia’s national sustainability strategy, which sets national SDG priorities, was adopted in 2016. The government regularly evaluates progress. For example, the “Second Report on Results in Achieving National Priorities of the Agenda 2030” was approved by the government on June 22, 2022, and the “Second Voluntary National Review of the Slovak Republic – VNR” was published in 2021. The main coordinating body for implementing the 2030 Agenda in Slovakia is the Government Council of the Slovak Republic for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, founded in 2017. In addition to these official materials, the Slovak Statistical Office published a comprehensive report in March 2023 about the achievement of selected SDG targets (Fričová, 2023).
The VNR report states (141): “…when it comes to means of implementation, the strategy falls short of aligning the national budget with SDGs, and it also does not address some of the systemic transformations in governance structure which are necessary for more effective implementation of policies.” The report notes, “in several cases, indicators are reminding us of considerable gaps and the need to speed up implementation.” These gaps have been exacerbated by multiple crises, including climate change, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine. “Uneven progress in the past eight years has demonstrated that, in addition to setting ambitious global goals and establishing worldwide monitoring mechanisms, a more intensive international coordination of implementation is also inevitable.”
Systemic sustainability checks are not legally required as part of RIAs. However, the current scope of RIAs encompasses many sustainability elements. In practice, though, sustainability checks are neither prominent nor conducted systematically. The country’s monitoring capacity – the availability of data, information, and statistical abilities – is only partly sufficient to measure progress. The VNR report states: “data continue to be a serious challenge” (140). Čepelová and Douša (2020) also emphasize the lack of a sound system of indicators and deficiencies in systematic monitoring for guiding public policies.
Citations:
Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic. 2022. Druhá správa o dosiahnutých výsledkoch v národných prioritách implementácie Agendy 2030. Bratislava: Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic.
Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic. 2023. Druhá dobrovoľná správa SR pre OSN o implementácii Agendy 2030. Bratislava: Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic.
Fričová, I. 2023. Slovenská republika a ciele udržateľného rozvoja. Bratislava: Slovenský štatistický úrad.
Čepelová, A., and M. Douša. 2020. “Slovakia and the Czech Republic on the Path Towards Sustainable Development.” Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series 47 (47): 7–25. https://doi.org/10.2478/bog-2020-0001
The VNR report states (141): “…when it comes to means of implementation, the strategy falls short of aligning the national budget with SDGs, and it also does not address some of the systemic transformations in governance structure which are necessary for more effective implementation of policies.” The report notes, “in several cases, indicators are reminding us of considerable gaps and the need to speed up implementation.” These gaps have been exacerbated by multiple crises, including climate change, COVID-19, and the war in Ukraine. “Uneven progress in the past eight years has demonstrated that, in addition to setting ambitious global goals and establishing worldwide monitoring mechanisms, a more intensive international coordination of implementation is also inevitable.”
Systemic sustainability checks are not legally required as part of RIAs. However, the current scope of RIAs encompasses many sustainability elements. In practice, though, sustainability checks are neither prominent nor conducted systematically. The country’s monitoring capacity – the availability of data, information, and statistical abilities – is only partly sufficient to measure progress. The VNR report states: “data continue to be a serious challenge” (140). Čepelová and Douša (2020) also emphasize the lack of a sound system of indicators and deficiencies in systematic monitoring for guiding public policies.
Citations:
Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic. 2022. Druhá správa o dosiahnutých výsledkoch v národných prioritách implementácie Agendy 2030. Bratislava: Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic.
Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic. 2023. Druhá dobrovoľná správa SR pre OSN o implementácii Agendy 2030. Bratislava: Ministry of Investment, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic.
Fričová, I. 2023. Slovenská republika a ciele udržateľného rozvoja. Bratislava: Slovenský štatistický úrad.
Čepelová, A., and M. Douša. 2020. “Slovakia and the Czech Republic on the Path Towards Sustainable Development.” Bulletin of Geography. Socio-Economic Series 47 (47): 7–25. https://doi.org/10.2478/bog-2020-0001
To what extent do government ministries utilize ex post evaluations to improve existing policies?
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High-quality ex post evaluations serve as the basis for making adjustments to public policies.
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High-quality ex post evaluations frequently serve as the basis for making adjustments to public policies.
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High-quality ex post evaluations rarely serve as the basis for making adjustments to public policies.
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High-quality ex post evaluations are not utilized to make adjustments to public policies.
Regularly analyzing the effectiveness and efficiency of existing policies through ex post evaluations is not required by law. The Government at a Glance 2019 data ranks Slovakia as one of the least-performing countries in terms of ex post evaluations (OECD, 2019). A specific positive aspect is the work of the Value for Money Unit at the Ministry of Finance. This unit regularly delivers and publishes public spending reviews. Additionally, according to the OECD evaluation (2021), Slovakia has the lowest score in ex post evaluation among EU countries that are also OECD members, ranking second to last behind Turkey.
In practice, ex post evaluations in Slovakia have primarily aimed at reducing the administrative and bureaucratic burden for companies, driven by some measures proposed by the Economy Ministry. Čaplanová (2022) argues that Slovakia has developed a methodology for evaluating the implementation of ex post evaluations, enabling it to move toward making ex post evaluation a regular part of creating the regulatory framework of public policies.
Citations:
OECD. 2019. Government at a Glance. Paris: OECD.
Čaplánová, A. 2022. “A Quality Regulatory Framework Requires Regular Ex Ante and Ex Post Evaluation of the Measures Taken.” https://www.rrz.sk/kvalitny-regulacny-ramec-vyzaduje-pravidelne-ex ante-a-ex-post-hodennienie-prijimanych-opatreni/
https://www.mfsr.sk/en/finance/value-money/about-value-money/
In practice, ex post evaluations in Slovakia have primarily aimed at reducing the administrative and bureaucratic burden for companies, driven by some measures proposed by the Economy Ministry. Čaplanová (2022) argues that Slovakia has developed a methodology for evaluating the implementation of ex post evaluations, enabling it to move toward making ex post evaluation a regular part of creating the regulatory framework of public policies.
Citations:
OECD. 2019. Government at a Glance. Paris: OECD.
Čaplánová, A. 2022. “A Quality Regulatory Framework Requires Regular Ex Ante and Ex Post Evaluation of the Measures Taken.” https://www.rrz.sk/kvalitny-regulacny-ramec-vyzaduje-pravidelne-ex ante-a-ex-post-hodennienie-prijimanych-opatreni/
https://www.mfsr.sk/en/finance/value-money/about-value-money/