Regulatory reform in Turkey: Government capacity to assure high quality regulation

The report analyses the institutional set-up as well as the use of policy instruments in Turkey, and includes the country-specific policy recommendations developed by the OECD during the review process.

The drive towards European Union membership, together with successive economic crises, has led to the emergence of a comprehensive regulatory reform agenda in Turkey. Substantial economic reforms were launched in 2000 and in the first part of 2001. It is still too early to assess the impact and implementation of these reforms, which aim at restructuring the ineffectively managed, outdated and incoherent regulatory institutions and practices, whose operation is further worsened by wide-spread non-compliance and in some cases, corruption.

The report suggests an integrated set of short and medium-term actions to improve the Turkish Government's ability to assure high-quality regulation. A recommendation is put forward to build a regulatory management system by adopting, at the highest political level, a broad policy on regulatory reform that establishes clear objectives, accountability and a framework for the implementation of regulation.

In addition, the report recommends certain steps to be followed in the creation of new legislation, including impact assessments and the adoption of more transparent procedures. In order to keep existing regulation up-to-date, the authors would reduce the administrative burden by establishing a central registry of administrative procedures and business licenses and by initiating a comprehensive review of existing regulations. Particular attention should also be directed towards compliance and enforcement of legislation, which is among the most important challenges to Turkey's regulatory management system.

The implementation of the reforms is likely to be complicated as well as time-consuming as they involve administrative practices as well as cultural habits. Moreover, the authors think that the attitude of the public will also be an important factor in determining the scope and pace of further reform. Turkey has, however, demonstrated throughout its history a strong determination to realise difficult reforms, including those that have led to the construction of a modern secular state.