Eight countries in Central and Eastern Europe adopted nearly 1500 laws, according to the AcTrend report presented by Grayling, a communications and public affairs consulting agency, at a roundtable in Zagreb.
In addition to presenting the results of the AcTrend research and trends that influenced decision-makers, experts from the Grayling consulting agency, led by Richard Jukes, Global President of Grayling, discussed the assessment of the impact of new regulatory and legislative changes on the business sector. It was also highlighted that monitoring legislative processes and public affairs activities can help companies mitigate the risks that come with these changes.
The Grayling AcTrend report analyzed legislative changes that occurred in Croatia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Serbia between January 1 and December 31, 2022. Quantitatively, Romania leads with more than one-third (573) of the total number of laws adopted, followed by Poland with 189 primary legislative acts, Slovakia with 176, and Croatia with 158. On the other hand, Serbia (60) and Hungary (83) are at the bottom.
Compared to figures from 5 to 10 years ago (2013-2017), there was a 14% increase in the number of laws adopted in Central and Eastern European countries in 2022. This can likely be explained by the fact that both the recovery from COVID-19 and the onset of the war in Ukraine motivated lawmakers to adopt a greater number of acts regulating the business environment, as well as the environment in general.
A comparison of the number of laws adopted through urgent procedures shows that 24.9% of the total number of laws were adopted through urgent procedures, and this figure is even higher for acts that have a direct impact on business – 38.95%. The increase in the use of urgent procedures in Croatia can be justified by preparations for the migration to the euro and entry into the Schengen area. The currency change was executed through acts that went through urgent procedures, which represents 53% of the total number of laws adopted in this way.
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On average, 46.5% of laws had a direct impact on business, which is a result similar to pre-pandemic levels. Almost half of the adopted laws that directly affected business related to general business topics (43.85%), followed by the service sectors (13.59%) and finance (10.3%). In Croatia, the situation is somewhat different, with 30% of the total number of adopted laws relating to general business, 24% to services, and 16% to finance.
The centralization of legislative power in the hands of governments is particularly evident in the case of laws affecting business, as all analyzed countries had less than 20% of acts submitted by parliamentary representatives in 2022. In the case of Croatia, Hungary, and Serbia, none of the laws affecting business last year were submitted by parliamentary representatives. Compared to pre-pandemic levels, the number of legislative acts with an impact on business submitted by representatives halved in 2022.
– The AcTrend Report shows an alarming trend towards rule by decree and, practically, the concentration of the right to legislative initiative in the hands of the executive branch. There is a regional tendency for institutions to distance themselves from their classical, traditional attributions. The main explanation is related to the extraordinary context of recent years, which required the adoption of exceptional measures. However, it will be interesting to see how this trend develops in the coming years, and above all, it is important that it does not affect the role of state institutions as envisaged by fundamental laws – said Richard Jukes, Global President of the Grayling consulting agency.
The complete Grayling AcTrend 2022 report, with detailed information on the number of laws adopted in specific countries, sectoral distribution, and other relevant local specifics, can be found here.
