Compensation of administrative burdens.One in - One out

Application of the principle of compensation of administrative burdens in Spain.

An efficient regulatory framework and an ambitious reduction in unnecessary administrative burdens in a country are important to strengthen the competitiveness and innovative capacity of the economy, and to increase the positive assessment of citizens and companies towards administrations. The adoption of some rules for the limitation of administrative burdens aims to establish a discipline for regulators that guides them to choose more efficient and effective options.

The load-limiting approaches that are being implemented in the different states of our environment (EU and OECD mainly) are based on the rule “One in – X out», which consists in offsetting the burdens arising from new regulations by reducing existing ones.

The UK was the first OECD country to formalise this compensation approach as an official government policy in 2011 with the introduction of the one in – one out. Subsequently, other countries such as Canada, Spain, Germany, France, Australia or Korea have continued to implement these measures.

The various countries use various compensation approaches, such as elimination of existing rules, reduction of burdens, proportion of entry/elimination, restriction or non-restriction of matters/circumstances that are not subject to compensation, etc.

In the specific case of Spain, the principle of compensation of charges is applied by means of the one in - one out rule, elevated to the legal rank by means of article 37 of the Spanish Constitution. Law 14/2013, of 27 September, of Support for Entrepreneurs and their Internationalization. This article provides that:

‘Public administrations which, in the exercise of their respective powers, create new administrative burdens for companies, shall eliminate at least one existing burden of equivalent cost.’

The rule One in- One out It states that each increase in loads must be accompanied by the elimination of an existing one. The aim is that there will not be any net increase.

The compensation of administrative burdens generated as a result of the rules published by the Ministries can be balanced with the reduction that they entail, both other published rules that reduce administrative burdens, and the savings measures for citizens and companies included in the Plan of Simplification and Reduction of Burdens that is prepared annually by each Ministry.

Monitoring of the application of the principle of compensation of administrative burdens within the General State Administration

On an annual basis, the General Directorate of Public Governance produces a report on the reduction or increase of administrative burdens at the level of each Ministerial Department. This report indicates the regulations published by each Ministry during the year and that affect companies. It also analyzes the effect on loads of each standard and its overall calculation to verify that there has not been a net increase.