Bulgaria - Reforming the regime of states fees
The Government of Bulgaria requested the World Bank to analyze the legal, institutional and administrative framework for setting state fees and provide recommendations based on good international practice. How big is the problem compared to the many ot...
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| Format: | Pre-2003 Economic or Sector Report |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank
2012
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| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000334955_20101208032635 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/3204 |
| Summary: | The Government of Bulgaria requested the
World Bank to analyze the legal, institutional and
administrative framework for setting state fees and provide
recommendations based on good international practice. How
big is the problem compared to the many other issues the
government wants to reform in order to improve the business
climate in Bulgaria? So far there are no comprehensive
studies of the level of administrative fees in the European
Union (EU) area. Such studies would be of great value to
assess the magnitude of the problem. There are, however,
several arguments in support of reforming the regime of
state fees in Bulgaria now. Firstly, business associations
in Bulgaria agree also confirmed by a recent unpublished
government report - that state fees at the central level
became an uncontrolled area in which authorities apply their
own judgment and interests without considering the impact on
businesses often to the disadvantage of the private sector.
Secondly, if the Government of Bulgaria (GoB) does not curb
the current regime system, then the trend of increasing
state fees will continue or might even gain speed. Again,
this will have a negative impact on the cost of doing
business. Thirdly, a number of identified state fees are so
high that they seriously harm competition by functioning as
a barrier to firm entry. Fourthly, the EU requires Member
States to implement a specific regime for administrative
fees in the services sector by the end of 2009 and Bulgaria
does not comply with that yet. A recent World Bank report
for Bulgaria Investment Climate Assessment (2008) called for
overall reduction of the administrative cost for businesses
because Bulgaria is not competitive in this area compared to
other Central and Eastern European countries. The report
recommended that a strategic policy document is prepared to
embrace the administration practice and provide an
instrument for classification of the tariffs for the central
administration service fees targeting universal reduction of
the administrative cost. It also proposed that a special
methodology for the classification of the tariffs for the
central administrative service fees is developed. The
present report is intended to support reform of the regime
of state fees. |
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