Think small first!

The involvement of business in the decision-making process on topics directly affecting it is a condition for the creation of evidence-based policies, that achieve their goals, while respecting the principles of necessity and proportionality of burdens imposed on business and thus forming an optimal regulatory environment for the development of entrepreneurship and increased economic growth. The specific focus of the project is on small and medium-sized enterprises, which play a key role not only in the Bulgarian but also in the European economy, representing over 95% of all enterprises. The European Commission is therefore committed to supporting their development, in particular through the Small Business Act, with its ‘Think Small First!’ principle and by minimizing the regulatory burden on them. This principle aims to improve the overall policy approach to entrepreneurship by becoming an integral part of the decision-making process and to promote the growth of SMEs by helping them solve the problems that hinder their development. In 2016, regulatory reform was launched in Bulgaria, related to the introduction of mandatory impact assessment and mandatory public consultations on draft legislation, but there is no clarity as to how much business and in particular SMEs actually have the opportunity to participate and influence in these new processes of decision-making. The project will examine whether and how good practices for including the business in these processes are reflected at national level, assess the effects of implementing legal changes and propose a new mechanism for administrations to proactively engage businesses, in particular SMEs, in processes of formulating, implementing, monitoring and evaluating policies.

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