The survey also showed positive trends in the supervision of businesses: the number of inspections with prior information to businesses is increasing, the use of checklists in planned inspections is increasing, and supervisors are providing clearer and more detailed advice to businesses. However, 36% of respondents believe that government inspections are more of a burden than a help to businesses. In 2023, this figure was 27%.
"Reducing administrative and bureaucratic burdens, creating a level playing field for businesses and engaging in dialogue with businesses are among our top priorities. We will look for the best solutions for business to ensure competitiveness and reduce burdens. To this end, we plan to take concrete steps to restore business confidence in the supervisory authorities," said Lukas Savickas, Minister of Economy and Innovation.
According to the survey, the trend in the number of inspections carried out by regulators remains unchanged: last year, 30% of respondents said their companies had been inspected by regulators. Large companies (61%) and those operating for more than 10 years (34%) were more likely to have been inspected by regulators. Enterprises operating for up to one year received 25% of inspections last year, the highest number of inspections of such enterprises over the whole period.
It was noted that the length of on-site inspections increased significantly last year, with 71% of scheduled inspections lasting between 2 and 5 hours, compared to only 29% of scheduled inspections in 2023. For unscheduled inspections, the number of inspections of this duration increased from 23% in 2023 to 86% last year.
The survey also showed a positive trend: in 74% of cases last year, companies were informed in advance of an upcoming inspection, which is 17 percentage points higher than in 2023. This helped companies to prepare: to prepare the necessary documents, to plan resources and the scope of work.
The increased use of checklists in planned inspections is also a positive trend, reaching 90% last year. However, the use of checklists for unplanned inspections fell to 52%. Last year more companies used checklists to prepare for an inspection - 43%. This is an increase of 7 percentage points compared to 2023.
The quality of advice has also improved: last year 82% of businesses received clear and detailed answers to their questions, and 92% of the time the advice was correct and not misleading. The number of new businesses seeking advice has increased (from 44% in 2022 to 57% in 2024).
The study showed that it is crucial to pay even more attention to education, methodological support and targeted advice for 'newcomers'. Increasing the availability and improving the quality of telephone counselling remains an important issue.
