"Reducing bureaucracy and administrative burdens is one of the key priorities of the Ministry's START plan for the transformation of the Lithuanian economy. In the amendments to the Law on Public Administration submitted to the Seimas, we are proposing to introduce the principle of one-stop shopping. This would mean that an institution could request additional information only once and extend the deadline for a decision," said Lukas Savickas, Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
Under the current regulation, additional documents and information can only be requested from the applicant in exceptional cases and with a proper justification of the need for such documents and information.
However, there are currently many complaints that public authorities request additional documents or information several times, each time indicating new missing documents or information. This delays the processing of the request or complaint and causes losses to economic operators.
Under the proposals, if a public authority does not have sufficient information to examine a submitted application or complaint, it may only contact the applicant once to request additional documents and information, specifying all the deficiencies in the application or complaint.
In order to identify problem areas where requests are not dealt with properly and in a timely manner, it is necessary for the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation to monitor the quantitative indicators of the provision of administrative services. It is therefore proposed that the institutions should be obliged to provide the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation with data on the administrative services provided (e.g. number of applications received, time limits for processing, failure to meet time limits and extensions of time limits) and that the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation should make this data publicly available.
Currently, businesses often complain that administrative services are not provided within the deadlines. In addition, extensions are granted and the authorities providing the services require documents or information that can be obtained from other authorities, registers or information systems.
This change would bring together data on all administrative services in one place, improving transparency, efficiency and business planning, and would allow the authorities to identify the most problematic points and areas where urgent changes are needed.
The amendments to the Law on Public Administration were submitted to the Seimas in the light of concerns raised by the business community and a survey conducted by the Ministry, which showed that the business community's trust in the supervisory authorities is declining. The share of those who have a positive opinion of the supervisory authorities has decreased over the last five years, from 82% in 2020 to 51% last year.
