Project "THINK SMALL FIRST!"

 On 4 January 2019, the Institute for SME Policies in partnership with the Institute for the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Centre for Legislative Impact Assessment launched the implementation of the project "Think Small First!", funded under administrative contract for the provision of grant funding No. BG05SFOP001-2.009-0153-C01/04.01.2019, under the Operational Programme "Good Governance", co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund. The value of the project is BGN 89,964, of which 85% is from the European Social Fund and 15% is national co-financing. The duration of the project is 12 months.

The main objectives of the project are:

1. 1. to study the extent to which business, and in particular small and medium-sized enterprises, are involved in the processes of formulating, implementing and monitoring policies and legislation, and to identify the problems and deficits that accompany this involvement and cause it to be insufficient and ineffective;
2. 2. to propose mechanisms encouraging the administration to involve business, and in particular SMEs, actively in these processes as an approach guaranteeing higher quality, legitimacy and effectiveness of their results;
3. 3. to stimulate and increase the activity of business, in particular SMEs, in the formulation, implementation and monitoring of policies and legislation;
4. 4. to promote interaction between the administration, on the one hand, and business, in particular SMEs, on the other, in policy and regulatory decision-making;
5. 5. to propose specific practical solutions aimed at achieving higher quality of public policies and creating a better regulatory environment for business, in particular for SMEs.

The target groups of the project are the administration, business (in particular SMEs), non-governmental organisations and the public as a whole.

Project activities completed to date:

Activity 1. Benchmark analysis for assessing the engagement of SMEs in the decision-making process;

Activity 2. Sociological survey "Interaction between the administration, business and NGOs in the decision-making process";

Activity 3. Guidelines for the proactive engagement of business in the decision-making process;

Activity 4. Pilot public consultations;

Activity 5. Round table with representatives of the administration to validate the proposals under the project.

The results of the project are aimed entirely at optimising the work process of the administration (first, by identifying its main weaknesses and then by proposing specific measures to overcome them) and at facilitating to the greatest possible extent its interaction with business, in particular SMEs. The project aims to create a lasting and sustainable, institutionalised "pathway" for taking into account the opinion of business, in particular SMEs, every time decisions affecting their interests are about to be taken. Only in this way could optimal conditions be created for establishing, maintaining and developing a regulatory environment that is favourable to business and encourages economic growth.

The project "Think Small First!", funded by the Operational Programme "Good Governance", co-financed by the European Union through the European Social Fund

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