Slovenian Government is drafting a bill which would merge eight key regulators into two super-agencies, whose managements would be appointed by the cabinet. The main arguments for the restructuring is debureaucratisation and streamlining.
The draft envisages the formation of an Agency for Market and Consumers, which would absorb the Energy Agency, Agency for Communication Networks and Services, Competition Protection Agency, Traffic Safety Agency, Civil Aviation Agency and Railway Transport Agency.
The new super-agency would regulate the following markets – energy, telecommunications, postal services, media services, and all forms of transport, while also supervising mergers and takeovers and competition and consumer protection.
The government would meanwhile also merge the Securities Market Agency and the Insurance Supervision Agency into a new public agency for financial markets, which would also take over some of the powers the central bank of Slovenia.
The ministry says the main motivation behind the bill is debureaucratisation, synergies and streamlining of processes, while the media note that the proposals encroached upon the agencies’ independence.
The Agency for Market and Consumers would be managed by a seven-member council and a four-member management with a five-year term. Both would be appointed by the Government, the latter on proposal from the council after a public call for applications.
