Regulation in Malta is currently trending. This tends to happen for a short while whenever there is a public outcry around some glaring policy failure which invariably boils down to a weakness in the regulatory system.
Twenty years ago, as part of Malta’s accession process to the European Union, the screening exercise found our regulatory infrastructure to be woefully inadequate, with glaring gaps. A frenetic exercise of rapid institution and capacity building was embarked upon and within a few years several regulatory authorities were born.
Deprived of a gradual building of experience over a span of decades, these authorities found themselves having to implement complex EU acquis with an over-stretched and hastily-trained workforce.
To add insult to injury, in certain instances they were having to implement a series of rules in areas that had been previously virtually unregulated. And of course, some mistakes were made – due to inexperience, over zealousness, new-found power of regulators – such that regulation locally started to get a poor reputation.
These events coincided with the international wave of unbridled neo-liberal approaches set on shrinking government and putting the ‘nanny state’ firmly away once and for all. Increasingly across the developed world, regulation came to be viewed as an unpopular barrier to the pursuit of the holy grail of economic growth.
Internationally, this anti-regulation movement was abetted by a climate of global financial and economic recession coupled with an insidious form of growing populism. Regulation became a ‘nasty’ word. Any alternative policy solution became preferable, with regulation being the option of last resort.
Increasingly experts and bureaucrats were faced with higher hurdles to jump over in order to persuade political authorities that on the basis of accumulating scientific evidence, the public interest would be best protected through well thought-out regulation.
In public health, the time honoured ‘precautionary’ principle became increasingly subservient to the ‘innovation’ principle.
Returning to the domestic scene, negative experiences of draconian regulation foisted upon our small state in a one-size fits-all approach by Brussels bureaucrats also served to raise a certain anti-regulation sentiment.
While there were instances where this over-regulation did occur, backlash inevitably leads the pendulum to swing to the other extreme.
Fast forward to today and increasingly the situation in Europe, somewhat mirrored by Malta, is one where the philosophy and objectives of regulation as a policy tool to protect the public and to protect law-abiding economic operators has been somewhat lost.
It is time to publicly appreciate that successful regulation is key to delivering public protection and sustainable economic growth
Carefully-crafted legislation which seeks to create a level playing field and a transparent environment actually brings benefits both for the economy by attracting serious foreign investment and society.
Legislation alone however is not enough. Regulatory authorities need to be given the space and resources to function effectively. There needs to be investment to train, attract and retain a highly specialised workforce that can deal with regulatory complexity and foster innovation all the while upholding public service values and ethos.
We need our best and brightest youngsters to positively consider a career in regulation.
For this to happen, we need signals and messages that impart a proper understanding of the role of regulation together with language and actions that demonstrate a respect for our institutions. But this respect also needs to be earned and merited by the institutions themselves.
Perhaps as part of the scrutiny being undertaken around checks and balances of institutional power and proposals for constitutional reform, we need to take a closer look at our regulatory fabric, identify successes and failures and seek to uphold a solid reputation for all regulation activities.
It is time to publicly appreciate that successful regulation is key to delivering public protection and sustainable economic growth.
Dr Natasha Azzopardi Muscat is president, European Public Health Association and a former Chief Medical Officer.