Latvia’s National Alliance (NA) has proposed creating a new Ministry of the Economy by merging the Ministry of Climate and Energy, the Ministry of Smart Administration and Regional Development, and the Ministry of Economics. According to the party, bringing economic, energy and regional development policymaking under one institution would enable faster and better-coordinated decision-making.
“There is a shared understanding within the governing coalition that the current ministerial structure should be reviewed and that ministerial functions can be organised more efficiently. The National Alliance calls for a more compact, results-oriented public administration. We propose establishing a strong Ministry of the Economy that would combine responsibility for economic policy, energy and regional development. This would allow resources to be used more efficiently, eliminate overlapping responsibilities between ministries and speed up decision-making. It would also send a clear signal to businesses and society that the public administration is capable of reform,” said Climate and Energy Minister Jānis Vitenbergs (National Alliance).
According to the National Alliance, the reform would bring a number of benefits. Within a single ministry, document processing would become faster and coordination between different policy areas would improve.
The reform would also strengthen the link between economic development and regional policy while making environmental and natural resource governance more efficient. European Union and climate funding intended for economic development could be managed more effectively by reducing overlapping functions and administrative barriers. In addition,
energy and energy efficiency policies would be consolidated under one ministry, enabling more efficient use of resources
and accelerating the implementation of building energy efficiency projects, the party said.
Vitenbergs noted that the Ministry of Climate and Energy, which he heads, was created to accomplish specific time-limited objectives, including strengthening Latvia’s energy security, completing the country’s disconnection from Russia’s energy system, and establishing a regulatory framework for renewable energy development.
“These tasks must continue, but that does not mean they require a separate ministry in the long term. In our view, the time has come to take a broader look at the structure of public administration. Energy policy should be closely linked with economic development, business competitiveness and regional development. If the government is reviewing public spending, this is the right moment to assess the structure of ministries as well and build a more compact and efficient public administration,” Vitenbergs said.
The National Alliance has submitted the proposal for discussion at the next coalition cooperation meeting. The party proposes instructing the State Chancellery to prepare, by the 29th of September, the most suitable model for merging the ministries’ functions.
The assessment should include a proposed organisational structure for the new Ministry of the Economy, including arrangements for subordinate institutions and state-owned enterprises. The State Chancellery would also be tasked with calculating potential savings from consolidating similar functions and proposing the most appropriate office accommodation for the new ministry.
The National Alliance argues that Latvia’s public administration should become more compact, more efficient and more focused on supporting economic growth. In the party’s view, establishing a Ministry of the Economy would be an important step towards achieving that goal.
Read also: The coming months will be crucial for Baltic security, Rinkēvičs warns
The post Proposal in Latvia to merge three ministries into a single Ministry of the Economy appeared first on Baltic News Network.
