The Concept of «Smart Regulation» as a Methodological Basis for Improving State Regulatory Policy in the Sphere of Economic Activity of Ukraine

Abstract

The article clarifies the content of the concept of "smart regulation" as a methodological basis for improving state regulatory policy in the field of economic activity and specifies a set of appropriate measures for its application when making management decisions in modern conditions of Ukraine. It is argued that the concept of "smart regulation" is the result of a certain evolution, an update of the theoretical approaches of "less regulation" ("less regulation", "deregulation") and "better regulation". The set of methods and tools of regulatory activity according to all the above-mentioned approaches is similar, however, the emphasis in their application changes somewhat. Thus, if the concept of deregulation (less regulation) is more related to the quantitative side of ensuring the regulatory influence of the state on public life on the basis of reducing the number of regulations, then the following ideas of better and "smart regulation" more reflect the qualitative characteristics of the relevant public management activity. The first of them concerns both the optimization of feedback in the regulatory process (for example, the development of self-regulation, co-regulation), and its further simplification and acceleration. In turn, "smart regulation" involves not so much clarifying the optimal volume of regulation, but shifting attention from the process to the result, achieving the latter in the least burdensome way. In other words, the evolution of such approaches reflects the transition from formal aspects of regulation to the substantive characteristics of the relevant activities and, accordingly, to a rational scenario for their distribution. From these positions, the most promising directions for improving the state's regulatory policy in modern conditions of Ukraine are specified. These include, in particular, strengthening the institutional capacity of the State Regulatory Service of Ukraine, increasing the level of digitalization of its activities by modernizing the relevant information and communication system, ensuring an adequate level of information protection and responding to cyber threats.