The Hidden Costs of Regulatory “Spring Cleaning”: Are We Solving Bureaucratic Bloat or Making It Worse?

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    Modern democracies are drowning in rules. From environmental protections to labor laws, governments keep layering regulations to address societal challenges—a relentless process scholars call “policy accumulation.” The result? Overburdened public administrations struggling to implement policies effectively. Imagine a city council so bogged down by zoning codes that approving a new playground takes years. Or an environmental agency so swamped by reporting requirements it can’t prioritize fighting pollution. This isn’t dystopian fiction—it’s today’s reality.

    To tackle this, many OECD countries have adopted Regulatory Offsetting Schemes (ROSs). The idea sounds simple: for every new rule introduced, an old one must go. Think of it as bureaucratic spring cleaning. Germany’s “one-in, one-out” law, and France’s stricter “one-in, two-out” mandate are prime examples. But here’s the catch: while ROSs promise to declutter the regulatory landscape, their long-term impacts remain murky—and potentially counterproductive.

The Illusion of Simplicity

  1. Burden Aggregation: Strict ROSs often centralize implementation tasks within a single agency. Picture a ministry juggling 20 new policies while scrapping 20 old ones. Overwhelmed staff may cherry-pick high-profile tasks (say, climate targets) while neglecting less visible ones (like workplace safety inspections). Efficiency? Or a recipe for policy triage?
  2. Coordination Chaos: When ROSs distribute tasks across multiple agencies (“burden sharing”), the result is often a maze of interdepartmental meetings and conflicting priorities. Spain’s flexible ROSs, for instance, aim to balance rule reduction with adaptability. But without clear leadership, coordination costs soar.
  3. The Outsourcing Trap: Some countries, like the Netherlands, outsource regulatory tasks to private firms. While this cuts immediate workload, it risks accountability gaps. Private contractors might prioritize profit over public good—imagine a privatized health inspectorate skipping food safety checks to save costs.

Short-Term Fixes, Long-Term Problems

    Proponents argue ROSs reduce red tape. Yet early evidence suggests they might increase complexity. When Denmark phased out its ROSs, officials noted that rigid “offsetting” led to compensatory loopholes—new rules became longer and vaguer to bypass removal requirements. Similarly, Norway’s alignment with EU frameworks shows that even well-intentioned ROSs can clash with supranational mandates, creating regulatory whiplash.
    Environmental and social policies suffer the most. These sectors rely on nuanced, evolving regulations. A “one-in, one-out” approach might scrap an outdated water quality rule to make room for a carbon tax—but what if both are needed? ROSs risk pitting critical policies against each other in a zero-sum game.

The Formality Trap

    Formalization—how legally binding ROSs are—also cuts both ways. Germany’s codified ROSs ensure accountability but stifle flexibility. Meanwhile, Spain’s softer approach allows adaptability but invites political meddling. There’s no one-size-fits-all, yet governments cling to rigid frameworks.

A Path Forward?

    To sustain public administration, ROSs must evolve. Policymakers should:
  1. Tailor ROSs to policy sectors (e.g., exempt climate laws from offsetting).
  2. Invest in bureaucratic capacity—more staff, better training—to handle workload surges.
  3. Monitor outsourcing closely to prevent accountability erosion.
    Regulatory spring cleaning isn’t inherently bad. But without nuance, we risk trading bureaucratic bloat for policy brittleness. The goal shouldn’t be fewer rules—it should be smarter governance. Let’s stop pretending administrative overload can be fixed with arithmetic. Real solutions demand humility, flexibility, and a willingness to listen to frontline bureaucrats drowning in the rules we create.
Thoughts inspired by the research interest of the "Sustaining Public Administration in Modern Democracies"  (SUPA) Project. Learn more about the project and regulatory offsetting and policy accumulation at https://prosjektbanken.no/en/project/EU/101177315?Kilde=EU&distribution=Ar&chart=bar&calcType=funding&Sprak=no&sortBy=date&sortOrder=desc&resultCount=30&offset=0&source=EU&projectId=212345

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