PEN & Group has considerable experience on public policy issues both
from within government and outside it. We help our clients make
complex decisions on public policy choices considering comparative
and local perspectives and based on informed policy knowledge from
the juncture of legislative, political and commercial viewpoints.
Our public policy team designs strategies to enhance the performance
of public institutions and analyze the extent to which public
institutions implement good-governance practices. PEN also assists
in negotiations between public, private and civil society sectors to
foster longer-term reform processes that are both sustainable and
aim to retain public confidence. Our policy suggestions not only
articulate alternatives to current polices based on informed
evidence but also seek to align sectoral policies, national policy
needs and political imperatives. PEN also seeks deep understanding
of and always pays heed to constituency expectations so as to define
economic priorities, ensure responsiveness of decision-makers to
their constituencies and guarantee that achieving desired results
remain at the heart of any policy decision.
In this area we concentrate on the following issues:
a) Institution-building from a policy,
political and structural perspective at the local and central
levels;
b) Policy analysis on
government accountability, rule of law and parliamentary democracy
in Kosovo;
c) Rule-of-law reforms in
Kosovo and the Western Balkans region from an EU conditionality
perspective; PUBLIC POLICY AND LEGISLATION
d)
Functional and performance reforms of the justice system with an
emphasis on backlog reduction, better case management and more
rigorous human-rights compliance;
e)
Access to justice, independence of the judiciary and prosecution,
protection of fundamental rights, with an emphasis on the right to
property, and law-enforcement performance;
f)
Standards relating to transparent and informed lawmaking in the
parliament, and parliamentary oversight over executive institutions;
g) Public administration reform in
the view of SIGMA and OECD standards, with emphasis on better policy
coordination, merit-based civil service recruitment and more
accountable performance;
h) Market
regulation in the fields of competition law, energy, trade barriers
and public finance management
Our services in this field include:
a)
Strategic policy planning for reforms in each of these areas;
b) Policy assessments on impact,
effectiveness and process;
c)
Analysis of legislative compliance with international standards;
d) Advice on compliance with
regulation, and program designations to make regulation more
effective;
e) Drafting of
legislative and sub-legislative instruments;
f)
Legal harmonization of legislation with international material and
procedural standards;
g)
Broad-ranging implementation services on programs and projects
falling in each of these areas
PEN & Group has significant knowledge and experience in
understanding market rules and managing businesses. Our economic
consultants are highly regarded professionals in the field, with
expertise in the labor market, trade policy, industrial policy, the
business environment and foreign direct investment policy. We assist
public institutions, donors and the business community by providing
assessments on commercial matters, company management and corporate
relations within and outside Kosovo. We also help companies make
connections with foreign trade partners, seek new markets,
standardize their products and establish safe legal investments in
and outside Kosovo. We recognize the importance of a consistent
government policy on growth and development as a precursor to
fostering business, foreign direct investment and a new class of
entrepreneurs in a functioning market economy. We also understand
Kosovo’s lack of institutional capacity to engage with a dynamic
trade policy that supports competitive internal product
standardization and helps local companies find external markets for
their products. PEN works to further support Kosovo’s trade policy
by enhancing domestic capacities for product quality control, cost
reduction, access to foreign markets and labour force enhancement to
compete at the regional level.
In this area we concentrate on the following issues:
a) Trade policy and use of
international free trade agreements for the benefit of domestic and
foreign firms;
b) Trade barriers and
use of bilateral and multilateral free-trade clauses to support
better trade balance for Kosovo, with a view towards export
expansion and diversification strategies; MARKET OPERATION AND
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
c) Development
of aggressive export strategies by better controlling product
quality;
d) Freedom of establishment
and company law in the context of the Stabilisation and Association
Agreement (SAA);
e) Business
management strategies for developing new products and accessing
international markets;
f)
Strengthening the competitiveness of Small and Medium-Sized
Enterprises for foreign markets;
g)
Market regulation in the field of competition, energy, mining and
standardization;
h) Regulation of
services in the view of SAA and WTO rules;
i)
Tax law for corporate, VAT and incomes;
Our services in this field include:
a) Expert advice regarding trade
policy issues in Kosovo, and use of Kosovo’s FTAs for the free
movement of capital;
b)
Expert advice in drafting and applying regulation in the field of
competition, tax, energy and product standardization for exports;
c) Strategic advice on companies’
ownership structure, corporate governance and regulatory compliance;
d) Assistance in accessing foreign
courts and tribunals for executing international commercial
contracts on goods and services;
e)
Expert advice on cross border taxation and non-tariff barriers;
f) Assistance on making foreign
direct investment decisions for Kosovo’s market and the region
considering market valuation, industrial comparative advantages and
competitive pressures;
PEN & Group places a high priority on public financial management.
We provide expert advice in designing reforms and implementing
services to strengthen public administration, streamlining the
public expenditures policy and compelling market-assisting fiscal
policies that ensure the public sector’s reliability. Our strategic
advice for the government and donors on public financial management
covers issues such as capacity building assistance, improving
regulatory standards, strengthening fiscal discipline and breaking
up the illicit economy. PEN recognizes the current trend of
overstretched public finances, increased competition on
international trade, weak public revenue controls and overreliance
on public expenditures. The latter is leading towards austerity
measures across key sectors, such as education, infrastructure
investments, living standards and environmental protection.
Maintaining and building these sectors should be the priority of any
government. PEN advises on how to make public finances system more
accountable, transparent and better address pressures on the public
purse. We also take note of better parliamentary oversight over
public finances and the importance of communication to the public on
the public sector’s performance so as increase transparency and
ensure identifiable and measurable political responsibility for
government policies.
In this area we concentrate on the following issues:
a) public administration reform in
public sector salaries and better expenditure planning;
b)
public financial management reform both in annual budget term and
mid-term financial planning framework;
c)
fiscal policy and incentives for more local consumption and
production;
d) decentralization of
tax payment units and introduction of more efficient administrative
tax collection systems;
e)
multi-annual expenditure policy instruments like medium-term
expenditure budgetary frameworks, tax programs at the local and
central level, and tax transformation programs with a view on the
Stabilisation and Association Agreement;
f)
public financial accountability assessments;
g)
general macroeconomic policy with special emphasis on incentive
packages for foreign investment, human capital and productivity;
h) strengthening statistics and
data-gathering as precursors to better policy planning and quality
control;
i) applied research to
measure the impact and verify expected results;
Our services in this field include:
a) Expert advice on better broad
government strategic planning and sectoral strategic planning for
sectors such as education, infrastructure, fiscal policy and public
administration;
b) Expert
assessments on public administration reform both broadly and at the
sector level;
c) Impact assessments
on fiscal policy reforms and incentive packages;
d)
strategic advice for better budgetary planning and medium-term
financial planning frameworks;
e)
Introduction of more demanding revenue schemes that are aligned with
policy priorities and identify areas where costs can be reduced
without sacrificing service quality;
f)
Technical assistance on better public financial transparency and
fighting corruption;
g) Advice on
economic and financial management of publicly-owned and
socially-owned enterprises;
h)
Provision of analysis of public sector performance and productivity;
i) Expert advice on better human
resources planning and continuing education for civil servants;
j) Introduction and management of
quality control systems;
k) Support
to organizational reforms and policy processes;
