New government to introduce a regulator to supervise regulators

Among the agreements drawn up by the incoming coalition government, a new powerful body will be created as part of the Economic Arrangements Act with far-reaching regulatory powers to alter new and existing regulations. However, the new body could cause friction between Prime Minister-designate Naftali Bennett and designated Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman because it is unclear which of these two ministers will control the new regulatory czar. Bennett introduced the idea as one of the main policy axes of Yamina’s election manifesto and wanted MK Abir Kara to serve as deputy minister to oversee the new position. But this was not mentioned in coalition agreements. However, in the coalition agreement between Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid party and Yisrael Beitenu headed by Avigdor Lieberman, it was agreed that Lieberman would chair the Ministerial Committee for Regulatory Affairs and that as part of the upcoming Economic Arrangements Law, there would be a comprehensive plan to reduce the regulatory burden through an “authorized platform” operational”, whose powers will be established in a special law. In the agreement with Yisrael Beiteinu, it was reported that the Knesset would again form a reform committee, headed by a member of the Knesset in Yisrael Beitenu, with the aim of primarily promoting the issue of infrastructure. The agreement also stipulates that Lieberman will have another MK as a Finance Ministry minister in addition to control of the Knesset’s main finance committee, giving the party a monopoly on budgetary matters and Knesset reforms. The new regulatory authority will have broad powers to intervene not only in the new regulations but also in the existing ones, or at least as stipulated in the coalition agreement between Yesh Atid and Yisrael Beiteinu. The structure of the new authority will be similar to that of the Electricity Authority, which includes civil servants and public representatives in a supervisory board for the Israel Electric Corporation. But it remains unclear which government department, this powerful new regulator of regulators, will be suspended. Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – June 8, 2021 © Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021