Development of a tool for prospective and accompanying legislative impact assessment

In the Protestant Church in the Rhineland (EKiR), the Synod is responsible for enacting legislation and overseeing the church budget. In recent years, the Synod has initiated a number of reform projects that have resulted in significant changes to the existing framework. In its reforms, it is of paramount importance to the EKiR that the implementation of the planned regulations and measures does not place an undue burden on the congregations. For this reason, the Regional Church Office, which is responsible for the development and elaboration of regulatory projects within the EKiR, needs a tool with which the consequences of regulatory projects can be systematically recorded and assessed. This should make it easier to identify potential implementation problems at an early stage so that they can be taken into account in the legislative process. In order to meet this need, the EKiR has commissioned the National Institute for Public Administration Germany to develop a bespoke tool for prospective and accompanying legislative impact assessments that is specifically tailored to ecclesiastical legislation.