(HARA
Eiji, PPPC President)
With
regard to the National Strategic Special Zones, meetings of the “Regional Committee”
were held consecutively in the “Kansai” and “Fukuoka” zones last week
(September 24, 25).
Those
who attended the meetings include the new minister-in-charge Shigeru Ishiba, along
with the relevant governors and mayors, and the author myself as a member of
the NSSZ working group. Through the meetings, it was strongly recognized that
the framework of the regional committee itself must be enhanced.
The
regional committee was created as quasi-independent mini-government in the
Zones composed of the central government (minister), local government
(mayor/governor) and private sector. The committees were launched one after the
other after selection of the six zones in spring, and entered full-dress
discussions since this June. Still, it seems that the committees haven’t
functioned in their full capacity yet.
Especially
in the Kansai zone, it was sometimes observed that representatives of the
central government, local governments and private sector haven’t shared their
views on the topics adequately and discussions fell as far apart.
As
it was discussed in the meetings, in order to make the committees function
fully as an independent mini-government, it requires a firm, full-time
secretariat; no way that they gather once a month to hold meetings (it doesn’t
mean to establish a new bureaucratic organ but to create a common secretariat
by attracting personnel from the central or relevant local government).
On
a related note, it was widely reported that the Osaka City assembly rejected
proposal of NSSZ-related ordinance and suspended its project (to utilize
housing apartment to hotel businesses by allowing exceptions of the Hotel
Business Act).
On
this project, while it was proposed that the minimum days of staying (7-10days)
of target exceptional measures would be arranged by the ordinance, it was
questioned from the view of neighboring residents in the discussion process and
led to rejection of the ordinance. As the result, the NSSZ-relevant project itself
was suspended.
Set
aside the political situation of Osaka City that any proposals by the mayor
besides the NSSZ-related ordinance face difficulties passing the assembly, the
issue relates with the essential nature of the NSSZ design.
The
NSSZ is designed as a framework to implement regulatory reform measures experimentally
in the local boundary, and the reform measures are to be provided in the NSSZ
Act as reform menu; and in each zones the central government, local government
and private sector implement the reforms altogether.
The
incident in Osaka means that a local government denied the regulatory reform
menu discussed and approved in the national Diet. However, such a situation
that assemblies of the central and local governments respectively discusses the
regulatory reform menus one after another may contradict with the goal of the
NSSZ to implement regulatory reform experiments in a speedy manner.
While
enhancing the framework of the regional committee, roles of the national Diet,
local government and regional committees need to be further clarified in line
with the purpose and aim of the NSSZ.
In
the autumn’s extraordinary Diet session, it is scheduled that a revised NSSZ
Act will be submitted to arrange the additional regulatory-reform menu (foreign
worker’s visa, privately-managed public schools, etc., which were entailed in
the revised growth strategy in June). Meanwhile, the NSSZ faces the challenge
of enhancing the framework of the regional committees to realize effective
regulatory reforms.
No comments:
Post a Comment