It was during a May 27 ceremony in Paris that Slovenia’s newly gained membership of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was formally celebrated. Note the word “celebrated” – the ceremony did not confirm membership. Nor did the signing of the accession treaty in Ljubljana on 1 June. Formally speaking, the country will only be a member once this treaty has been ratified and once the OECD has adopted a relevant resolution to extend membership.
It may sound like a very lengthy confirmation procedure. But compare it to the process Slovenia went through to gain membership in the first place and it looks positively speedy. The country first applied to join the OECD in 1996. The accession process alone has taken almost three years. In that period, Slovenia’s readiness for membership was scrutinised by 18 OECD committees and almost 160 legislative changes had to be made to ensure compliance with membership requirements. A quarrel over one of the last of these – changes to the ownership of assets held by the state-run Pension Management Fund and Restitution Fund – almost saw the eleven year process scuppered at the eleventh hour.
Sigh of relief for a tough sell
So Slovenia’s leaders might be forgiven for breathing a sigh of relief when the ratified membership treaty is finally deposited with the French government. It will mark the end not only of the application process but also of an enormous and time consuming political effort – from both Slovenia’s current leaders and from their predecessors. If there is one issue which has united Slovenia’s politicians over the past decade, it is the value of OECD membership. They have been backed up by some of the country’s most prominent economists. Indeed, Bogomor Kovač of the Ljubljana Faculty of Economics has declared OECD membership will outweigh the benefits of the country’s membership of NATO.
NATO, which Slovenia joined in 2004, was an easy sell. Most citizens immediately understood what the organisation was and how the country would benefit from membership. In contrast, it has been a challenge to communicating the nature and value of OECD. Just what, many have asked, does the OECD do?
The answer to the question depends on who you ask. It’s a point acknowledged by the organisation itself, which has said it’s regarded by some as a think tank, by others as a monitoring agency and by others still as an unacademic university. Its own description of its work does not entirely clear the issue up – it declares itself to be “an international organisation helping governments tackle the economic, social and governance challenges of a globalised economy.”
What have you done for me lately?
Arguably the simplest way to describe the organisation is as a club of industrialised nations. Through the OECD, these countries come together to discuss public policy and share ideas. The discussion is often guided by the vast quantity of statistics the organisation produces, on everything from education to uptake of information technology. From discussion and analysis, recommendations are made on the best courses of action in specific policy areas. Some ultimately become legally binding.
Essentially, Slovenia’s membership of the OECD will give the country’s leaders instant access to a massive pool of information and knowledge. The organisation is able to offer guidance on how to reach the highest standards in business, finance and corporate governance as well as in broader areas such as the social sector and environment. And it is rigorous guidance, based on the knowledge the organisation has accumulated in the half century it has existed.
Slovenia has already adopted much of this guidance to gain membership. But it is a process that will be ongoing. While OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria says the country’s accession process has “delivered real policy changes and reform” – specifically efforts to combat corruption, protect intellectual property rights and ensure high standards of corporate governance – he adds that “the transformational process continues.”
A prestigious group
In the meantime, Slovenia’s leaders hope membership of the OECD will serve as another sign the country has arrived on the world stage. After all, the OECD is a prestigious club. It is estimated that Slovenia will pay at least EUR 2.4m a year to be a member. And as the country’s long battle to gain membership has proved, they don’t just let anyone in.
Some argue that is precisely the problem. Over the years the organisation has built up a reputation as a “rich man’s club” centred solely on the traditional, high-GDP economic powerhouses of Europe. Admitting former Communist countries such as Slovenia – and farer-flung nations such as Mexico, Chile and South Korea – has gone some way to combating this image. But many are urging the organisation to make more determined efforts to include newer power economies and to look at measures of success beyond GDP. Doubts also linger over the OECD’s effectiveness in the current world climate. ZSSS, Slovenia’s largest association of trade unions, has for instance questioned why the organisation failed to promote fiscal transparency in Greece.
The club defender
Its proponents dismiss suggestions that the OECD is no longer relevant or that it is out of touch. According to Michelle Bachelet, President of Chile – another country which has recently become a member – the organisation should not be referred to as a club of rich countries but instead as “a club of countries that promote and foster best practices.”
It is a sentiment echoed by OECD Secretary General Guirra who argues that Slovenia’s membership, as well as the simultaneous accession of Estonia and, controversially, Israel: “confirms our global vocation as the group of countries that searches for answers to the global challenges and establishes standards in policy fields such as environment, trade, innovation or social issues.”
Just as Slovenia’s leaders must have said many times over the past fourteen years: time will tell.