Public administration reform in the Western Balkans is crucial for progress towards the European Union. It is one of the 14 recommendations for BiH from the Opinion of the European Commission on the request for membership in the Union and it is the reform that has the greatest impact on the daily life of citizens.
Few of the citizens did not have the experience of waiting in lines in front of the counters of public institutions. Although the modernization of public administration has been going on for a long time, there are still no real results that the business community, in addition to citizens, expects.
– There is still no orientation and commitment of the authorities to develop this public administration reform faster. Digitization itself, which we are trying to work on through the new Strategic framework and Action Plan, is one of the segments in which many improvements could be made – said the director of the Public Administration Reform Coordinator’s Office in BiH, Dragan Ćuzulan.
The administration should become depoliticized, professional, open, transparent and professional because it is necessary to have administrative capacity for the application of European Union law.
The implementation of the process at the regional level is monitored by a group of civil society organizations in the Western Balkans led by the Center for European Policies.
BiH is below the regional average in this area, while Serbia has the best results.
– Regarding the area of the Strategic framework for public administration reform, there has been progress in Serbia compared to previous monitoring cycles. There is still room for improvement. We concluded that the potential of the e-consultation portal has not yet been used – said public policy researcher Milica Divljak.
In addition to the involvement of civil society in the creation of public policies, the dialogue between civil society organizations and the administration for the establishment of a sustainable system is important, as well as the participation of citizens in decision-making.
This would contribute to the quality of administration services as well as work efficiency.
– Regarding the participation of citizens in the reform of public administration, the Center for European Policies with its partner organizations in the region has launched a platform – we follow the reform of the RS, it is called in Serbia, and we invite citizens to share their experience in contact with the public administration – said Sava Mitrović from the Center for European Policies.
The importance of public administration reform is also evidenced by the fact that it is part of Cluster 1 of the new methodology for accession to the European Union, including the functioning of democratic institutions, the rule of law and other values.
This means that progress in all other areas depends to a significant extent on the improvement of public administration.