ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGE: Strategies and EU Accession

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ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGE Strategies and EU
Accession

• Professor Ivan Kopric
• Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb

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The main differences between the public and
private sectors

• The public sector is a complex value area
  (political, legal, social, ecological, economical
  values) / the main value orientation of private
  sector is economic one
• Profit is the main indicator of success in the
  private sector / public servants should fulfil
  different expectations (problem of performance
  measurement)
• Private sector actors are proactively seeking
  niches with fine prospects for profit, while
  public administrative organizations are, in
  general, reacting to the problems in wider
  environment by decision-making, regulation,
  support, etc. PA is an instrument for resolving
  public problems

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Public administrative system composition and the
main tendencies

• State administration organised as the system of
  classical administrative organisations like
  ministries reorientation to the core-business
  (smaller organisations concentrated on the public
  policies, drafting regulations, authoritative
  decision-making, inspections, and similar tasks)
• Territorial self-government (local and regional)
  harmonisation in wider European context
  decentralisation and new legitimacy wider
  responsibilities from administrative tasks to
  the support of economic and social development
• Services of general interest (economic and
  non-economic, i.e. social, health, etc.) new
  European regulation of the services of general
  economic interest, especially in network
  industries European social model
• Overall Europeanisation within broader
  globalisation context

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Public sector values

• are integrating governance system
• are crystallized through political processes of
  amalgamation interests and ideologies
• Public administration should gain overall
  legitimacy in its social milieu that is why it
  has to adapt to complex value orientations.
• Value heterogeneity
• Continental European space stress on the
  political, legal, and social values (Hegel a
  state is Gods walk on Earth Greek democracy and
  Roman law tradition)
• Anglo-Saxon space stress on the economic values
  and pragmatism (brutal economic and social
  situation)
• Within the public sector different situation in
  transport sector, finances, local self-government
  
• during historical development political legal
  social economic - ecological

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Types of public sector values

• Political (democratic) accountability,
  publicness, transparency, responsiveness,
  political decentralisation, openness, legitimacy,
  flexibility (user-friendliness)
• Legal the rule of law, legality (organisational,
  substantive, procedural, with regard to
  competence), legal responsibility (for damage
  caused by illegal functioning, or disciplinary
  responsibility), legal certainty, protection of
  fundamental rights and freedoms, equality,
  impartiality, due process, court supervision
• Social social justice, solidarity, social
  sensibility, care, charity, sympathy, mercy,
  assistance to the citizens, cultural diversity,
  respect for national, sexual, and other
  minorities
• Ecological protection of natural environment,
  protection of biological diversity, careful
  management of natural resources, life in harmony
  with nature
• Economic the three Es (economy, efficiency,
  effectiveness), quality, market-orientation and
  private sector-orientation, competitiveness,
  entrepreneurship

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Administrative reforms

• ARs are, in a way, a consequence of generally
  reactive nature of public administration
• new politics asks for new administrative
  arrangements
• PA should adapt to changed expectations and
  search for a new legitimacy
• PA should in-build new technologies
• it should find innovative solutions for quite new
  problems
• ARs are significant, deep organisational,
  institutional and cultural changes in public
  administration that occur periodically.
• Types (Farazmand, 1999) 1. purposive (motivated
  by certain purposes purposive model), 2.
  adaptation (environmental dependency model to
  respond to environmental pressures), 3.
  institutional (changing organisational culture
  and behaviour changing mindset)
• Formal (official) and informal (latent) purposes
  and functions of ARs problem of rising
  expectations
• Success factors political and public support,
  human and material resources, reliable
  organisation, well-thought-out strategy,
  dedicated reform leadership

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Administrative doctrines vs. science of PA

• Administrative doctrine a system of ideas about
  desirable way of operating and prescriptions
  about good practices, grounded on dominant values
  and systematised experiences, comprising
  standards with regard to organisation,
  functioning, regulation, management, etc., in
  public administration.
• Social, economic, political, demographic, and
  other circumstances are influencing doctrines,
  also.
• Lack of empirically verified theories
  (consolidated knowledge) opens space for
  doctrines.
• Doctrines are verified in practice.
• Cameralism, the New Public Administration (the
  Minnowbrook Perspective USA Frederickson,
  Waldo, Marini, Chandler, Rohr, etc.), the New
  Public Management, Good Governance

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Strategies for administrative change

• Pollitt and Bouckaert (2000 2001)
• Maintain. To preserve and incrementally improve
  (up-grade) classical, Weberian model of public
  administration as rational, well-organised,
  monocratic organisation with fine tailored
  hierarchy, professionalism, impartiality,
  legality, and standardised bureaucratic
  procedures.
• Modernise. More fundamental changes in structures
  and functioning (from procedures to results
  output budget orientation autonomous executive
  agencies from appointment acts to employment
  contract, etc.)
• Marketize. Introduction of market principles and
  mechanisms in the PA system (internal market
  British NHS and competition of hospitals
  charging real market prices consumer-orientation)
  
• Minimize. Shrinking the public sector by
  privatisation, contracting out, public-private
  partnerships, civil (voluntary) sector
  involvement, etc.

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The New Public Management

• Imposing economic values and private sector
  techniques into the public sector
• Stress on economy and efficiency ideology of
  state failure inclination to private
  entrepreneurship and free market economy
• From the 1980s, grounded in neo-liberal ideology
• Conservative political actors in Anglo-Saxon
  countries
• New Zealand, Australia, Canada, UK, USA
• Significant role of international organisations
  (IMF WB OECD)
• Attack on welfare state reaffirmation of
  capitalism class structure neo-colonialism

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The New Public Management - elements

• Hood (1991)
• Autonomous professional public managers wider
  leadership competences and individual
  responsibility
• Performance indicators (quantitative, if
  possible), performance measurement
• Output control, disregarding procedures
  performance-related pay systems decentralised
  HRM
• Fragmentation of large PA organisations smaller,
  financially more autonomous organisations with
  one main product (public service) that compete
  at the internal market and/or with private
  organisations
• Competitiveness, public tendering,
  contractualisation
• Managerial style more in line with private sector
  practice flexibilisation in employment
  arrangements, public relations like in the
  private sector, etc.
• Economy and cost reduction including regulation
  costs reduction (deregulation)

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Structural and functional measures and effects

• a) Structural
• Reduction (lean state privatisation, budget
  reduction, reduction of the level of social
  rights, etc.)
• Forms of private and third sector participation
  in public affairs (PPP, outsourcing, concessions,
  etc.)
• Loosening structural ties (fragmenting state
  agencification, decentralisation, greater
  autonomy of public sector organisations, etc.)
• Problems accountability, coordination, strategic
  policy, ethics, local self-government, costs
• b) Functional
• Marketisation of the state public market
• Competitiveness
• Real prices
• Services of general economic interest
  (liberalisation and privatisation)
• Deregulation
• De-bureaucratisation (removing procedural
  obstacles to private sector subjects and
  citizens management by results)
• New budgetary solutions internal and external
  audit, etc.

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NPM Ideas and effects with regard to personnel
social consequences

• Personnel
• More mechanical measures (reducing the number,
  pays reduction, flexibilisation, private sector
  managers engagement, greater autonomy of public
  managers with regard to remuneration, payment and
  career system, etc.)
• Human potentials development (education,
  in-service training, organisational culture
  building, ethics, orientation towards results and
  citizens needs)
• Problems instability, insecurity, organisations
  as psychic prisons, unsuccessful organisations,
  consumerism, etc.
• Social consequences
• Reinvigorating capitalism (state failure)
• Crisis of welfare state poverty and lower level
  of social services, unemployment rate is
  increasing
• Democratic deficit weakening democratic
  legitimacy of the state
• Anomy (crime, social conflicts, disregarding
  legal regulations)
• Positive effects?

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Good Governance

• NPM criticisms during the 1990s followed by
  building new set of ideas at a bit different
  value base
• The role of international organisations OUN
  OECD EU
• Still under construction and stabilisation
• European Governance A White Paper (Brussels COM
  (2001) 428) (governance based on proportionality
  and subsidiarity) fundamental principles
• Openness
• Participation
• Accountability
• Effectiveness
• Coherence
• The stress is on the role of the citizens, civil
  society, and local self-government
• UNDP combination of efficient and democratic
  governance
• OECD Citizens as Partners Information,
  Consultation and Public Participation in
  Policy-Making, 2001
• Increasing administrative and policy capacities
  legitimacy strengthening

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The European Administrative Space

• Set of principles and standards of public
  administration organisation and functioning
  defined by law, whose application is supported by
  the appropriate procedures and accountability
  mechanisms
• Macro perspective (EU uniform implementation of
  the law, the Council of Europe, the main European
  traditions and models)
• Micro perspective (administrative fields, issues,
  processes, actors, institutions )
• Space in rising and development (different
  components in different developmental phases)
• The role of the courts, EU policies, regulatory
  bodies functioning, mutual - experiential
  learning, doctrines, administrative education,
  imitation, interaction

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The main principles of the EAS

1. The rule of law (legal certainty, reliability and
   predictability of administrative actions and
   decisions, legality)
2. Openness and transparency
3. Accountability of PA to other administrative,
   legislative and judicial authorities
4. Efficiency in the use of public resources and
   effectiveness in accomplishing policy goals

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EU Accession

• Complex and hard task
• Political dedication and administrative capacity
• Harmonisation with the acquis communautaire
  (legal adaptations)
• PA capacity to support negotiations, to acquire
  the European administrative standards, to design
  and implement new European-inspired public
  policies, and to implement the acquis
  communautaire and new, changed domestic
  legislation
• Although administrative standards are not part of
  the formal acquis communautaire, EC has
  possibility to monitor, ask for change, look into
  AC implementation, etc.
• Good administration as a general criterion for EU
  accession
• The SIGMA role assessments are the basis for EC
  Progress Reports, designing ToR of the TA
  projects financed by EC, support to
  administrative modernisation, etc.

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European administrative standards

• Codification of standards, mainly by SIGMA
• Standards with regard to
• Constitutions (6)
• Civil Service legislation (8)
• Administrative Procedures legislation (10)
• Public sector financial control (9)
• External audit (4)
• Budget and public expenditure management (13)
• Policy-making and coordination at the centre of
  the government (9) (systematisation according to
  Cardona)
• CS legislation paper no. 5 Civil Service
  Legislation Contents Checklist paper no. 14
  Civil Service Legislation Checklist on Secondary
  Legislation and Other Regulatory Instruments

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Harmonisation of local self-government The
Council of Europe EU

• The European Charter of Local Self-Government of
  1985 (the German model influence)
• Other legal documents (on transfrontier
  co-operation 1980, Urban Charter 1992/2004, on
  the participation of foreigners in public life at
  local level 1992, draft Charter of Regional
  Self-Government, etc.)
• EU, regionalism and regional policy
• NUTS classification (Nomenclature des Unites
  Territoriales Statistiques) (5 categories
  regions as NUTS II. units)
• Committee of the Regions (opinions and
  resolutions)

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Convergence or divergence?

• The European local self-government traditions and
  models
• The French centralised model
• The German model (federation, subsidiarity
  principle, detailed regulation of local
  self-government scope)
• The British model (unwritten constitution,
  sovereignty of the Parliament, ultra vires legal
  doctrine)
• The Scandinavian model of political
  decentralisation with bigger local units
• Europeanization, harmonisation, learning
  convergence
• ??
• Tradition and cultural diversity divergence

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Services of general interest

• Former public services liberalisation on
  separate markets, privatisation of former state
  monopolies quality concerns
• Services of general interest
• Services of general economic interest
• Network industries (telecommunications,
  electricity, gas, transport and postal services
• Other SGEI (waste management, water supply, etc.)
• Other (non-economic) services (social, health)
• Public sector obligations (universal service,
  continuity, affordable prices - affordability,
  quality of service, user and consumer protection)
• Sectoral policies development (energy, electronic
  communications, transport, postal sectors,
  audiovisual policy, water and waste management,
  sport, culture, etc)
• Designing coherent policy and legal framework for
  social and health SGI
• Directive 2006/123/EC (the Services Directive)
  MSs have to transpose it by the end of 2009
• The most dynamic and challenging sector

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Europeanization of the Republic of Croatia

1. Croatia as a late-comer
2. Formal and substantial Europeanization
3. Membership in the Council of Europe (1996)
4. Stabilization and Association Agreement (2001)
5. EU candidate status (2004)
6. Negotiation process
7. Administrative education

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State administration development

• I. 1990-1993 Establishment phase
• Semi-presidential system
• Considerable new parts of state administration
  (new ministries, etc.)
• War
• Politicisation poor professional standards
  hidden lustration
• II. 1993-2001 Consolidation phase (war till
  1995)
• Etatisation and centralisation
• A number of poor reorganisations
• Very slow democratisation
• First Law on State Civil Servants in 1994
• III. 2001-2008 Europeanisation phase
• First political change after 1990 (coalition
  Government) parliamentary system
• Democratisation, decentralisation, attempts to
  raise professionalism (second Law on State Civil
  Servants in 2001 third one in 2005)
• Stabilization and Association Agreement (2001)
  candidate status in 2004 accession negotiations
  institutional capacity building functional
  review etc.
• IV. 2008 Modernisation phase?
• The State Administration Reform Strategy

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State administration

• Central state administration
• Ministries (15)
• State administrative organisations (9)
• Central state offices (4)
• First instance state administration
• Offices of state administration at the county
  level (20)
• Offices of the City of Zagreb (4) transferred
  state administrative tasks
• Government ( Secretariat certain other bodies
  Governments Professional Service, Governments
  Office)
• State servants and employees
• ICT implementation Functional Review Project
  preparation of the new law on general
  administrative procedure and law on
  administrative justice system, new system of
  human potentials development and management
  organisational adaptations, etc.
• Agencies, independent regulatory bodies, other
  public bodies and legal entities with public
  competences

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Local self-government system

• Local self-government municipalities (429)
  towns (126 15 large towns with more than 35.000
  inhabitants) territorial self-government below
  municipal level (municipal and urban districts,
  city quarters)
• Regional self-government counties (20 about
  200.000 inhabitants in average)
• City of Zagreb (capital, the largest city, double
  status as local and regional unit, performs
  transferred state administrative tasks)
• Fully separated from the state administration
  system with regard to organisation and personnel
• Searching for a new legitimacy introduction of
  direct election of mayors (elections in May 2009)

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State administration reform strategy

• Adopted by the Croatian Government in March 2008
  as part of EU accession efforts (www.uprava.hr)
• Structure
• Executive summary
• State administration we want (Vision and goals of
  modern administration)
• The main results in the reform of political
  system and state administration
• The main areas and directions of state
  administration reform
• Implementation of strategic measures
• Leadership, monitoring and evaluation of results

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State administration reform strategy - goals

• Increasing efficiency and economy in state
  administration system
• Raising the quality of administrative services
• Openness and access to state administrative
  organisations
• The rule of law
• Increasing social sensitivity inside state
  administration and in relations with citizens
• Rising ethical level and reducing corruption
• Modern ICT implementation
• Joining the European Administrative Space
• accompanied by 29 indicators

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State administration reform strategy main areas
and directions

1. Structural adaptations of state administration
   system from structure to good governance (3
   directions 13 activities)
2. Increasing quality of programmes, laws and other
   regulations better regulation (4 directions 14
   activities)
3. System of state servants modern civil service (4
   directions 10 activities)
4. Education and in-service training of state
   administration knowledge, skills and
   competencies (2 directions 8 activities)
5. Simplification and modernisation of
   administrative procedures e-administration (2
   directions 17 activities)

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Other strategic documents

• Strategic Development Framework for 2006-2013
• - Previous efforts 55 recommendations for
  improving national competitiveness of Croatia
• Decentralisation strategy under preparation
  failure?
• - Previous efforts Decentralisation of Public
  Administration (2000-2003)
• Lack of overall strategic document with regard
  to services of general interest
• - Sectoral documents (for example, Strategy for
  Development of Communal Utilities)

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Implementation, management and monitoring PAR

1. Implementation Central State Office for
   Administration
2. Management Government and CSOA vice prime
   minister for public administration reforms
3. Monitoring National council for monitoring and
   evaluation established in the Autumn of 2008
4. Policy making Government (formally) CSOA
   (???) domestic and international experts (???)
   business community (???)

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Central State Office for Administration

• Established in 2004, as one of four central state
  offices as special tool for increasing managing
  and coordinating capacity of the prime minister
  (responsible to PM)
• History Ministry of Administration State
  Directorate for State Administration and Local
  Self-Government
• Increasing capacity from 66 to about 140
  employees
• Vague role design (legal regulations)
• Organisational gaps and possible improvements
• Lacking human potentials and low professional
  level
• Moderate political, administrative and public
  support
• Facing reorganisation according to the results of
  FR?

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Main challenges

• Political support Croatian Parliament
• Administrative support changing position in
  administrative system
• Public support communication strategy and
  activities
• Strategy development
• CSOA internal organisational development
• National council establishment
• Capacity development education, training,
  recruitment
• Financial support lack of support from the
  Ministry of Finance

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Lessons learned

• PAR as part of the Europeanisation process is not
  the best solution for domestic problems
  (Europeanisation is only one of the environmental
  influences EU is one of broader institutional
  frameworks, not the only one)
• PAR should be in line with previously discussed
  and adopted basic national goals otherwise it
  could be unsuccessful or counter-productive
• Three main parts of PA (state administration
  local and regional self-government public
  services) need different reform approaches
• Strong administrative body needed (Ministry of
  Public Administration, probably with vice PM as a
  minister)
• Laws could foster or freeze reform efforts, but
  cannot replace real will to make PA modern and
  better
• Policy orientation should be developed
• Education and training should be more intensive
  capacity building
• State administration system, structural,
  personnel, human resource, financial etc.
  measures needed

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Institutional challenges

• Good institutional structure is a necessary
  prerequisite for successful reform, but other
  prerequisites are needed and are of equal
  importance (political will and support strategic
  planning and policy making educated and informed
  civil servants extra-organisational expertise
  financial support reform dedication, etc.)
  institutions do matter
• Inappropriate institutions (weak institutions or
  inappropriate networks of institutions ) impede
  positive impacts of other favourable conditions
• Institutions should be adapted to the specific
  circumstances of a country (culture, external
  conditions, basic states goals )
• Certain regularities are generally recognizable
  and could be used for learning and suggesting
  proposals
• Significance of good and bad examples in similar
  and different conditions experiential learning

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Good and bad Croatian examples

• Good examples
• Cooperation between academic community and CSOA
  in the Strategy preparation, education, reform
  monitoring and evaluation
• TA projects with participation of pro-reform
  domestic experts as key experts
• Strong politicians as reform leaders
• Bad examples
• Attempts to prepare the strategy and realise
  certain reform measures with teams consisting
  exclusively of academics, or CSOA servants, or
  foreign experts (similar in acquiring acquis
  communautaire)
• Weak lines of CSOA state secretarys political
  accountability to the PM
• Informally politicised networks
• Too broad networks of politically selected
  experts for EU accession negotiations

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Administrative education

• Development trends in Europe
• Creation of a comprehensive administrative
  education system with vertical mobility (323)
• Diversification of administrative education
  programmes, along with consolidation of general
  administrative programme
• More attention to practice
• Impregnation by dominant doctrines
• More multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary-orien
  ted programmes
• Croatian situation
• Bologna process since 2005
• Binary model of high education (polytechnics and
  universities)
• Administrative education at polytechnics (BA
  degrees)
• MA degree missing
• Postgraduate studies specialist and doctoral
  programmes
• Predominantly legal or managerial orientation
• Unsatisfied specialisation of specialist
  programmes

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Thank you!

• Professor Ivan Kopric
• Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb
• Mailto ikopric_at_pravo.hr