The Public
Administration Reform Panel is a thematic working group within the Eastern
Partnership, set up in October 2011, coordinated by the European Commission
through the European External Action Service (EEAS).
The members of the
Panel are representatives of the partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine), representatives of the
Member States in the Eastern Partnership (frequently participating the Czech
Republic, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Sweden), but also
representatives of international organizations working in the field (OECD,
Civil Society Forum, Annual Conference of Local and Regional Authorities for
the Eastern Partnership (CORLEAP), Council of Europe, etc.).Romania has been represented in the Panel since
the first meeting, through the National Agency of Civil Servants.
Within the Panel there are two ways of working:
the actual activity included in the Work Program and the evaluation of the
activity within the meeting of the Panel members.
Working Programme
The Group operates on the basis of a one-year
Work Program in consultation with the members of the Panel and includes both
proposals for activities, such as the organization of seminars or studies, and
the approximate data and responsibilities involved.
The work program is divided into four thematic
areas: Civil service, organization and functioning of public administration
organizations (HRM, recruitment, statutes) - Coordinator: Poland; Domain 2:
Transparency, open governance and data protection - Coordinator: Estonia;
Domain 3: Local and regional public administration, decentralization -
Coordinator: Czech Republic; Domain 4: Effective technical assistance
management - Coordinator: Ukraine
In the period 2011-2013, NACS coordinated
together with Azerbaijan, Poland and Lithuania the thematic area “Civil
Service; legislation and recruitment in the public service ”. NACS also
supported by participating with experts the events organized in Azerbaijan and
Poland.
In 2012, in Bucharest, the Ministry of Interior
(member of the Panel until 2012) in collaboration with NACS organized the
international seminar "Legislation on transparency, ethics and integrity
in public office".
In 2015, in Bucharest, MRDPA (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration) in collaboration with NACS organized the
seminar “Transparency, ethics and integrity in public administration”, as a
follow-up event of the one in 2012.
In 2016, NACS organized the workshop on the
methodology by which NACS implements projects dedicated to civil servants, in
partnership with civil society organizations.
Panel Meeting
The meeting of the members of the Panel takes place
twice a year. Panel members are consulted on the readiness to hold panel
meetings with the EEAS.The meeting is moderated by the Director of the Eastern
Partnership, Regional Cooperation and OSCE Division of the EEAS.
The meeting consists of :
- evaluating the stage of implementation of the Work Program, in which each coordinating state presents the conclusions of the activities (seminars / conferences) organized by the members of the Panel, in each of the four thematic areas.
reviewing the planned activities, but also discussions about new activity proposals or opportunities.
- presenting the conclusions of some thematic studies, of some comparative studies on the public administration reform in the partner countries and different achievements in the field in the participating states
Regarding the evaluation part of the activity
within the Panel, ANFP frequently participated in the meetings of the group
members, the last being in 2018, in Prague, culminating with the organization,
together with MRDPA, of the sixth meeting of the Panel, at Bucharest, in 2014.The
meeting was attended by 56 representatives of the public administration from
all six partner countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic
of Moldova, Ukraine) and from a record number of 11 EU member states (Czech
Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Great
Britain, Romania, Sweden), as well as representatives of national and
international organizations working in the field (Civil Society Forum, Council
of Europe, Committee of the Regions, Center for Legal Resources, Association of
Romania).
In 2020, EU Member
States and partner countries renewed their commitment to the key elements of
the Partnership beyond 2020.