presentation by dr. jan-hinrik meyer-sahling
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Dr. Meyer-Sahling makes a key note presentation on civil service reform challenges in the Western Balkan countries "Civil Service Professionalisation in the Western Balkans". His background SIGMA paper No.48 can be found on www.sigmaweb.orgTRANSCRIPT
© OECD
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CIVIL SERVICE PROFESSIONALISATION IN
THE EUROPEAN EASTERN
NEIGHBOURHOOD
Civil Service Professionalisation in the Western Balkans
Jan Meyer-Sahling School of Politics & IR
University of Nottingham
Tbilisi, 4-5 November 2014
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Questions and relevance
• SIGMA Nr 48 on civil service professionalisation in the Western Balkans
To what extent do civil service systems ‘fit’ the European principles of administration?
What drives professionalisation?
To what extent is professionalisation sustainable?
• Relevance
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Approach • European principles of administration
Legal principles embodied in European Administrative Space (SIGMA 1998, 1999)
No acquis requirement, no clearly defined model
EU minimum standards for civil service reform derived from EC and SIGMA reports
• Assess ‘degree of fit’ with European principles
Depth of institutionalisation (cf. levels)
• Formal rules
• Rule implementation (cf. management practices)
• Rule internalisation (attitudes towards European principles of administration)
Width of institutionalisation (cf. domains)
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Domain Relevant EU civil service policy standards
Reform programmes Presence of PAR programme, including civil service, fit with European principles
Civil service law Civil service law, clear scope
Central Management Central management body with ‘sufficient’ capacity
Recruitment Public adverts, standardised, written exams, de-politicised selection commissions, appeal
Civil service tenure Protection from discretionary dismissal, stability
Senior civil service De-politicisation of senior level, merit promotion
Performance management
Fair and transparent performance evaluation
Salaries Transparent, predictable salaries, minimisation of discretion, adequate salary levels
Training Training infrastructure, programmes, participation
Integrity management
Conflict of interest regulation (political and business), code of ethics, asset declarations, discipline
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Data
1) Country background studies
2) Missions to Western Balkans and Brussels
3) ‘Expert’ survey General and sectoral responses
4) Web-based survey of ministerial civil servants N=3838
Alb (705), Cro (1316), Kosovo* (129), fyROM (220), Mon (256), Ser (805), BiH-State (230), BiH-Fed (343), RS (54)
Comparison with selected CEECs, Poland (1147) and Latvia (639)
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
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General findings • Formal rules
Moderate to high degree of fit
No major variation across countries
Need for upgrading and fine-tuning
• Rule implementation High degree of rule application BUT low degree of rule
effectiveness
Some cross-country variation but no champion
Shift attention to implementation!
• Rule internalisation High support for merit-based principles
Growing support for managerial flexibility
Invest in education to learn European principles 5
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Example: Civil service laws & merit reforms
Civil service law* Written examination
Croatia (1994, 2001) 2005 Compulsory
Serbia 2005 Optional
BH State 2002 Compulsory
BH Federation 2003 Compulsory
BH Rep Srpska 2003 Compulsory
Montenegro 2004 Compulsory
Kosovo* 2010 Optional
Macedonia** 2000 Compulsory
Albania 1999 Compulsory6
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Discussion: Explaining successful institutional reform
• Small number of failed attempts after ‘first’ transition (early 1990s)
• Successful passage of civil service reform after ‘second’ transition Priority of new democratic governments
Prime ministerial support
Central civil service agencies with political support
Support from EU, Sigma and other IOs
EU conditionality & context of fifth enlargement
• Enlargement fatigue and loss of momentum since
around 2005 (with exceptions)7
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General findings • Formal rules
Moderate to high degree of fit
No major variation across countries
Need for upgrading and fine-tuning
• Rule implementation High degree of rule application BUT low degree of
rule effectiveness
Some cross-country variation but no champion
Shift attention to implementation!
• Rule internalisation High support for merit-based principles
Growing support for managerial flexibility
Invest in education to learn European principles 8
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Re-thinking implementation
• Implementation as ‘compliance’ Focus on ‘application of formal rules’
• Towards ‘quality’ of implementation From compliance to ‘outcomes’ of implementation
From rule application to ‘rule effectiveness’
• Basic model Enactment of formal rules => application of formal
rules => outcome of rule application
• Example: Merit recruitment Formal requirement to pass written examination =>
conduct written exams in practice => select best and brightest candidate, political contacts irrelevant
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0.7
0.49
0.49
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Written examination are taken
Recruitment based on merit
Political parties place supporters inministries
Rule application vs rule effectiveness: Recruitment in the Western Balkans
Percentage of respondents who agree
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Quality of implementation: ‘Senior civil service’ between merit exams and persistent patronage
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Country
Writtenexaminations
passed(median)
Politicalcontactsdetermineselection
(median)Qualityscore(max25)
Kosovo 30-50% 50-70% 4.2Serbia 50-70% 50-70% 4.2BIH-Federation 70-90% 70-90% 5.0
Montenegro 70-90% 70-90% 5.1
BIH-RepSrpska 70-90% 70-90% 5.1Albania 70-90% 70-90% 5.1Macedonia 70-90% 70-90% 5.7
BIH-State 70-90% 50-70% 7.7Croatia 70-90% 50-70% 8.6
Lithuania 70-90% 10-30% 16.5
0.94
0.46
0.62
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Performance evaluation at least once peryear
Performance evaluation fair andtransparent
Promotion based on political connections
Rule application vs rule effectiveness: Performance evaluation & promotionPercentage of respondents who agree
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0.82
0.15
0.26
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Salary scales are applied
Good performance is rewarded with highersalary level
Receive adequate salary
Rule application vs rule effectiveness: Salary management
Percentage of respondents who agree
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0.63
0.38
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Application of code of conduct
Favourable treatment of social groups andbusinesses is common
Rule application vs rule effectiveness: Integrity management
Percentage of respondents who agree
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Discussion: Why is the quality of implementation low?
• To start with Application of rules is better than no application… BUT
• Drivers and obstacles of rule effectiveness Quality of civil service regulation
Quality of leadership in the civil service
Political interference
Socio-economic context
• Ethnic heterogeneity, education, economic development
International organisations
• Focus on reforms and regulations
• General lack of good indicators and evaluations 15
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General findings • Formal rules
Moderate to high degree of fit
No major variation across countries
Need for upgrading and fine-tuning
• Rule implementation
High degree of rule application BUT low degree of rule effectiveness
Some cross-country variation but no champion
Shift attention to implementation!
• Rule internalisation
High support for merit-based principles
Growing support for managerial flexibility 16
0.11
0.84
0.9
0.9
0.9
0.91
0.93
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
A civil service law is un-necessary for theregulation of personnel management in the
ministerial bureaucracy
All civil servants should be subject to a regularformal performance evaluation.
It is desirable that candidates for a vacancy inthe civil service pass a written examination
before taking on their job.
Promotions to higher positions should be strictlyon the basis of performance
Regular participation in training should bemandatory for all civil servants
It is desirable that all job vacancies are publiclyadvertised.
It is desirable that recruitment policy is based onthe principle of always selecting the best and
brightest!
Attitudes of civil servants in the Western Balkans: Support for European principles
0.34
0.39
0.43
0.61
0.62
0.63
0.75
0.84
0.51
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Directors of departments should have thefreedom to fire staff who perform poorly.
Personnel management is best organised byindividual ministries.
Recruitment policy should aim at theproportional representation of ethnic groups in…
Directors must have discretion to pay bonuses inorder to reward good performance
Civil service unions should play an influentialrole in the management of the civil service
Officials need more guidance on integrity in theperformance of their roles as public servants.
Salaries should be linked to general, civil-service-wide scales
Pay for performance is a good principle for thereward of civil servants.
I know the 'European principles ofadministration'.
Attitudes of civil servants in the Western Balkans: Contested principles
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Discussion: Explaining the contestation of (some) European principles
• Dissatisfaction with reforms Reforms of the early 2000s did not deliver –
expectations were (too) high
• New generation of politicians Electoral benefits of ‘bureaucracy bashing’
• New generation of civil servants Young civil servants are more managerial
Limited knowledge of European principles
• Consultants Impact and ideas vary a lot (inconsistency)
• International trend (catching up with West?)19
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Dissatisfaction with reforms: ‘The civil service system in my country is in need of fundamental reform’
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52.60%
59.30%
62.70%
63.20%
72.50%
77.00%
81.30%
87.40%
0.00% 25.00% 50.00% 75.00% 100.00%
BiH Rep Srpska
Albania
BiH State
Montenegro
Croatia
Serbia
BiH Federation
Kosovo
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Is the young generation more managerial? Age-related preference for ‘freedom to fire staff’
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39.40%
40.40%
36.40%
33.80%
33.20%
36.10%
44.40%
46.80%
48.00%
0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%
over 60
56 - 60
51 - 55
46 - 50
41 - 45
36 - 40
31 - 35
26 - 30
under 25
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Towards a conclusion
• Significant progress …
• … significant weaknesses:
• Is the glass half full? Or half empty?
Compare Western Balkans to new member states of Central and Eastern Europe
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Comparison to CEECs
• More variation in CEECs
No case similar to Baltic States, esp Lithuania as regional champion
Broad similarities with Central European states
• Compared to CE-5
WB with higher legal fit
WB with higher degree of rule application
CEECs with similarly weak rule effectiveness
CEECs even more managerial in attitudes
• CEECs in 2000 vs WB in 2010
WB more advanced
CEECs reforms unsustainable after EU accession 23
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Conclusions• State of play
Significant reform progress
Poor quality of implementation as key characteristic of civil service in Western Balkans
Growing contestation of European principles as proposed by EC and Sigma
• What next? ‘European Initiative for Better Governance’
Shift of focus to quality of implementation
Invest in evidence-based evaluations (‘thick’ indicators rather than off-the-shelf numbers)
Invest in education and communication (persuasion rather than over-reliance on conditionality and short-term thinking)
• Civil servants, politicians, public 24
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Thank you
Jan Meyer-Sahling
School of Politics & IRUniversity of Nottingham
www.meyer-sahling.eu
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