Public administration is being reformed for the sake of citizens
Public administration reform is highly among the priorities of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, and together with the rule of law and economic governance, it is one of the preconditions for joining the European Union. The reason for that is that only with adequate administrative capacities, Serbia can implement all the necessary reforms, envisaged in the EU accession process and negotiation chapters. More importantly, only with adequate administrative capacity can the state provide efficient services to citizens and the economy.
This reform has its own strategic framework – the Public Administration Reform Strategy and the accompanying Action Plan. This strategic document, which was adopted in 2014, expanded the scope and from the previous reform which referred only to the state administration, the activities have now been extended to the public administration, with the exception of public companies. The reform changes now apply to a system of 500,000 employees.
It is aimed at horizontally strengthening the capacity of the entire public administration, so that the administration becomes efficient, accountable, reliable, serviceable, transparent in its work and open to citizens.
With the transformation of public administration, which citizens still perceive as an instrument of power, it becomes a service system for all citizens and the economy, modernized and harmonized with the best European standards and practices.
Reforming the administration is an ongoing process. All countries in Europe are continuously adapting to the new needs of citizens and the economy, the development of technology, the flow of information and the development of any democratic society.
Reforms are an important precondition for European integration
Strengthening the administrative capacities of the state is a precondition for the implementation of all necessary reforms, envisaged in the process of Serbia’s accession to the European Union. With the establishment of full rule of law and efficient economic governance, Serbia needs to have an efficient administration that can carry out a very demanding accession process.
How is the administration being reformed?
The Government of the Republic of Serbia, in addition to setting public administration reform as one of the main priorities, allocates significant funds for the implementation of activities from the Public Administration Reform Strategy and accompanying action plans, with the support of numerous bilateral and multilateral partners, of which the European Union is the largest donor. this area.
The general goal of the current Strategy is to further improve the work of public administration, ie to provide high quality services to citizens and economic entities, as well as to create such public administration that will significantly contribute to economic stability and increase the living standard of citizens.
In short, the goals of this Strategy are better organization of public administration, strengthening the process of public policy management, development of modern and professional civil service system, improvement of local self-government system, digitalization and development of eGovernment, improvement of public financial management, improvement of service delivery and business environment. improving the transparency and openness of the work of the administration as a whole, strengthening the internal and external control of public administration.
