Public administration reform

A guide to public administration reform

What is public administration reform? Public administration reform is a reform of the state itself, i.e. the state and local administration.

What is public administration reform?

Public administration reform is the reform of the state itself, i.e. the state and local administration. The complexity of the process is reflected in the fact that all activities carried out shall have direct benefits for citizens and the economy. For these reasons, public administration, which has always been an internal matter of the EU member states, has become one of the three key pillars in the EU enlargement process.

The goal is to ensure the full application of the EU law, but also to ensure an equal treatment of all citizens. Public administration reform, within the general reform processes in Montenegro, is one of the key segments. The Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media, with quality coordination and cooperation with other institutions involved in this process, has been working strongly and dedicatedly on the implementation of public administration reform in Montenegro.

What is the goal of public administration reform?

The Public Administration Reform Strategy in Montenegro 2016-2020, is adopted by the Government of Montenegro in July 2016 and is a key strategic document for improving public administration in Montenegro. The strategy defines that "the general goal of reform activities by 2020 is to create an efficient and service-oriented public administration characterized by the growth of citizens' trust in its work."

The preparation of the Public Administration Reform Strategy 2021-2025 is underway and, based on the results of the external evaluation on the implementation of the Public Administration Reform Strategy 2016-2020, will be defined further directions of public administration reform, areas and goals of the reform, indicators of success, models of monitoring and implementation of the strategy, as well as all other issues that are important for the process of public administration reform for the specified period.

Which areas covers public administration reform?

By the Public Administration Reform Strategy 2016-2020 adopted by the Government in July 2016 are defined seven reform goals, i.e. areas related to strengthening the legality of the work of state administration bodies, better quality organization of state administration, improving the provision of services and establishing a system of regular measuring of citizens’ satisfaction, strengthening the civil service system by creating the merit employment system, better quality mechanisms for planning and coordination of public policies, but also the key issues for development of local self-governments in Montenegro.

Who is in charge of the public administration reform process?

Public administration reform activities are coordinated by the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media.

When it comes to the bearers of the activities of the Public Administration Reform Strategy 2016-2020, the Ministry of Public Administration, Digital Society and Media was the bearer of the largest number of activities - thirty-four. In addition to the Ministry, the Human Resources Management Authority had ten planned activities, the Secretariat General of the Government six, and the Judicial and Public Prosecutor's Training Center one, the Ministry of Finance six, the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism one, the Union of Municipalities two, the Agency for Free Access to Information one.

How the EU helps the public administration reform?

The European Union continuously invests in Montenegro and is the largest donor, and one of the key areas besides the rule of law and economic reforms is public administration reform. Responsible work and good results in the previous period created the preconditions for the European Commission first of all to recognize and then provide financial support to the process of public administration reform through sectoral budget support.

The support for public administration reforms in Montenegro aims to improve the state's capacity in the field of public administration in order to achieve the specific objectives of the program, which coincide with the Government's commitment to create an efficient, service-oriented and more transparent public administration.

What is sectoral budget support?

An additional incentive and support for the implementation of public administration reform is the Financial Agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the European Commission on Annual Action Program for Montenegro for 2017, Part II, which refers to the Sectoral Budget Support.

This program is implemented within the Democracy and Governance sector and includes the EU financial support in the amount of EUR 15 million, of which EUR 12 million of direct budget support and EUR 3 million of technical support.

So far, 6.1 million EUR have been disbursed through the direct budget support. At the beginning of December 2018, the first fixed tranche for sectoral budget support in the amount of EUR 4 million was paid, which represents an additional incentive for the implementation of reform activities in the forthcoming period, and EUR 2.1 million was paid in December 2019.

In the previous period, with the EU funds and through technical support within the Sectoral Budget Support Program, have been supported the activities related to the improvement and adoption of new legal solutions that are the backbone of the legislative framework in the process of public administration reform, both in terms of creating a sustainable public administration with corresponding number of employees that will be able to respond to the needs of citizens and economy, as well as to the improvement of public services.

The EU funds also supported the project of establishing a single information system for electronic data exchange between state registers, which resulted in the establishment of 12 key registers between which the data is exchanged (Central Population Register, Central Register of Business Entities, Central Register of Taxpayers, Register of Employees / Insured Persons, Register of education, Register of criminal records, Register of real estate, Register of health fund, Register of pension insurance, Register of social work and care). This is the basis for increasing the number of electronic services and improving the quality and accessibility of public services, while reducing or simplifying administrative procedures, but also reducing the costs for citizens and the economy.

The support also encouraged the digital transformation of society and the provision of electronic services on the eGovernment portal. Also, efforts were made in the field of strengthening eDemocracy mechanisms and the process of public consultations during the adoption of laws and strategies, and it has been launched the project "Voice of Citizens - ePetitions", which enables citizens to participate with 3,000 signatures in creating the public policies. In addition, the open data portal data.gov.me has been launched.