2012 Annual Growth Survey's proposals for the modernisation of public administration

another tale of the missing links

(EPSU Statement, 14 February 2012) EPSU notes that the European Commission (EC) focuses in the Annual Growth Survey (AGS) on the need to modernise public administrations. This can give the impression that public administrations have been static sectors of the economy and resistent to change, whereas in fact public administrations have been undergoing many reforms in the past decade. However, as the OECD’s “Government at a glance 2011” points out, “despite a plethora of reforms implemented by countries over the past decade, little empirical evidence currently exists about which public administration reforms bring about efficiency and productivitiy gains”.

What, in EPSU’s view, would be the necessary elements in an EU agenda for the modernisation of public administration? In particular we would like to see the agenda explicitly linked to:

The EU ‘quality’ framework on public services, such as:

- Treaty article 14 on SGEI as well as the Protocol No26 on SGI , which gives the EU and Member States a shared responsibility for “a high level of quality, safety and affordability, equal treatment and the promotion of universal access and of user rights” in public services, including public administration
- The Charter of Fundamental Rights, which includes the right to good administration
- The principles of good governance (openness, participation, accountability, effectiveness and coherence) set out in the 2001 White Paper on European Governance
- The EC Communication setting out a quality framework for SGI (December 2011) , which while it says very little about quality public services, at least announces the intention to develop work in this area (...).

For the full statement: