The sixth meeting of the Special Working Group for Public Administration Reform was held in Brussels, at which the beginning of work on the development of a new Public Administration Reform Strategy in the Republic of Serbia was announced, which will cover the period from 2021 to 2030.
The delegation of the Serbian administration was led by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Ivan Bošnjak, while Assistant Ministers of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Ivana Antić, Marina Dražić, Sanja Putnik and Ivana Savičević, also gave their contribution through their participation.
“Serbia remains committed to reforms and building administrative capacity and human resources, which will make its public administration a part of the European administrative space, as a quality provider of services to citizens and the economy, in a transparent and efficient manner”, Bošnjak said in his introductory address.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the competent institutions of the Republic of Serbia, as well as representatives of the European Commission, the EU Delegation in Belgrade and SIGMA.
During the meeting discussions were held on current issues in the field of public administration reforms, public financial management, creation of public policies and their coordination, the concept of management responsibility, improvement of the Human Resources Management System and provision of more efficient services for citizens and the economy.
On this occasion, the representatives of the Republic of Serbia announced the beginning of work on the development of a new Public Administration Reform Strategy in the Republic of Serbia, which shall cover the period 2021-2030.
This process shall be supported by a project of complementary support under the Sector Reform Contract and it is a very demanding task that we have decided to undertake in an effort to create a good basis for building governance tailored to the needs of all our citizens and simultaneously modelled according to the most modern European standards and practices.
EC representatives praised the progress made in the area of service delivery and the enactment of laws regulating the planning system, public hearings, e-government and the public sector wage system.
With clear messages that it is necessary to continue to improve the implementation of the legislative framework, it has been concluded that it is necessary to further strengthen efforts aimed at achieving better coordination in certain segments.
The Serbian delegation thanked the EU representatives for the continuous and direct support and assistance provided by the EU, which is essential for approaching the European administrative space and implementing reforms, with the ultimate goal of achieving full membership of the Republic of Serbia within the EU.
The Special Group for Public Administration Reform is a special oversight body with the process of monitoring the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement, with the basic task of monitoring the implementation of the Public Administration Reform Strategy and its accompanying Action Plan.