Citizens no longer have to go from counter to counter to exercise their rights, but in more and more cases, they are able to obtain the necessary documents with one click from home. It has already been calculated that 350 million hours of waiting are saved, that administrative procedures are completed faster and with significantly lower costs.
In an effort to turn public administration into a service where every contact with a civil servant is a real pleasure, and going to the counter is a thing of the past, the European Union is the biggest ally Serbia can have. The EU helps us financially and in every other way, and it has been doing this since the beginning of the expansion in other countries, bearing in mind that a universal model of public administration does not exist, reported RTS.
“Public administration is the face of the state. Citizens most often communicate with state administration bodies when they need a service, document, help in the form of information or protection of rights, at the national or local level. Experience form such interaction with public administration bodies can leave a lasting impression on how the state treats its citizens. Because of all of the above, the public administration reform is important for society and that is why the EU places so much emphasis on it”, said the Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Emanuele Giaufret.
“The public administration model, which is actually a tradition in individual states is kept, but reforms are being made that relate to some of the basic principles. Those are: professionalization, depoliticization, issues of modernization of public administration, and of course the latest issue, which is the digitization of that very service. What is the goal? The goal is actually for the state administration to stop being a monopoly of the state’s management system, and become a service for citizens”, said Minister of European Integration Tanja Miščević.
The Government underlined that without the focus on documents, above all the Public Administration Reform Strategy, action plans, public policies, regulations, there would be no progress in public administration reform. Based on the best European practices, it is now possible for citizens to participate in their adoption.
There is an internet portal E – konsultacije (E-consultation) where people have an insight into what is written in the proposed regulations and can make suggestions, which they believe will contribute to better regulations and regulations that are in line with the real needs of society. However, what means the most to citizens is that thanks to digitization and centralized database, they can access their documents more easily.
Miščević mentioned that we now have a collision of the traditional way, where you were always missing one document, which you discover right at the counter, and that shouldn’t happen anymore, so when you come to the counter, you actually get the document you came for, and not for you to be the one to ask.
“Now, if that’s important to your life and mine, and it is important because it eliminates potential problems that we face, you can imagine what that looks like for those who set up a business here, buy real estate, want to open a factory, want to employ people, in those segments it will not only help legal entities, but it also helps all of us who are now able to attract greater interest of those who want to invest here, because they no longer face the difficulties they faced and the difficulties that were related to corruption”, said Miščević.
We have progress in electronic services, we are training the administration, the management of human resources and public finance is better, but the European Union expects more.
“Although Serbia has made significant progress in providing services and improved some aspects of human resource management, accountability, policy making and public finance management, there is always room for further improvement in many areas. Some should be high on the Government agenda in the near future. These should include a full focus on the actual implementation of the public administration reform among all Government offices and relevant ministries,” said Giaufret.
As he added, there is an urgent need to start with strict implementation of regulations on employment and appointment of senior managers.
“In addition, the list of short-term priorities should include increasing the transparency of the Government’s work, ensuring an inclusive and open policy-making process, strengthening the capacity of the Administrative Court and independent regulatory bodies, among other things”, said Giaufret.
So far, Serbia has received almost four billion euros in grants from the European funds, of which EUR 215 million were spent on public administration reform. Around EUR 200 million are allocated from the Pre-Accession IPA funds annually for public finance management and improving the work of local self-governments and independent institutions. Public administration reform is one of the most important elements of Serbia’s EU accession process, and in 2014 it was also placed on the forefront of the negotiations. A modern and professional public administration is a key element for every EU member state in order to effectively implement laws and manage EU funds transparently.
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Stručnost i efikasnost na ceni
Više informacija o EU pordšci Reformi javne uprave Srbije.
