Paper/Speech Details of Conference Program for the 20th NISPAcee Annual Conference Program Overview PA Reform Author(s) Mladen Karadzoski University "St. Kliment Ohridski" Bitola Republic of North Macedonia Title TWINNING programs as an adequate model for reforming and recomposing of the public administrations in the candidate and potential candidate countries for entrance into the European Union File Paper files are available only for conference participants, please login first. Presenter Mladen Karadzoski Abstract Abstract: One of the main strategic priorities of the candidate and potential candidate countries is the membership in the European Union. But, on this road, there are a lot of standards and criteria which should be fulfilled by Iceland, Turkey, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia before they join the Union. Some of the fundamental criteria for accession of the candidate and potential candidate countries in the European Union are connected with the appropriate reforms of their public administrations. One part of the so-called Madrid criteria is related to the functionality of the public administrations of these countries. Each of the candidate and potential candidate countries should respect the principles of the European administrative space, (EAS) i.e. to have effective, efficient, responsive, service-oriented, competent and responsible public administration. That is a basic precondition for a successful integration of the candidate and potential candidate countries towards the European Union. Although there are not unified standards and criteria related to the organization and functioning of the public administrations in each of the EU countries, but also in the candidate and potential candidate countries, still, the above mentioned principles of the EAS should be part of the every day work of the public administrations in each of these countries. TWINNING is an instrument which enables experts from the EU countries to work together with the competent public servants from the candidate and potential candidate countries, so together they can contribute for the improvement of the capacities of the public administration in each of these countries. For these reasons, the main goal of this paper will be to analyze the form and the content of the Twinning programs, and to explain their role in the processes of reforming and recomposing the different areas of public administrations in each of the candidate and potential candidate EU countries. The most frequent methods which will be used in this paper are the descriptive, analytical, and comparative method, because of the character of the paper. The main results which should come out of this paper are detection of the irregularities in the application of the Twinning programs in each of the candidate and potential candidate countries for EU membership, and suggesting an appropriate model for better implementation of the Twinning programs in each of the countries-beneficiaries of these programs.
