in the second half of 2011
In the framework of the Polish Presidency in the Council of the EU in the second half of 2011, Poland was chairing works of the European Public Administration Network - EUPAN. It is an informal network of the Directors General responsible for Public Administration in the Member States of the European Union, the European Commission and observer countries - representatives of Norway, Switzerland, candidate countries - as well as other organizations. NISPAcee was also invited to participate. NISPAcee Executive Director Ludmila Gajdosova represented NISPAcee in EUPAN meetings.
The Polish Presidency took the lead of EUPAN, after the approval of the Medium Term Priorities (MTP) for a period of 18 months (1 July 2011 – 31 December 2012) during the Hungarian Presidency in June 2011. The new MTP has been developed by Poland, Denmark and Cyprus under the horizontal theme of ‘An Open, Adaptable and Performing Public Administration’. This theme has been unfolded into three sub-themes: In the wake of the crisis, Top executives and Governing a performing organization.
During Polish Presidency, Civil Service Department in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Poland (CSD CPM), involved in cooperation within EUPAN, organised 13 meetings:
- Extended Troika Secretariat (2) – held in the Chancellery on 2 September, for 10 participants, and on the 1 December for 8 participants;
- Joint working groups meetings (2) – Human Resources Working Group Meeting and Innovative Public Services Group (HRWG/IPSG) – held on 12-13 September in the chancellery, for 85 participants and on 17-18 November in Radisson Blu Hotel Cracow for 65 participants;
- 6. Quality Conference (6.QC) – organized on 29-30 September in Jan III Sobieski Hotel in Warsaw for ab. 300 participants;
- Extended DG Troika (2) – held in the Chancellery on 10 October for 17 participants and on 11 December for 14 participants;
- Customer Satisfaction Management Learning Team (CSM LT) – held in the Chancellery on 13 October for 18 participants;
- Common Assessment Framework Expert Group (CAF EG) – held in the Chancellery on 14 October for 20 participants;
- Training on the new EUPAN webpage management – held in the Chancellery on 24 October for 12 participants;
- 57th Meeting of the Directors General and Meeting of the Directors General and TUNED – held in the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw on the 12–13 December for 100 participants in total.
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Top issues of the Polish Presidency in EUPAN
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About 650 people participated in the meetings. The meetings were very well evaluated by participants – according to the results of evaluation surveys, average score of the meetings, which were a subject to evaluation, in a 6-point scale from 0 to 5, is: 4.34 (HRWG – IPSG in Warsaw) and 4.71 (HRWG – IPSG in Cracow) and 4.31 (6QC).
Family photo. First HRWG – IPSG meeting under the Polish Presidency in EUPAN, 12-13 September 2011. Chancellery of the Prime Minister in Warsaw. Photo: CSD CPM.
Among most important events, the joint working group meetings of HRWG – IPSG are worth mentioning. First meeting was held on 12-13 September in the CPM in Warsaw. In that meeting a total of 85 representatives from EU Member States and Switzerland, Croatia, Turkey, Montenegro, the European Commission, OECD, EIPA, NISPAcee took part. The main project of HRWG during the Polish Presidency was a joint survey on Effectiveness of Good Governance and Ethics in Central Administration: Evaluating Reform Outcomes in the Context of Financial Crisis. The study was conducted by well-known and recognized by the scientific community, EIPA staff - prof. Christoph Demmke and Timo Moilanen. During the HRWG meeting, key issues concerning the future of flexicurity and employment status in the Civil Service were also discussed. In the framework of the IPSG group, participants discussed two main topics: 1) building image of public administration / Civil Service and 2) top executives as enablers of change and innovation. Within these two issues, the representatives of selected countries presented good practices that have served as a starting point for further discussion. The discussion on building image of public administration / Civil Service was continued during the next HRWG – IPSG meeting in Cracow as well as during the meeting of EUPAN Directors General and TUNED (Trade Unions’ National and European administration Delegation) – held during the second day of the 57th Directors General meeting in Warsaw. The discussion on the role of top executives started the analysis of the topic, that in a wider range will be continued during the course of the Danish Presidency of EUPAN. Finally the preliminary results of the use of the CAF (Common Assessment Framework) study were presented. During the joint HRWG – IPSG plenary session, the role of think tanks in supporting decision-making processes was discussed.
Discussion during the HRWG meeting. Second HRWG – IPSG meeting under the Polish Presidency in EUPAN, 17-18 November, Radisson Blu Hotel Cracow. Photo: CSD CPM.
The second meeting of HRWG and IPSG working groups, with about 65 participants, was held on 17-18 November in Radisson Blu Hotel in Cracow. During HRWG meeting, preliminary results of a study on Effectiveness of Good Governance and Ethics in Central Administration: Evaluating Reform Outcomes in the Context of Financial Crisis were presented and discussed. Proposal of an updated version of the EUPAN manual was shown. On the basis of national practices, participants also discussed the ways of cooperation and coordination at a top management level. During IPSG meeting - the sixth Quality Conference, held in September in Warsaw, was summarized. Participants discussed the best use of its results and the sustainability of this kind of events in the future. The results of the Customer Satisfaction Management Learning Team (CSM LT) (meeting held on 13 October) were summarized (according to EUPAN DG decision, LT activity was terminated together with the end of the Polish Presidency – work related to client satisfaction management issues will be continued in the framework of IPSG activities). IPSG meeting was the opportunity to present and discuss the final results of the CAF study conducted among the CAF users (CAF Expert Group met on 14 October in Warsaw) as well as to discuss ideas related to further works on the CAF development in the context of the achieved results of the study. During joint session, participants discussed issues related to building a positive image of Civil Service.
Opening of the 6th Quality Conference in Warsaw - video speech of the then President of the European Parliament, prof. Jerzy Buzek. On the photo: Prof. J.Buzek, Director of the CSD D. Długosz, Head of C.S. S.Brodziński, prof. H.Hatry, prof. G.Bouckaert, P.Staes, European CAF Resource Centre. 29 September 2011, Jan III Sobieski Hotel, Warsaw. Photo: CSD CPM.
One of the most important event of the Polish Presidency was the 6th Quality Conference organised on 29-30 September in "Jan III Sobieski” Hotel in Warsaw. The conference was opened (in a speech video) by the then President of the European Parliament, prof. Jerzy Buzek. The motto of the conference - devoted to issues of quality and efficiency in public sector management was - Doing the right things right. Main themes of the 6th QC was a shift from the traditional "micromanagement" of specific organizations to "metamanagement" extending beyond the structural limitations, customer-focused culture within the public administration, results-oriented leadership in the public sector and the implementation of the outcome & result-oriented thinking and culture in public administration. In 2 - day plenary sessions and working groups participated nearly 300 people, representing a higher level of management in the public sector from the EU, international institutions and countries of Eastern Partnership - at the invitation of CSD CPM conference was attended by five representatives of Georgia and Ukraine. The conference transmitted online brought together more than 350 participants from nearly 30 countries. The roles of the main speakers were served by persons
regarded as authorities in the field of management in public administration, including prof. Geert Bouckaert (Catholic University of Leuven) and prof. Harry Hatry (Urban University in Washington, DC). In the two-day conference 6 plenary sessions and 16 workshops/parallel sessions took place, during which 41 representatives from 21 countries presented and put for debate case studies and good practices. It should be emphasized that the participation of representatives of Georgia and Ukraine in the 6th QC, in case of Ukraine also as presenter of good practice, it was an excellent and unique opportunity to share as well as to learn innovative solutions and best practices used in the public administration. It was also an occasion to establish contacts with representatives of EU Member States, which might lead to potential further bilateral cooperation. The possibility to promote the Eastern Partnership initiative during the EUPAN Conference was also the added value. In addition, representatives of Georgia and Ukraine were added to the mailing list, used to distribute all materials and building networks. Participation of representatives of Georgia and Ukraine in 6.QC was co-financed by the Development Co-operation Programme 2011 of the Polish MFA.
Discussion on the results of the ‘ethical’ study. At the presidium table : Head Coordinator of the Polish Presidency in EUPAN, K.Banaś, Head of S.C S. Brodziński, Director of the CSD D.Długosz, Director General of the CPM L.Marcinkowski and researchers’ team: prof. Ch. Demmke and T. Moilanen. 57th DG Meeting in Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw. 12 December 2011. Photo: CSD CPM.
57th Meeting of EUPAN Directors General held on 12-13 December in the Copernicus Science Centre in Warsaw, was traditionally an opportunity to summarize and evaluate the activities of the Polish Presidency and to determine the general orientations of the upcoming presidencies (at the end of the meeting, the Directors-General shall adopt unanimously a resolution, the text preceded by the extensive consultation within EUPAN).
In the resolution of the 57th meeting, the Directors General of EUPAN highly appreciated the work of the network during the Polish Presidency, stressing, among others effective implementation of activities, planned in the Medium Term Priorities and EUPAN Work Programme, as well as an impressive and tangible results achieved under the leadership of Poland. In particular the importance of two initiatives was underlined – the organization of the 6th QC and the conducting of the study Effectiveness of Good Governance and Ethics in Central Administration: Evaluating Reform Outcomes in the Context of Financial Crisis. In the Resolution, the Directors General stressed very good atmosphere of cooperation within the Network coordination bodies (Troika and TRIO) and the effectiveness of the Polish Presidency in improving EUPAN visibility, involving the intensification of cooperation with external partners as well as putting into operation fully functional EUPAN website and its effective management.
As a result of intensive work and strong commitment of all EUPAN members, following documents have been developed during the Polish Presidency:
- Directors General Resolution from their 57th Meeting in Warsaw on 12-13 December 2011.
- The final report on Effectiveness of Good Governance and Ethics in Central Administration: Evaluating Reform Outcomes in the Context of Financial Crisis.
- The final report on Study on the use, the support and the future of the Common Assessment Framework.
- Guideline Measure to improve. Improving public sector performance by using citizen-user satisfaction information.
- Summary paper on Building a Positive Image of the Civil Service.
- The Polish Presidency paper on Employment status developments in the national public services and the role of EU Law.
- The EUPAN Handbook – Polish update.
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