Slovenia

This book presents a comprehensive review of governance and public management in Slovenia.It identifies how reforms can better reinforce each other in support of overall government objectives and examines reform strategies that have worked in other countries to provide a series of recommendations.

The OECD review of public governance in Slovenia was commissioned in March 2011 by the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration and the Government Office for Development and European Affairs, in support of more effective and efficient public governance and a sharper Slovenian response to the issues raised by the fiscal and economic crisis. The Slovenian Government had already been developing a range of reforms to strengthen public governance, which the review takes into account.

This chapter analyses the governance structures and decision-making processes at the Centre of Government and within individual ministries. It considers three issues of key importance to the effectiveness of these structures and processes. The first is the political and administrative interface. The second is the institutional framework and responsibilities of the Centre of Government. Finally, the chapter examines the related issues of co-ordination, collaboration and co-operation within the central public administration.

Slovenia’s small and open economy raises its sensitivity to global developments, and the recession in 2009 generated a strong fiscal deterioration and worrisome upward trend in the public debt, although both the public debt and deficit are expected to remain below the OECD average. Urgent fiscal consolidation measures have included the reduction of public sector employment and the public sector wage bill in order to reduce operational expenditure. At the same time, a well-functioning public administration is critical to helping the government set a workable strategy for recovery and long-term growth, and to identify and implement the policy measures in support of this. The effectiveness of the public administration as well as its efficiency needs attention at this stage, requiring actions to strengthen strategy planning and its link to budgeting; rationalisation of internal functions and structures; establishing a more coherent Centre of Government and strengthening the political/administrative interface; and addressing contextual issues such as legislative complexity that undermine flexibility and the implementation of reforms.

This chapter considers the issues that will need to be addressed in order to ensure that reform actually happens. It considers three specific challenges for Slovenia. The first is a reliance on legislation and a general context of overregulation. The second is Slovenia’s constitutional context and the system of public referenda. Finally, the chapter considers the role of the social partners and the influence of trade unions.

This chapter considers Slovenia’s machinery of government, that is to say, the systems and structures of government and the linked issue of HR management. It starts with a review of how Slovenia might reorganise and rationalise its machinery of government. It goes on to examine how a more strategic approach can be taken to workforce reduction, and how the use of performance management systems to achieve results can be strengthened. Finally, it assesses how Slovenia can further develop a whole-of-government vision and strengthen its central HR function.