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The economic and political development of the Western Balkans have significant consequences for the European Union (EU) and other neighbouring countries. Home to 18 million people, the region lies at the geopolitically strategic crossroads of Central Europe, the Adriatic and Black Sea regions. Peace and security in the Western Balkans is of utmost importance. In this respect, inclusive economic growth that creates improved living standards and opportunities for all segments of society needs to be vigorously pursued. This cannot be achieved without adherence to the rule of law, nor without well-functioning democratic institutions and public administrations. Despite progress in recent years, much remains to be done. The current global crisis caused by COVID-19 has underscored the need for good governance, as its economic impact will greatly depend on the decision-making qualities of governments.
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The first edition of Government at a Glance: Western Balkans presents a dashboard of key indicators on how governments in this region work and perform. These indicators allow governments to compare their performance to each other and to OECD countries, and their practices to those in the EU and OECD. The policy chapter focusses on the fundamentals of the EU accession process as defined by the European Commission: democracy and public administration reform, rule of law and economic governance.
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In order to accurately interpret the data included in Government at a Glance: Western Balkans, readers need to be familiar with the following methodological considerations that cut across a number of indicators. The standard format for the presentation of indicators is a double page spread. The first page contains text that explains the relevance of the topic and highlights some of the major differences observed across six countries and economies of the Western Balkan region, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia, and, where possible, their data are benchmarked against, the OECD and the OECD-EU data. This is followed by a “Methodology and definitions” section, which describes the data sources and provides important information necessary for interpreting the data. Additional information regarding country data can be found in the specific figure notes. Closing the first page is the “Further reading” section, which lists useful background literature providing context for the data displayed. The second page showcases the data. The figures show current levels and, where possible, trends over time. A glossary of the main terms used in the publication can be found in the final chapter.
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The main objective of the Government at a Glance series is to provide reliable and internationally comparable data on government activities and their results. The indicators in Government at a Glance are becoming themselves a measuring standard in many fields of public governance and have extended beyond OECD countries. By broadening the scope to other regions in the world, such as Western Balkans, the publication allows the countries and economies of the Western Balkan region to benchmark their governments’ performance within the region and in relation to the OECD and, specifically in this edition, the OECD-EU. In addition, it allows governments to track their own and international developments over time, and provides evidence to their public policy making. This publication covers six countries and economies of the Western Balkan region which are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia.
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In 2020, the European Commission (EC) presented its proposals for an enhanced accession process, to provide a more credible EU perspective for the Western Balkans. At the core of the revised EU accession process is an “even stronger focus on fundamental reforms, starting with the rule of law, the functioning of democratic institutions and public administration as well as the economy of the candidate countries” combined with a merit-based approach based on objective criteria for accession (EC, 2020[1]).
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This edition of Government at a Glance: Western Balkans included two composite indexes on human resource management (HRM) practices. They are: 1) delegation in human resources management practices; and 2) separate human resources practices for senior civil servants. Data used to construct the composite indexes were derived from 2019 Survey for the Western Balkans on Strategic Human Resources Management and the data for the OECD averages from the 2016 OECD survey on Strategic Human Resources Management. Survey respondents were predominantly senior officials in central government HRM departments, and data refer only to HRM practices at the central government level.
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The following classification was used for the 2019 Survey for the Western Balkans on Strategic Human Resources Management in Central/Federal Government, which resulted from the 2016 OECD Survey on Strategic Human Resources Management updated in 2019. Such classification defines the four main hierarchical levels on occupations. These definitions are broadly based on the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) maintained by the International Labour Organisation, and full definitions are available via the following link: www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/stat/isco/isco08/index.htm. The classification and the definition of the occupations are an adaptation of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08) developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The reason for the adaptation is that not all countries follow the ISCO model to classify their occupations in government, as the occupations included at the national level may differ due to specific legal and administrative frameworks.
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