This publication contains those papers presented at the seminar: the Issues Paper prepared by Professor Jacques Ziller, University of Sorbonne, and five country papers prepared by national experts, presenting the situation and experience in their...

Professional administrative leadership is regarded as crucial in all OECD countries for the quality and efficiency of the administration at large as well as for its corporate culture. This issue has been dealt with differently in different countries....

The development and implementation of public administration reform (PAR) and sector strategies are both processes that require identifying the core problems a given country administration is facing, setting clear objectives and targets to address...

The institutions that make up the centre of government (CoG) play a crucial role in the policymaking process and help to ensure that government decisions are timely, evidence-informed, strategic and consistent. Despite this prominent role, the CoG...

This publication is based on a Sigma paper and on reports by EU Member States prepared in 2005 at the request of several new Member States. The original paper and some Member State reports were then used as background documentation for a Sigma...

The aim of this paper is to explore the most problematic aspects of information access legal regimes and to provide some guidelines to policy makers, including legislators, governments and public administrators. The analysis is based on the...

This paper is the result of a comparison of the audit practices with respect to the audit of secret and politically sensitive subjects by the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI’s) of France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Not only do...

Countries that are candidates for European Union (EU) accession face the complex and urgent task of building administrative institutions so that they can fulfil the “Copenhagen criteria”. Such institutions must be able to implement the acquis...

Before joining the EU in May 2004, Central and Eastern European countries were required to professionalise their civil services. Most were perceived as having made improvements sufficient to be granted EU membership status. But what happened next?...

Subnational governments play a significant role in ensuring good public governance. The way that they are organised and function has a direct impact on the economic and social well-being of citizens and public trust in government. This report...

European Neighbourhood East countries have been actively engaged in improving service delivery for citizens and businesses for some time. Some have opted for flagship initiatives (often with large-scale, one-stop shop solutions), some for...

Public sector remuneration systems are shaped by an intricate interaction of administrative culture, economic conditions, and political systems. This paper discusses critical considerations to bear in mind when designing, planning and implementing...

This paper sets out a strategy calling for a radical overhaul of the manner in which both the EU and aspiring member states define and implement what the Copenhagen criteria refer to as the “Rule of Law” in pursuit of the elusive goal of...

The SIGMA Paper is drawn from a report on relations between Supreme Audit Institutions and parliamentary committees, prepared for the network of Presidents of the Supreme Audit Institutions of Central and Eastern Countries, Cyprus, Malta and the...

The paper provides a comparative analysis of the regulatory impact assessment (RIA) systems of the six Western Balkans administrations, showing how they have been used to ensure evidence-based lawmaking and EU law transposition. The regulatory and...

The European Commission requested Sigma to carry out a study on the regulatory management capacities of the ten countries that joined the EU on 1 May 2004 to learn more about their Better Regulation practices, exchange good practices and make...

This report discusses the costs and benefits of the transition from cash to accrual accounting in the public sector for SIGMA partners in the Western Balkans and the European Neighbourhood. The countries are attracted by the promises of accrual...

The public service in central and eastern Europe has to adapt to an enormous number of changes in a very short time. The staff is faced with a constantly changing regulatory framework which needs implementation and enforcement, as well as new demands...

How do Member States regulate their national public procurement systems below the EU thresholds and in areas not regulated in detail by the EU Directives? This paper provides the reader with an overview of different national policies, rules and...

This study provides a comparative analysis of the public procurement review and remedies systems of Member States. Twenty-four separate overviews of public procurement systems in the 24 participating Member States were produced on the basis of...