Institutional Structures for Public Administration Reform (PAR)
12/10/2017
At the meeting held on the 6th of October, 2017, the Government of Kosovo has taken the decision no. 07/07, by which it approved the institutional structures responsible for certain areas within the framework of public administration reform. This decision revoked two Government Decisions of 2015 by which separate structures for the entire management of public administration reform were adopted: decision 05/09 on the organization and functioning of the Council of Ministers and decision 09/13 on the organization and functioning of other structures for the implementation of the strategic framework for public administration reform. According to the recent decision, these institutional structures are: the Council of Ministers, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), the Ministry of Public Administration (MPA), the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Department of Public Administration Reform Management (DMRAP).
These structures have different roles and in their entirety constitute structures for the entire management of public administration reform. The Ministerial Council’s role is to direct and supervise at political level all the issues related to public administration reform. OPM, MPA, and MoF are responsible for implementing the activities of the strategic framework for public administration reform and all three institutions have separate working areas according to the strategies that make up this framework. For instance, the OPM is responsible for the development and coordination of policies and legislation, the MPA is responsible for civil service, human resources, accountability and delivery of public services, and the MoF is responsible for public finance management.
To facilitate coordination between the three institutions, the Secretaries-General have the role of coordinators and report on the activities they cover in the Council of Ministers. The other structure is DMRAP, at the MPA, which is responsible for coordinating and monitoring the implementation of strategic documents and reports to the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers, in this case to the Minister of MAP. One of the important tasks of DMRAP is the preparation of annual reports on the implementation of the strategic framework for public administration reform, and based on the findings, it recommends to the Council of Ministers the updating of the specific strategies that represent the strategic framework. DMRAP also has the role of the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers.
The Strategic Framework for Public Administration Reform consists of four strategies: 1) Strategy for Improving Policy Planning and Coordination in Kosovo 2017-2021, 2) Better Regulation Strategy, 3) Strategy on Modernization of Public Administration 2016-2020 and 4) Public Finance Management Reform Strategy 2016-2020. These four strategies fall under three of the above mentioned institutions: the OPM for Strategies 1 and 2, the MAP for Strategy 3, and the MoF for Strategy 4. By completing the strategic framework and structures with roles and responsibilities for the overall management of public administration reform, their implementation remains a priority and challenge. Based on the first monitoring reports on their implementation and based on the findings of the European Commission Country Report for 2016, their implementation has had significant delays so far.
