Modernising Public Administration
‘Toolbox’
Florian HAUSER,
DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion
Outline
 Background: Why a ‘toolbox’? Who is
the intended audience?
 Scope & structure
 Case study material
 Example content
 Next steps & timings
 Questions for you
Why an MPA toolbox?
 Non-prescriptive guidance: presents COM thinking and initiatives on
modernising public administration in one place (laws, reports, agendas,
programmes, communications, etc.)
 Working together: MPA is multi-faceted; Inter-service Group on
Institutional Capacity and Administrative Reform, chaired by DG EMPL
 Drawing on international experience: EU-funded and other studies;
country-level initiatives (both new and tried & tested)
 Links to European Semester and ESIF: suggestions for implementing
country-specific recommendations and OPs under thematic objectives
(especially TO11)
Main audiences
Member States:
• Policy-makers in PAR (central, regional, local)
• ESIF managing authorities
• Civil Society
COM Services: knowledge management within & across
Scope and structure
• Introduction (“guide for readers”)
• Principles & values of good governance
• Seven thematic chapters:
1. Better policy-making
2. Embedding ethical & anti-corruption practices
3. Professional and well-performing institutions
4. Improving service delivery (see example)
5. Enhancing the business environment
6. Strengthening the quality of judicial systems
7. Managing public funds effectively (including
public procurement and ESIF)
Note: links across themes
Case study material
• Inspiring examples: interesting, relevant and potentially
transferable
• Geographical spread: all EU-28; exceptionally rest of world
• Sources:
• EU-funded studies, published by the European Commission
• Competitions: European Public Sector Award (EPSA) &
Crystal Scales of Justice
• Meetings of European Public Administration Network
(EUPAN)
• European & Common Assessment Framework (CAF) Public
Sector Quality Conferences
• OECD reports
• Sources provided by EC Services, their High-Level Groups &
Expert Groups, and the European Institute of Public
Administration (EIPA).
• Currently in the phase of checking (up-to-date / agreement)
Outline content
(chapter 1)
Chapter 1: Better policy-making
Ways and tools to strengthen
capacity
How is policy designed? What and who
informs decision-making? How can
governments move towards more
reflective, long-term planning?
What instruments are available to
policy-makers to achieve their policy
goals? What are their relative merits?
How best should they be implemented?
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How does the administration know if
the policy has been achieved? How can
the administration strive for still-better
performance and more creative
solutions to established and emerging
problems?
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Policy fundamentals
Forward planning
Strategy preparation
Consultation and co-design
Fiscal measures (performance
budgeting)
Laws and the regulatory framework
Institutional structures and reforms
Co-production
Evaluation (including co-evaluation)
Performance audits
External scrutiny
Public sector innovation
Outline content
(chapter 2)
Chapter 2: Embedding ethical & anticorruption practices
Ways and tools to strengthen
capacity
How do public administrations set the
framework for promoting integrity and
combatting corruption?
 Clear statements of ethical values &
standards
 Risk-based strategies (risk assessment, risk
mapping)
 Laws (corruption) & regulations (conflicts of
interest)
 Integrity coordinators
 Anti-corruption agencies
 Open government & access to information
 External scrutiny
 Merit-based recruitment & other HR
techniques
 Ethics training & dilemma training
 Disclosure of interests, income & assets
 Administrative simplification, controls &
automation
 Whistle-blowing mechanisms
 Investigation, prosecution & sanctions
What role can transparency play in
(re)building trust among the public?
What preventative measures can
administrations take to strengthen ethical
performance and reduce the scope for
corruption?
What can administrations do to detect and
act on corruption when it occurs?
Outline content
(chapter 3)
Chapter 3:
Professional & well- Ways & tools to strengthen capacity
performing institutions
Do we know what we do, why we
are doing it and how we do it?
 Mission, vision and strategy development
 Monitoring
 Accountability
How do we ensure good and
strong public sector leadership?
 De-politicisation
 Professionalization
How do we enhance a modern
HRM policy?
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Do we foster a culture of quality
management thinking and
continuous improvement in public
sector organisations?
 Triggering, stimulating, supporting and
rewarding public sector organisations
 Using quality management instruments
Regulation
Recruitment
Competency development and training
Career systems and promotion
Etc.
Outline content
Chapter 4: Improving service delivery
(chapter 4)
Ways & tools to strengthen capacity
 Direct contact (surveys, panels, and focus
groups)
 Indirect feedback and representation
 Mystery shopping
 ‘Life events’ analysis & customer journey
mapping
How do we improve our processes in  Process re-engineering
 Administrative simplification
order to optimise service delivery?
 One stop shops
Are user demands met through the
 Multi-channel service delivery
‘front office’ interface with the
administration?
 Interoperability
Given all of the above, do we make
 Online life events
best use of e-government in
 Key enablers (e-ID, single sign-on, etc.)
delivering these services through
 ‘Once only’ registration
online channels?
 ‘Digital by default’
 ‘Open by default’
Do we know how satisfied users are  Users’ service charters
 Satisfaction measurement and
with our services and how we
Do we know what citizens / users
expect from our organisation in
terms of services and their delivery?
Outline content
Chapter 5: Enhancing the business
environment
(chapter 5)
Ways and tools to strengthen capacity
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How can public administrations ensure easy, fast
and cheap access to public services at all stages of 
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the business cycle?
What can administrations do to encourage aspiring 
entrepreneurs, by reducing the cost, time & steps to 
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start up?
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How can administrations best support established
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businesses to operate, employ, and expand if
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desired?
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How do authorities make trade, especially beyond
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the EU’s borders, as seamless for business as
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possible?
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Faced with business closure, what is the best way to 
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protect the interests of all parties and create the
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conditions for new or re-modelled businesses to
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emerge?
How can we make compliance with essential ‘red
tape’ as painless as possible for all businesses?
Administrative simplification programmes
Mitigating measures to reduce burdens
Awareness-raising and clarification of essential rules
Certification of good public services
‘Indivisible’ government
Points of Single Contact & other One-Stop Shops (OSS)
e-Government for business (G2B)
Removing minimum capital requirements
Simplifying registration
Reducing the statistical burden on new start-ups
Unifying corporate data provision (fiscal & statistical)
Easier empowerment of intermediaries
Less frequent declarations; e-filing and e-payment of business taxes
Risk-based tax inspections
Simpler & on-line employer reporting
Interactive online tools and standard templates
Streamlining permit applications
Simplifying & automating property registration
Cutting the incidence of late payment
Reducing reporting thresholds for intra-EU trade
Simplifying import, export & transit procedures
Certification systems to fast-track trade
Risk-based goods inspections
e-Customs
Establishing the ‘Single Window’ in all Member States
Promoting rescue and restructuring in insolvency law
Making available mediators to assist negotiations and reorganisation
Ensuring a second chance for honest bankrupts
Improving efficiency & transparency in insolvency proceedings.
Delving deeper (chapter 5)
Outline content
(chapter 6)
Chapter 6: Strengthening the quality of
judicial systems
Ways and tools to strengthen
capacity
How can the performance of the judicial system
be assessed and its quality assured, drawing on
intelligence from inside and outside the judiciary,
to meet the expectations of citizens and other
users?
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Performance monitoring & reporting
Performance evaluation
Quality groups
Satisfaction surveys & other consultation techniques
Quality management systems
How are judiciaries maximising access to justice
under civil and commercial law, including Europewide case law?
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Information for court users
Media relations
Court coordinators & case law databases
Alternative dispute resolution (arbitration, mediation)
How are justice systems being modernised, so
that the judicial process is better, faster and more
cost-effective?
 Process re-design
 e-Justice
 e-CODEX and e-SENS
How can judges, prosecutors, court
administrators and other legal professionals keep
up-to-date with the latest legislative
developments and changes in the operating
environment?
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Training needs analysis
Curricula and training plans
Training methodologies
Training tools to apply EU law
Assessment of participants´ performance
Outline content
Chapter 7:
effectively
Managing
public
(chapter 7)
funds Ways and tools to strengthen
capacity
How do public administrations ensure that they
fulfil the principles of fiscal governance when
managing spending?
Given public procurement’s share of
government expenditure, how can public
administrations make it more efficient and
accessible, especially to SMEs and across
borders, and use its leverage to boost
innovation?
Given the principle of sound financial
management, how do public administrations
achieve the triple goals of maximising spend,
minimising irregularities, and maximising
impact of ESIF?
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Budget preparation
Budget execution
Internal controls & audit
External audit
Public Procurement of Innovative solutions
(PPI)
 Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP)
 Simplified procedures
 e-Procurement & e-Invoicing
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Roles, responsibilities & coordination
Managing human resources
Tools for project selection, monitoring, etc.
ESIF governance
Example –
breaking ‘silos’
• Example: e-Government as a recurring topic
• e-Participation in policy-making and law-making (theme 1)
• Automating processes to reduce scope for corruption (theme 2)
• e-Government for more efficient back offices, virtual one-stop
shops, and better, faster, cheaper service delivery (theme 4)
• Interoperability & ‘key enablers’ (e-ID, single sign on, etc.)
• ‘Once only’ principle of data registration
• ‘Digital by default’ & ‘open by default’
• e-Services to improve service delivery & reduce the
administrative burden on business, e.g. e-Customs (theme 5)
• e-Justice for a more efficient, quality judicial system with better
access to justice (theme 6)
• e-Procurement to open up tendering and speed up the process
(theme 7)
Next steps
& timing
1. Full draft toolbox prepared and circulated:
end October
2. Contacting cases (update / approval):
September -> November
3. Finalising all chapters: end November
4. Lay-out and publication: December
5. Dissemination: January onwards
Questions
for you
1. Do you see this as a useful initiative? Does it present new
information, or just repeat existing knowledge? Is the format
user-friendly?
2. How best to publish? Two options:
E-book (navigate with links to other themes, topics, case studies)
Hard copy (extended summary / link to e-book, or publication per
chapter)
3. What would you like to see in terms of follow-up /
dissemination? Would you like to see more of the ‘toolbox' – if
so, what, how and in which format? (e.g. focus on case
studies, topical seminars)?