Unit 7 Toward a European Administrative Space English for Public Administration IV Snježana Husinec, PhD., shusinec@pravo.hr

Conditions for membership in the EU The Treaty on the European Union states that any European country may apply for membership if it respects the democratic values of the EU and is committed to promoting them. New members are admitted only when they can demonstrate they will be able to play their part fully as members by: complying with all the EU's standards and rules having the consent of the EU institutions and EU member states having the consent of their citizens – as expressed through approval in their national parliament or by referendum.

Criteria of accession The Treaty on European Union sets out the conditions (Article 49) and principles (Article 6(1)) to which any country wishing to become an EU member must conform. The criteria that must be met for admission were established by the Copenhagen European Council in 1993 and strengthened by the Madrid European Council in 1995(known as the Copenhagen criteria) . Countries wishing to join need to have: stable institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities; a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competition and market forces in the EU; the ability to take on and implement effectively the obligations of membership, including adherence to the aims of political, economic and monetary union. The EU also needs to be able to integrate new members. In the case of the countries of the Western Balkans additional conditions for membership, were set out in the so-called 'Stabilisation and Association process', mostly relating to regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations.

Standards in the sphere of public administration Do you expect any standards that the candidate countries are expected to conform to in the sphere of public administration? What would they be? Do you think that the law of the EU provides a model of public administration that the candidate states could implement? Do you know of any EU document which regulates principles or standards of public adminisration for Member States?

Reading comprehension Paragraph 1: What kind of an initiative is SIGMA? What are SIGMA papers? What is the purpose of SIGMA? Paragraph 2: What do countries applying for membership in the EU need to do about their public administration? Do the EU treaties provide a model of public administration?

SIGMA SIGMA (Support for Improvemet in Governance and Management in Central and Eastern European Countries) – a joint initiative that supports public administration reform efforts in countries applying for membership in the EU SIGMA paper – a set of principles of administration in the EU Purpose of SIGMA – to create standards to which the candidate countries are expected to conform in order to align their public administration whith those in the EU Member States

The obligations of public administration of member states in the EU Once a part of the EU what do you think is the authority of different authorities of public administration? Do they need to implement and enforce laws of the EU? If, which ones? What is the main precondition for such functioning of public administration within the EU?

Reading comprehension: Paragraph 3: What are the obligations of the national public adminisration instititutions concerning the acquis? What is the precondition for effective implementation of the acquis in the member states?

The community acquis* The EU's 'acquis' is the accumulated legislation, legal acts, and court decisions which constitute the body of EU law and is binding on all EU countries, as EU Members. It is constantly evolving and comprises: the content, principles and political objectives of the Treaties; legislation adopted in application of the treaties and the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU; declarations and resolutions adopted by the EU; measures relating to the common foreign and security policy; measures relating to justice and home affairs; international agreements concluded by the EU and those concluded by the EU countries between themselves in the field of the EU's activities. Applicant countries are required to accept the acquis before they can join the EU. The acquis must be incorporated by applicant countries into their national legal order by the date of their accession to the EU and they are obliged to apply it from that date. CROATIAN CONSTITUTION – CHAPTER VIII – Legal grounds for membership; Participation in EU institutions; European Union Law; Rights of EU citizens *acquis (French) = that which has been acquired; acquis communautaire/ the community acquis = pravna stečevina Europske unije

Good governance (dobra vladavina) - characteristics GOVERNANCE = the process of decision-making and the process of implementation of decisions Participation  All men and women should have a voice in decision-making, either directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their interests. Rule of law Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human rights. Transparency Transparency is built on the free flow of information. Processes, institutions and information are directly accessible to those concerned with them. Responsiveness Institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders. Consensus orientation Good governance mediates differing interests to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interests of the group and. Equity All men and women have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being. Effectiveness and efficiency Processes and institutions produce results that meet needs while making the best use of resources. Accountability Decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil society organisations are accountable to the public, as well as to institutional stakeholders. Strategic vision Leaders and the public have a broad and long-term perspective on good governance and human development, along with a sense of what is needed for such development.

Multi-level governance in the EU What do you know about the multi-level governance in the EU? What is the difference between vertical and horizontal governance systems?

Multi-level Governance in the EU Local and regional authorities in diverse sectors of the EU (education, the environment, economic development, town and country planning, transport, public services and social policies) are given special rights and competences to enable and preserve diversity of governance at local and regional level. Nearly 95,000 local and regional authorities currently have significant powers in key sectors of the EU implement nearly 70% of EU legislation help ensure the exercise of European democracy and citizenship

Vertical and horizontal governance Multi-level governance has two dimensions: the VERTICAL DIMENSION refers to the linkages between higher and lower levels of government, including their institutional, financial, and informational aspects ( the quality and coherence of public policy) the HORIZONTAL DIMENSION refers to co-operation arrangements between regions or between municipalities (a means by which to improve the effectiveness of local public service delivery and implementation of development strategies)

Reading comprehension Paragraphs 4 and 5: -Why is it important that the horizontal governance system meets the the requirements of the EU? -What is successful implementation and enforcement dependent on? -Is there sufficient general legislation regulating the system of horizontal governance and national public administration? -Are there clear targets for public administration reform in EU candidate states?

Reading comprehension Paragraph 6: Are the ways and means how to achieve the results prescribed by the Treaties and EC secondary legislation concerning public administration? What has the consensus on key componenets of good governance established?

Principles of Public administration in the EU SIGMA developed the Principles of Public Administration to support the European Commission’s reinforced approach to public administration reform in the EU Enlargement process.  SIGMA Papers are prepared as contributions to SIGMA's work with its beneficiaries and focus on specific issues in governance and management, such as financial control, administrative oversight, inter-ministerial co-ordination and public procurement. The Principles define what good public governance entails in practice and outline the main requirements to be followed by countries during the EU integration process. The Principles also feature a monitoring framework to enable regular analysis of progress made in applying the Principles and in setting country benchmarks. The EU acquis requirements and guidelines are the core of the Principles, where relevant. In other areas, the Principles are derived from international standards and requirements, as well as good practices in EU and OECD member countries. As a minimum benchmark of good administration, countries should ensure compliance with these fundamental Principles.

Vocabulary practice I Attach a noun to each of the following verbs. VERB NOUN to accede accession to improve to govern to admit to perform to approve to consent to assess to implement to enforce to adhere to to enlarge to reform

Vocabulary practice I - key to accede - accession to improve - improvement to govern - governance to admit - admission to perform - performance to approve - approval to consent - consent to assess - assessment to implement - implementation to enforce - enforcement to adhere to - adherence to to enlarge - enlargement to reform - reform

Vocabulary practice II Find in the text the phrases /parts of sentences containing the following nouns. Translate them into Croatian. NOUN NOUN PHRASE TRANSLATION improvement accession governance enforcement performance reform

Vocabulary practice II - key Find in the text the phrases / parts of sentences with the following nouns. Translate them into Croatian. NOUN NOUN PHRASE + broader context TRANSLATION improvement accession governance enfocement performance reform discretion Support for improvement in Governance and Management in Central and Eastern Europe Criteria for the accession Matters of governance and public administration / the general principles of good governance Successful implementation and enforcement To ensure that the performance of civil servants is in line with EU standards Targets and orientations for public administration reform in the perspective of EU accession To leave to the discretion of Member countries

Vocabulary practice III Find in the text phrases/parts of sentences containing the following verbs. Translate them into Croatian. VERB VERB PHRASE TRANSLATION to conform to align to apply to assess to implement and enforce to adhere to emerge

Vocabulary practice III - key Find in the text the prases containing the following verbs. Translate them into Croatian. VERB VERB PHRASE + broader context TRANSLATION to conform to align to apply to assess to implement and enforce to adhere to emerge to create standards to which the candidate countries are expected to conform to align their public administration with those in the EU member states to apply for membership in the European Union once the democractic nature of their political regime has been assessed Implement and enforce the community acquis to adhere to the general principle of good governance a general consensus on key components of good governance has emerged among democratic states