Rahandusministeerium Public Administration Development in Estonia Karin Närep Adviser Public Governance Policy Department Ministry of Finance of Estonia 2006 Rahandusministeerium

Overview of the Estonian PA: Institutional structure is set out by the Constitution (1992) according to which Estonia is parliamentary democracy: Estonian parliament - exercising supreme legislative power President of the Republic – Head of State (mainly ceremonial functions) Government of the Republic (the Cabinet) – exercising the executive power The Cabinet – up to 15 members (Ministers), incl ministers without portfolio 11 ministries, each headed by the Minister (in one ministry 2 ministers) State Chancellery assists the Prime Minister and cabinet of ministers

“Public Administration Reform Programme of the Government of the Republic of Estonia” (2001) To achieve with optimum expenditure the performing of public functions so that it takes into account the interests and rights of the citizens, is innovative, flexible, of high-quality and effective. Five strategic areas: - strategy for developing local government and regional administration strategy for optimising the division of functions and co-operation of governing institutions strategy for budget reform and strengthening financial management, internal control and internal audit strategy for developing citizen-oriented public administration strategy for developing civil service

Current situation: since 2002 the previous approach to PA reform as centrally co-ordinated set of activities has been replaced by public administration modernisation as an everyday task of ministries and the State Chancellery (the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Internal Affairs) initiatives and projects in different fields: - implementation of the strategic planning (performance management and reporting) - the improvements in the delivery of public services (service standards, use of IT) - unification of local government units - public sector quality award pilot project

Citizen charters/service standards Decision of the Government in 2000 to launch the elaboration and implementation of citizen charters. Aims: To promote client-orientation in the public sector and to create service agreements between citizens as customers and public sector organisations To link budget costs with real outputs and create some measurable indicators for the evaluation of performance of state agencies

For more information: KARIN NÄREP Adviser Public Governance Policy Department Ministry of Finance of Estonia Phone: + 3726113532 E-mail: karin.narep@fin.ee