Österreich 2006  Präsidentschaft der Europäischen Union Austria 2006  Presidency of the European Union Autriche 2006  Présidence de L‘Union européenne slide 1 46th Meeting of Directors General responsible for Public Administration Vienna, 29th May 2006 Decentralisation and Accountability as Focus of Public Administration Modernisation A Comparative European Perspective Christoph Demmke Gerhard Hammerschmid Renate Meyer

slide 2 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 2 Context and Relevance of the Survey Decentralisation and accountability as main trends of PA modernisation Central Survey Questions: 1.Is there a common reform agenda? 2.Is there a trend towards HR decentralisation and individualisation? 3.Which HR issues are centralised/ decentralised? 4.What is the role and involvement of different actors? 5.Does decentralisation lead to accountability problems? 6.What are the implications for the PAs?

slide 3 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 3 Main Drivers for PA Modernisation  Considerable variations between public administration traditions  Little relevance of country size and HR system EC

slide 4 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 4 Diversity of PA Modernisation Topics

slide 5 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 5 Decentralisation – A Multifaceted Concept Organisational/managerial decentralisation (“agencies”)  eg. Austria, EC, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands, Sweden, UK Legal and political (multi-level) decentralisation  eg. Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Spain Budgetary decentralisation  eg. EC, France, Sweden HR decentralisation –from government-wide HR unit to single ministries/agencies  eg. Austria, EC, Hungary, Ireland, Malta, Poland, Spain, Sweden, UK –increasing amount of discretion given to line managers  eg. Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Sweden –regional  eg. Greece, Ireland, Sweden  Many good practices proposed in the study allowing diverse solutions fitting best the specific context

slide 6 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 6 highly centralhighly decentral Higher Management Autonomy Goes Hand in Hand with Higher Multi-Actor Involvement low multi-actor involvement high multi-actor involvement

slide 7 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 7 highly decentral HR System and PA Tradition Matter Size Does Not Size Does Not highly centrallow multi-actor involvement high multi-actor involvement

slide 8 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 8 Centralised and Decentralised HR Issues centralised decentralised

slide 9 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 9 Involvement of Line/Agency Management and Trade Unions/Staff Representatives line / agency managementtrade unions / staff representatives high level of involvement: performance management performance related pay training and development disciplinary decisions high level of involvement: fixed salaries dismissal of employees head count reductions working time issues

slide 10 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 10 Degree of Involvement of Government-wide HR Units

slide 11 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 11 Central unit government-wide generally strong: –codes of conduct/ethical norms –fixed salaries –head count reductions generally low: –disciplinary procedures –teleworking –public procurement lower in Scandinavian and Baltic countries lower in position-based HR systems Involvement of Central Units Central unit ministry-wide generally strong: –new line manager recruitment –training and development –disciplinary procedures –employee dismissal –altering task responsibilities –teleworking –headcount reductions –relocating staff stronger in Continental, Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian Countries stronger in position-based HR systems

slide 12 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 12 Interrelationship between Decentralisation and Accountability General agreement on positive impact of (HR)decentralisation Broad spectrum of tools to balance possible side-effects Decentralisation requires creation of new coordination and accountability structures Performance and external accountability on the rise Traditional forms of political, hierarchical and ministerial accountability are still the dominating forms A broad spectrum of reform initiatives to strengthen accountability

slide 13 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 13 Reform Initiatives to Strengthen Accountability and Policy Coherence Performance Management  eg. Austria, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, UK Changes in Legislation  eg. Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia Budget Management and IT  eg. Austria, Bulgaria, Cyprus, EC, Finland, France Soft Coordination and Networking  eg. Belgium, Cyprus, EC, Germany, Ireland, Lativa, Poland Increased Transparency  eg. EC, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Romania, Sweden  Different emphasis depending on HR system, type of accountability and PA tradition

slide 14 46th Meeting of Directors General, Vienna 2006slide 14 Consequences and Challenges Ongoing challenge to balance –Decentralisation and centralisation –(De)centralisation and accountability Increasingly strategic role of central HR units Need to strengthen both management competencies and responsibility/accountability Need to design strategies how to equip managers with the necessary skills and to enable them to carry out new responsibilities (leadership training) Exchanging good practices concerning the involvement of different actors in HR decisions Need to avoid additional bureaucracy and burden  close observation of relationship between HR decentralisation, accountability and a new performance management bureaucracy