On Monday, 27 February, the Memorandum of Understanding was signed with 20 local self-governments within the project “Human Resources Management in Local Self-Government”, funded by the Council of Europe and the European Union. The signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding are: Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, City of Belgrade, City of Niš, City of Novi Sad, City of Kragujevac, City Municipality Savski Venac – Belgrade, City Municipality Stari Grad – Belgrade, City of Pančevo, City of Kraljevo, City of Smederevo, City of Zrenjanin, City of Čačak, City of Valjevo, City of Loznica, City of Pirot, Municipality of Bač, Municipality of Trstenik, Municipality of Medvedja, Municipality of Raška, Municipality of Svrljig and Municipality of Bujanovac.
The Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade, Mr Tim Cartwright, praised the local officials for the enthusiasm and commitment they have shown for this joint EU/CoE endeavour, for which 93 local self-government units applied. The total budget of the project is € 2 million. It is jointly financed by the European Union and the Council of Europe, and is implemented by the Council of Europe in close co-operation with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities. Mr Cartwright stressed that local self-governments and their employees play a key role in the public administration reform, since they make decisions and provide services that affect the daily life of citizens. This is why, he said, it is of vital importance to make sure that local administrations are professional and efficient and that local employees are accountable and responsible in their work. As Mr Cartwright explained, the objective of this Project is to help local self-governments to assess the needs of their employees, put the best people in the best places, reward endeavour and achievement, and correct under-performance.
The Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Serbia, Ambassador Michael Devenport, highlighted the public administration is one of the pillars of the European Union, thus representing a priority in the enlargement policy, and added that employees in local administrations must be aware of their responsibility towards citizens. “Public administration, together with the rule of law and progress in economic reforms are three interconnected pillars” he said, and underlined that the establishment of legal framework for an efficient public administration is only the beginning, since good governance “requires also an employment system built on professional knowledge and expertise and not on political affiliation”.
By the end of March, the Serbian Government will enact a new Decision on the maximum number of employees in public administration, which will no longer stipulate a linear decrease of the number of employees, said the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Ms Ana Brnabić. Good local self-government units will thus no longer be punished, and will be allowed to employ new staff if their current number of employees is below the optimum or the given minimum, Minister Brnabić said at the signing ceremony of Memorandum of Understand with 20 municipalities, cities, city-municipalities within the framework of the Project “Human Resources Management in Local Self-Government”. She announced the establishment of a National Academy for Public Administration, as a future independent institution under the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, which will educate and professionally train employees in local administrations.
The General Secretary of the Standing Conference of Towns and Municipalities, Mr Đorđe Staničić, emphasized that the objective of the professional development of employees in public administration is to improve their efficiency and quality of services they provide to citizens. He also confirmed that the Standing Conference will make sure all other local self-government units, that are not piloted within this Project, are informed about the achievements of this Project and supported in their own efforts.
