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The Executive Director of Centre for Change Management (CCM) Neda Maleska Sacmaroska opened the panel discussion: “Commitment to transparent, effective and enhanced democratic governance in the 21st century” which was held in the framework of the conference: Agenda for enlargement “Achievements and challenges in public administration reform”. Representatives present were: European Parliament / European Commission; SIGMA Representatives of Macedonian state institutions; members of Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia; business sector organized by Progress - Institute for Social Democracy; FRIEDRICH EBERT STIFTUNG Office in Skopje and the Macedonian Center for European Training (MCET).

"If public administration is an integral process through which the government administers its policies and translates them into actions and services, then it is clear why debate on reforms of public administration and its modernization are an important tool for the implementation of effective policies," said Maleska. Hence, the importance of institutions to serve collective interest, to build a better future, to achieve results and public value should be the main imperative of public administration. Furthermore, she highlighted part of the achievements in public administration that the Centre for Change Management worked on the last couple of years with support of the British Embassy, markedly promoting the processes of strategic planning and policy development, Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA), Good Governance Standard for Public Services, introduction of competence management system, introduction of European standards for improving quality of public institution through Self-Assessment (CAF), strengthening of administrative capacity through training , mentoring , advice and etc.

“Unfortunately, the political crisis Macedonia is facing proves that 24 years since the Independence of Macedonia, we are yet unable to produce professional administration outside the influence of political structures. This creates an immense administration governed by clientelism, where political loyalists will be fulfilled after elections. This in turn creates problems in the functioning of the state where employees work for the good of the political party and not for the good of the country. “These conditions shake the trust of the citizens, do not provide fair and equal treatment for all and are in total collision with the principles of righteousness and equal opportunities. Other weaknesses in the functioning of the administration are lack of transparency of institutions, lack of cooperation, poor accountability and control over public finances” adds Maleska. Therefore, several key challenges should be taken into serious consideration in the future. Building administration according to the Merit System Principles will narrow out and reformulate the following questions: What and how much can I do in the interest of the common and public good of the country and future generations?

Other key challenges are; control of government by strengthening the accountability of the institutions, especially in the public finances versus results and achievements. Establishing a mechanism for mandatory evaluation of public policies that consume most resources and a complete change of the focus of public administration- from monitoring the results of institutions in monitoring and improving the performance of the entire social system - the economic and social performance of the society, the quality of life and the satisfaction of citizens of their life in the country. In order to overcome the current situation and to build a professional administration which will be able to address complex questions, such as: reforms in the tax system, pension system reform, reforms in the educational system and other complex multidisciplinary issues, then we need to ensure competitiveness and professionalization and sincere commitment to these issues. The preconditions for effective administration, is a democracy where institutions are transparent and open and always available to the citizens.