Enhancing the European Administrative Space (ComPAct)

Summary:

Communication adopted by the European Commission on 25 October 2023, setting out actions to support public administrations across the European Union (EU) to become more resilience, innovation and skilled, and also to strengthen the administrative cooperation between them.

Further information:

High quality public administrations are deemed essential for governance and for the effectiveness of EU and Member States' action. They ought to be action-oriented, tackle emerging challenges, while strengthening public trust. They translate EU policies and legislation into well-designed, evidence-informed, digital-ready and future-proof domestic actions. Public administrations at central, regional and local level are also responsible for ensuring the sound and sustainable management of EU and national budgets. They play a key role in promoting growth across regions, and are essential for democratic governance.

However, the European Commission argues that government effectiveness across the EU should be improved. There are gaps in public administration when it comes to digital preparedness, inconsistencies in the strategic planning and crisis management capabilities. Important differences in terms of quality of services and policymaking were identified across Member States. Public administrations encounter growing difficulties in ensuring a professional and stable workforce.

The Commission has in place a number of tools to support administrative transformation, including the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF), the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) and through the delivery of country and thematic analyses, capacity building, guidance and facilitation of peer exchange. The Commission also maintains engagement with peer administrations notably through two complementary networks, the Expert Group on Public Administration and the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN).

This Communication puts forward the first ever comprehensive set of actions (known as the ComPAct) aimed at better assisting Member States' administrations in preparing for existing reform needs and anticipating future trends, based on a common set of public administration principles. It was adopted on 25 October 2023.

Official

European Commission: Reform Support: Public Administration and Governance coordination https://reform-support.ec.europa.eu/public-administration-and-governance-coordination_en

European Commission: Structural Reform Support: Enhancing the European Administrative Space (ComPAct) https://commission.europa.eu/about-european-commission/departments-and-executive-agencies/structural-reform-support/enhancing-european-administrative-space-compact_en

European Commission: Press Release, 25/10/2023: A Europe that supports: towards a modern and effective public administration https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_5183

European Commission: Questions and Answers on the Communication on Enhancing the European Administrative Space (ComPAct) (25 October 2023) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_23_5184

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