Today, 6 November 2023, the High Level Conference on the Implementation of the Updated Principles of Public Administration took place.

The event was attended by representatives of 23 countries. Ukraine was represented by Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oleh Nemchinov and Deputy State Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Oleh Voitovych.

During the event, the participants were introduced to the changes in the 2023 edition of the Principles of Public Administration.

The Principles of Public Administration are a comprehensive framework of standards expressing values and behaviours that citizens and businesses expect from a modern public administration. They were designed to guide the European Union (EU) enlargement and neighbourhood administrations in their reform efforts to address the shortcomings in their public administrations and meet the EU requirements on one of the “fundamentals” of the accession process. The Principles were developed by SIGMA, a joint initiative of the EU and the OECD, principally financed by the EU, at the request of the European Commission (EC). The Principles build on existing EU acquis, OECD legal instruments, other international standards, as well as good practices of the EU and OECD countries.

The structure of the Principles of Public Administration is presented in 6 thematic areas of public administration, 32 principles and 270 sub-principles. The principles outline values, behaviours and outcomes, while the sub-principles provide more detailed guidance on how to achieve these outcomes and ensure adequate administrative capacity. The thematic areas of public administration are as follows:

• Strategy (the government ensures a strategic vision and leadership for an agile, innovative and continuously improving public administration responsive to new challenges);
• Policy development and co-ordination (the government ensures that policies and budgets are harmonised, effectively planned, co-ordinated across whole of government, implemented, monitored and evaluated against clearly defined policy objectives. Ministries develop coherent public policies through an open and participatory process, informed by sound evidence and analysis);
• Public service and human resource management (public servants act with professionalism, integrity and neutrality. They are recruited and promoted based on merit and equal opportunities and have the right competencies to deliver their tasks effectively);
• Organisation, accountability and oversight (the organisation of the public administration is efficient and effective across all levels of government. Public administration bodies are open and transparent and apply clearly defined internal and external accountability mechanisms. Strong oversight bodies protect the rights of citizens and the public interest);
• Service delivery and digitalisation (the public administration places users at the centre and delivers high-quality and easily accessible services online and offline to all people and businesses. Digitalisation enables data-driven decisions, effective and efficient processes, as well as high-quality and accessible services);
• Public financial management (the public administration plans and manages public finances to ensure that they are sustainable and transparent and allow the delivery of policy objectives. Control, procurement and oversight arrangements are in place to ensure the economic, efficient and effective use of public resources shared across all levels of government).

In addition, for the effective implementation of the values set out in each Principle, the following prerequisites are crucial:

• adequate legislative framework (both primary and secondary legislation);
• established institutional and organisational set-up with clearly defined responsibilities, as well as adequate capacities of responsible institutions;
• the right people with the right skills, supported by good management;
• orientation towards outcomes for citizens and businesses;
• government decisions informed by reliable evidence and data;
• systematic monitoring and evaluation of performance to create a learning and feedback loop;
• organisational culture internalising the desired values and behaviours;
• change management.