Phases of state administration development in Croatia

1. Phases of state administration development in Croatia

2. Special circumstances • The Croatian public administration was confronted with special circumstances related to its historical development: - The dissolution of the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia - The struggle for the independence of the Croatian state - The transition from a one-party to a multy-party political system - The transition from an economy based on social ownership to a market economy with mostly private ownership structure - war and destruction

3. Development phases • 1.Establishmentphase started with independence gained in 1990 and finished with administrative reforms in 1993 • 2. Consolidationphase 1993-2001 • 3. Europeanization phasewas initiated with a new package of reform measures motivated mainly by the political decision to enter the process of Europeanization • 4. Modernisationof the Croatian state administration.

4. Establishment phase • The Constitution of 1990 introduced the semi-presidential system • The first significant reform of the territorial administrative system began in 1993

5. Consolidation phase • From 1993 to 2001, public administration in Croatia developed in the conditions of etatisation, centralisation, and politicisation of an authoritarian type • The first systematic law that regulated Croatian state administration was the Law on the System of State Administration of 1993 • The key role in the new system was given to the regional, county level, as a supervisory and decreeing middle level between the central government on the one hand, and local units on the other

6. Problems in the second phase • etatisation(a situation in which the state appropriates the public services from the former local self-government units, followed by redistribution of public revenues, responsibility, significance and power) • centralisation (or lack of decentralisation) • politicisation of an authoritarian type

7. Europeanization phase • The previous semi-presidential system was substituted with the parliamentary one • Croatian legislature began to harmonize the relevant provisions of national law with the European Charter of Local Self-Government • The Stabilisation and Association Agreement was signed in 2001 • Croatia was granted the candidate country status in June 2004 and became a member state in 2013

8. Modernisation phase Problems: • Corruption • Centralization • Problems in civil service/public administration employment • Lack of the technological modernization

9. Aims • Main administrative principles to be achieved: • Reliability and predictability (legal certainty) • Openness and transparency • Accountability • Efficiency and effectiveness

10. Reliability and predictability • The rule of law (“administration through law”) • Legal competence – public authorities can only decide on matters for which they have legal jurisdiction • Administrative discretion (discretionary powers – some degree of choice is left to the decision-maker) • Timeliness • Professionalism • Professional integrity (impartiality)

11. Openness and transparency • Opennness – administration is available for outside scrutiny • Transparency – When examined closely, it can be ‘seen through’ for the purpose of supervision • Purpose: to protect public interest and prevent corruption

12. Accountability • The administrative body is answerable for its actions to another administrative, legislative or judicial authorities • No authority is exempt from review by others

13. Efficiency • Efficiency in the performance of public administration • a managerial value consisting in essence of maintaining a good ratio between resources employed and results attained

14. Effectiveness • Effectiveness – ensuring that the performance of public administration is successful in achieving the goals and solving public problems set for it by law and government

15. Croatian citizens consider that our public administration is: - distant - formal - corrupted -not proffesional - expensive • True or false?

16. Thank you for your attention!