This study provides an analysis of the functions, structures and capacity of the central public procurement bodies of Member States. Twenty-two separate overviews of public procurement systems in the 22 participating Member States were produced on the basis of national responses to a detailed...

Central and eastern European countries have been and still are adapting their legal framework to the requirements of a Western market economy and the body of EU legislation, the acquis communautaire. As the harmonisation of the national legal framework to EU standards is one of the yardsticks...

Compliance with the European Union’s budgetary, financial control and audit requirements is one of the basic obligations of EU membership. SIGMA examines this in two publications that chronicle the experiences of seven EU Member States, including its three newest adherents, in integrating EU...

This paper attempts to identify the standards to which EU candidate countries are expected to conform in order to align their public administrations with those of EU Member States. Originating from SIGMA’s work on public administration reform in central and eastern European countries, in...

Countries that are candidates for European Union (EU) accession face the complex and urgent task of building administrative institutions so that they can fulfil the “Copenhagen criteria”. Such institutions must be able to implement the acquis communautaire within tight budget constraints and...

Over the past decade, the European Commission, as the institution responsible for implementing the Community Budget, has taken an increasingly active interest in the effectiveness of the control measures applied by Member States to Community funds. Indeed, it is in the common interest of the...

Improving the performance of youths in the labour market is a crucial challenge in OECD countries facing persistent youth unemployment. This report, part of a series which looks at the school-to-work transition process in sixteen countries, contains a survey of the main barriers to employment...

Whatever the level of qualification, first experiences on the labour market have a profound influence on later working life. Getting off to a good start facilitates integration and lays the foundation for a good career, while a failure can be difficult to make up. This report contains - for...