Both an ambitious European integration agenda and the need for Montenegro to develop national policies for a more competitive economy require a functioning policy co-ordination, a planning system with clear requirements, and proper institutional arrangements and functional capacities at the...

This paper sets out a strategy calling for a radical overhaul of the manner in which both the EU and aspiring member states define and implement what the Copenhagen criteria refer to as the “Rule of Law” in pursuit of the elusive goal of sustainability. While pointing to the limits of the...

This report examines the professionalisation of the civil service in seven Western Balkan states: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia1, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia. In the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the civil service is analysed separately...

The aim of this paper is to explore the most problematic aspects of information access legal regimes and to provide some guidelines to policy makers, including legislators, governments and public administrators. The analysis is based on the comparison of Freedom of Information Acts (FOIAs) and...

The management of operational risk is at the heart of efficient government, but countries often fail to apply good or even routine operational risk management practices and have difficulty in understanding how to put the processes in place. Through an analysis of Turkey’s Undersecretariat of...

The main purpose of the paper is to provide orientations based on a comparative approach to policy makers on drafting legislation on the organisation and functioning of the state administration. It is therefore written in a practice oriented way, although it nevertheless attempts to draw some...

The SIGMA Paper is drawn from a report on relations between Supreme Audit Institutions and parliamentary committees, prepared for the network of Presidents of the Supreme Audit Institutions of Central and Eastern Countries, Cyprus, Malta and the European Court of Auditors, as part of their...

This publication is the product of a project which SIGMA started in autumn 1995. The country papers were completed in late spring 1996, and since that time some countries have reviewed their training strategies. Lithuania, for example, has adopted a regulation concerning the qualification of...

The development of a regulatory framework which meets EU standards is a major concern in central and eastern European countries, and this not only to foster economic development but also to ensure the wellbeing of the citizen. To achieve this goal, it is important to create a sound institutional...

Central Bank Audit Practices describes common approaches, practices and trends relevant to the audit of central banks, with a view to supporting public administration reform efforts in central and eastern European countries. The study provides a basis for further discussion between...