This publication is based on a Sigma paper and on reports by EU Member States prepared in 2005 at the request of several new Member States. The original paper and some Member State reports were then used as background documentation for a Sigma workshop for countries in the CARDS region on the...

All Member States of the EU and countries from Central and Eastern Europe use agencies of various shapes and sizes as part of their system of public administration. The legal forms vary widely from country to country depending on the legal tradition and the system of administration. Public...

The political agendas in the central and eastern European countries (CEECs) imply major democratic and economic reform programmes. Macro-economic stabilisation, privatisation, European integration, reform of the welfare systems, reform of tax systems, decentralisation to self-government are...

Nine central and eastern European countries — Albania, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and the Slovak Republic — were represented in Warsaw at the meeting of senior officials from centres of government, organised by the SIGMA Programme and held on 27...

Public procurement review procedures are intended to guarantee effective remedies for complaints in public procurement. This paper guides central and eastern European countries that are seeking to join the European Union on how to identify the public procurement review procedures best suited to...

Assessing the Impacts of Proposed Laws and Regulations deals with policy assessment and Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA), or the ex ante assessment of how proposed legislation and regulations will affect a country’s economy, society, budget and existing laws, international agreements, etc....

The purpose of this volume is to provide a reference book and a training manual for public administrators in the transitional economies, and in particular for officials with budgeting and policy-making responsibilities. The book is a follow-up to the Multicountry Seminar in Ljubljana (1-2 April...

This study provides a comparative analysis of the public procurement review and remedies systems of Member States. Twenty-four separate overviews of public procurement systems in the 24 participating Member States were produced on the basis of national responses to a detailed questionnaire. An...

The public service in central and eastern Europe has to adapt to an enormous number of changes in a very short time. The staff is faced with a constantly changing regulatory framework which needs implementation and enforcement, as well as new demands from the growing private sector and the...

In the Baltic States, the process of independence started after the elections in spring 1990 and was completed by August 1991. Fifty-one years after being forced to join the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania each regained their independence and became once again part of the western...