20-21 March 2024, Maastricht, Netherlands

The extensive two-day programme at the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) encompassed attendance of the Western Balkans’ public administrators at the CAF National Correspondents Meeting, which was a good opportunity for sharing experiences with their counterparts from the EU Member States.   Within its Regional Quality Management Centre and under the support of the Bacid III Programme, ReSPA pays special attention to the exchange of regional and EU experiences regarding CAF implementation, thus allowing the CAF correspondents to enrich the CAF Meetings at the EU level. 

At the Ceremony of Signing the Memorandum of Understanding – a step forward in nurturing knowledge development and fostering expertise sharing between public administration in the Western Balkans and their EU counterparts – Director Handjiska-Trendafilova underlined: "Our partnership with EIPA has been longstanding, invaluable, and meticulously cultivated since the inception of ReSPA. From the outset, the ReSPA team received tremendous support from our colleagues at EIPA, laying a solid foundation for our collaboration. Over the years, this partnership has flourished, with EIPA becoming a natural ally, consistently striving to enhance each other's endeavours. Together, we have undertaken significant initiatives, such as the recent inauguration of the Regional Initiative for Sustainable Quality Management in Eastern Partnership Countries jointly with SIGMA/OECD and GIZ.

Last year, thanks to EIPA's assistance, we facilitated the participation of public servants from the region in the "Quality of Public Administration with CAF – A Toolbox for Top Performance" program. Furthermore, through our Mobility Scheme program, a team from the Ministry of Public Administration of Montenegro engaged in fruitful exchanges with EIPA's managerial staff. EIPA expertise has been strongly embedded in the work on national quality management roadmaps and a series of capacity-building actions related to EU policies. Intense collaboration has been established between ReSPA's Regional Quality Management Resource Center and the European CAF Resource Center at EIPA.

Today's signing of a Memorandum of Understanding marks a crucial milestone in formalising our exceptional collaboration. It underscores our commitment to fostering knowledge development and expertise sharing among public administrations in the Western Balkans and their EU counterparts, which is an objective also underlined in the EU's ComPAct initiative.

Together, our two institutions will continue to support, facilitate, and expedite the EU accession process of the Western Balkans by strengthening their public administrations to benefit our citizens. I eagerly anticipate our future initiatives and successes and the continued advancement of our shared goals".

Director Handjiska-Trendafilova enriched the European Public Sector Award Ceremony 2023-24 by attending the “Public Sector Reform in the EU and Beyond: Boosting Innovation Through Learning” panel.

The Ceremony featured welcoming and opening remarks by Emile Roemer, King’s Commissioner of Limburg, Marco Ongaro, Director-General, European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), Mario Nava, Director-General, European Commission, DG REFORM and keynotes Bartel Van de Walle, Director, United Nations University – Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (UNU-MERIT) and Frans Van Dongen Programme Manager, Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, The Netherlands.

Esteemed panellists Frans Van Dongen from the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, Kjartan Björnsson, Deputy Director & Head of Unit Governance and Public Administration, European Commission and Nick Thijs, Senior Policy Advisor on Public Administration Reform & Service Delivery with OECD – SIGMA, moderated by Martijn Pluim, Programme Director at EIPA, underscored the importance of strategic training of public administrators, emphasising not only knowledge, skills and competencies acquisition but also the fostering of effective knowledge-sharing practices and learning culture, along with a culture of experimentation.

Investing in skills and developing a culture of innovation are key challenges for public administrators who must acquire diverse and transversal new skills in an era where effective communication and multi-dimensional collaboration are paramount. Embracing comprehensive learning approaches is key to enhancing their ability to confidently navigate complex challenges and handle new technologies and working methods.

In that context, Director Handjiska-Trendafilova emphasised the growing significance of liaising Western Balkans' public administrators with their counterparts in the EU Member States and EU institutions, especially their active participation in all key networks, initiatives and instruments: “The dividends from learning and innovation are key for enhancing public value and bolstering trust in our institutions. By prioritising consistent life-long learning, harnessing digitisation and emerging technologies and effective knowledge management, and encouraging innovation - we ensure the continuous progress of our civil servants, thus reinforcing public trust”