1–2 December 2025, Copenhagen, Denmark

Under the Danish Presidency, the EUPAN Director Generals’ Meeting continued to foster joint efforts aimed at enhancing the quality of public administration and public services across Europe, maintaining a highly constructive atmosphere for dialogue and exchange.

Through open discussions, participants reinforced the importance of collaboration and mutual learning from both the successes and the challenges faced by national administrations.

The meeting focused on three central themes:

• Artificial Intelligence, addressing complex questions of ethics, accountability, security and digital sovereignty. Discussions included climate considerations and legal competencies related to AI. The keynote by Kristian Nilaus provided valuable insights by drawing parallels between digitalisation and AI in legislative work
• Strengthening Public Leadership, which is essential for attracting talent, fostering innovation, and creating cultures of integrity and professionalism. Kristian Molbech presented an official Danish “Programme for Leadership Development in the State”. Strengthening leadership culture and skills as a key element in making the civil service an attractive employer.
• IT-Management, which has become a strategic necessity to ensure secure, reliable, and adaptable digital infrastructures. Through workshops and panel debates, the participants examined the many strategic dimensions of IT-Management, including cost, complexity, and risk management. Despite differing approaches to IT-Management, the necessity and are all heading in the same direction is evident.

ReSPA once again played an active role in the dialogue on the strategic direction of European public administrations. Emphasising the importance of the regional perspective within European networks, Director Handjiska-Trendafilova highlighted: “ReSPA’s presence within the EUPAN platforms is a valuable opportunity to ensure that the voice and the experience of Western Balkan public administrations are meaningfully integrated into Europe’s shared processes. At a time of rapid change and transformation - especially in the fields of digitalisation and emerging technologies - it is essential for our region to remain an active contributor to the European administrative space, learning from best practices, sharing knowledge, and co-creating solutions.”

ReSPA’s participation in the EUPAN cycle reaffirms its continued commitment to strengthening administrative capacity, leadership development, and digital transformation across Western Balkan public administrations, fully aligned with the highest European standards.