It was the fifth annual meeting of ministerial level respectively organized and attended by Ministers responsible for public administration reform and the process of European integration. The host this year was the Minister of Information Society and Public Administration, Ivo Ivanovski, who handed over the presidency in 2015 respectively, to Montenegro.

Mr. Avio Orav, Head of the EU Delegation, in his keynote speech during the opening of RESPA ministerial meeting, said that the European Union will continue to support the activities of ReSPA, noting that public administration reform is an important requirement for the countries from Western Balkans on the road to EU integration. Potential difficulties that arise in this process, it may become easier to overcome if there is regional cooperation among countries, their open dialogue and exchange of experiences.

"The purpose of today's meeting in Skopje was to consider, analyze and evaluate the results and progress of the countries of the Balkan region in the implementation of public administration reform, and to propose measures which with help the Regional School of Public Administration to be developed and implemented in the following period, as well as conducting common regional activities. Today we had the opportunity to see extremely important and interesting presentations and discussions of our guests, related guidelines and recommendations for the future in the context of European integration, national public administration reforms and their impact on economic growth and competitiveness, as well as identify future regional cooperation steps respectively, said Minister of Information society and Public administration, Mr. Ivo Ivanovski.

According to Gregor Virata, former Minister of Public Administration of Slovenia "ReSPA as a high quality training institution is an excellent platform for the regional network cooperation for public administration reform. That network can operate at three levels: at the level of ministers, then the level of senior personnel responsible for the implementation of public administration reform, and cooperating with people who provide operational services in public administration institutions. Also it is very important for ReSPA to have political support from all countries of the region in order to produce the effective impact".

Deputy Secretary of the Regional Cooperative Council Gazment Turdiu noted that common goals of a regional action plan in order to ensure efficient public administration are: improved policy and regulatory capacity, improving the quality of public services, improvement of cooperation between the different levels of public administration and improvement of the capacity of individuals who are part of it. These activities are part of a regional action plan that ReSPA and NALAS (Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South East Europe) should develop and which will be implemented in the following period.

ReSPA Director informed the ministers of the current progress (in the reform of public administration and European integration processes) and presented guidelines and recommendations for the future.  

As the common goal for all countries is EU integration, so the meeting was a great opportunity to exchange experiences and improve cooperation between the countries of the Western Balkans, for which these two processes are priorities on the EU path.

At the end of the meeting all the ministers signed a letter of Intent with regard to the findings ReSPA Regional Comparative report on Asset Declaration.

At the same time a memorandum of understanding and partnership was signed between ReSPA and the UNDESA (United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs).