I am pleased to welcome you to this conference.

Ladies and gentlemen, Countries aspiring to become a member of the EU must demonstrate that they have an administrative system that is capable of ensuring the implementation of EU rules and regulations. Past enlargements have demonstrated how crucial the role of an effective civil service is in preparing a country for accession.

There are key European principles of public administration that need to be adhered to: These include the separation between politics and administration, the existence of a professional and impartial civil service, and an effective management of public funds.

But it is not about just that. Right across Europe we are living in the age of ‘responsive governance’ – citizens expect government to respond to their needs and provide the conditions for good quality of life and for their success whether in business, the family or any other aspect of life. Administration must truly be a public service – and serve the public. It is not that the public must serve the administration.  

It is not by accident that the EU is interested in this particular area. The European Union has developed high standards in the area of civil service and human resources management and it therefore seeks to see the same from any country aspiring to apply for EU membership. Adhering to EU integration criteria means applying exactly these principles: a distinct separation between politics and administration, professional and impartial civil service and the overall strength of administrative and judiciary systems in applying and enforcing a sound legal framework.

BiH has a long way to go in this regard. Many previous progress reports concluded that fragmentation and politicization continued to hamper the establishment of a professional, accountable, transparent and efficient civil service based on merits and competence. And Bosnia and Herzegovina badly needs such a civil service.

It is for this reason that the EU remains strongly committed to working together with BiH in improving the quality of its civil service.

We have invested considerable CARDS and IPA funds into this effort in the past. And we have also supported the establishment of RESPA, the Regional School for Public Administration in Montenegro. We started supporting HR Management through a one year CARDS project that helped 40 human resources managers to develop HRM (human resources management) strategies for their institutions.

Now, under the present IPA 2011 programme, the EU Delegation has set aside 2 M euro to help modernise HRM systems throughout BiH. The project has commenced in January this year and aims to support the classification of positions, advice on the application of objective, consistent and transparent evaluation criteria and on how to link HR planning with budget and strategy planning. The project will present itself in detail in a few moments.

And the conference today is expression of the same effort. Its aim is to discuss the main challenges for human resource management in the civil service in BiH and propose the way forward. I also understand that there is a high degree of agreement of key institutions around the Policy Framework Document on HRM.  The conference will today will draw on the practical recommendations on how to consolidate the merit based system for recruitment and career development for civil servants in BiH contained in the Policy Framework and a joint message will be sent from this place that we are determined to improve it.

We are calling on the politicians of this country to recognize and start to strengthen the close link that exists between a professional and merit based civil servants and the capacity of this country to prepare for EU accession, and to reverse the worrying trend towards politicisation of the civil service.

The EU expects that the political leaders take ownership of this reform and it will continue to closely monitor developments. I am hoping that this IPA 2011 project and this conference will help you to make a contribution in this joint effort. Thank you for your attention