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