The purpose of this analysis is to give a picture of the present position and issues of public administration in the Czech Republic and to formulate conclusions which should serve as a basis for the strategy of the reform of Czech public administration in the nearest few years. In accordance with the assignment, the project concentrated on the second stage of the reform of territorial administration had been already in progress when the project started while the reform of central government was given no attention. Considering the significance of territorial decentralization and interconnection of the two components of public administration, the Analysis necessarily concerns the territorial administration as well.

Considering the determined purpose, limited time and staffing available, the project did not aim at making a detailed and exhausting analysis of the situation. Therefore, the aim of the analysis was

• to sum up the existing experience and results of the public administration reform achieved in the Czech Republic,

• to identify the main problems of public administration,

• to formulate conclusions and recommendations suggesting possible solutions.

1.1.2 Concentration on the main problems incomplete in their solution

The ability of public administration to fulfil its tasks and functions in the ongoing social and economic transformation and the need to transform public administration to a compatible European level was the criterion for the selection of priorities, for evaluation of the situation in public administration and the formulation of proposals.

From these viewpoints, the following topics were identified as decisive for the Analysis:

The role and function of public administration in the present-day world. The specific situation in post-communist countries.

The democratic transformation of public administration in the Czech Republic.

The modernization of public sector and public administration. Changes in the organization and activities of public administration. The efficiency and overall social effectiveness of public administration.

The impact of the utilization of information technology in the society. Inspection and its mechanisms.

Legal aspects of public administration. Legislation. Regulatory reform. Administrative decision-making and administrative judiciary.

Financing of public administration.

Human resources. Personnel policy and personnel management. The Civil Service Act. Training of civil servants.

The primary viewpoint is an assessment of ability of public administration to take over and implement EU legislation, to guarantee the reliable functioning of the system which is intended to implement and enforce acquis communautaire. (This task is dealt with in more detail in part 1.2.3.)

1.1.3 Adapting the methodology to the purpose and possibilities

Originally, the National Training Fund project envisaged the establishment of a certain infrastructure which would enable closer cooperation with ministries and their active participation in all stages of the analysis. Due to the unclear political situation (government resignation, the appointment of a new government with temporary mandate in January 1998, absence of regulations providing for and assigning responsibilities in respect of the public administration reform), it was impossible to set up a governing body in charge of the project at a required political level in the first half of 1998 (the Project Council headed by the respective minister). Nor was it feasible to establish a system of "managers of changes " within individual ministries, as it was proposed originally. Therefore, the National Training Fund was forced to seek a substitute solution. It was found in shifting the centre of work to selected experts, mostly recruited from academic circles and from amongst senior civil servants. The Project Working Team was formed and the Advisory Group was set up consisting of renowned Czech specialists in this area (see Appendix 1). The work on the Analysis was hindered by an extreme lack of experts in public administration and a lack of plausible and usable statistical data, relevant databases, publicly accessible inspection reports etc. Unlike in other countries, there are almost no analytical sectoral and case studies in the Czech Republic. This is a consequence of long-term underestimation (both under the old regime and under the new one) of education, conceptual work and strategic management in the whole field of public administration. We have not succeeded e.g. in finding any documents or studies relating to the functions of public administration as a guarantor of public services, or any comprehensive work dealing with personnel management in public administration.

A study called "Starting Points" (94 pages), which was prepared as the first step within the framework of the project, dealt with the formulation of the analytical task, with the reform strategy in the Czech Republic, with its international aspects and with four blocks of material problems of public administration in the Czech Republic: organization of public administration, civil service and personnel management, training and information technology. After discussing "Starting Points" at two meetings of the Advisory Group, the project team started to work on the preparation of the Summary Report on the Analysis.

The analysis used some existing background documents as well as new materials prepared for this purpose:

• official documents

• Czech and foreign specialist publications

• specialist expertises

• surveys and interviews

• an analysis of the press

• public opinion surveys

The method of "specialist expertise" of which almost thirty were ordered by the National Training Fund within the framework of the project, deserves special mention. Renowned Czech specialists in the practice and theory of public administration, who agreed to cooperate despite a short period of time available, were asked to prepare their expertise of selected aspects, issues and needs of public administration (Appendix 2). Thus the analysis is based, to a smaller extent, on the results of direct empirical research and it is mostly based on the method of critical use of experience and opinions of the carefully selected experts participating in the execution of public administration or in research and training in this area. Appendix 3 contains a note on terms used in public administration and in this Analysis.

1.1.4 Follow-up work and utilization of the analysis

This Summary Report will be the main document to be used for the preparation of a strategy draft of the reform of Czech public administration. It is expected to be submitted to the government together with the strategy draft.

Specialist expertise and other materials can be used for the actual public administration reform in various areas and for study purposes. The National Training Fund will make all important outcomes of the project available for respective public administration bodies, professional circles and the general public so that the effort made can bring maximum results.

A number of working contacts has been established successfully among experts from ministries, academic circles as well as other areas during the work on the analysis. Valuable international contacts have also been established. This potential should be utilized for follow-up work on the reform. Work will also continue within the framework of the Phare project regarding to some studies and training programmes in the area of improving public administration, with special attention paid to our preparation for the EU membership after the Summary Report on the Analysis will have been submitted.

1.2 Public administration reform in a global context

1.2.1 The role of the state and public administration

Opinions on the role of state and public administration have gone through considerable development. Most West European countries have long adhered to the idea and practice of social state whereas the philosophy of a paternalistic state survives in the countries in Central and Eastern Europe. It is primarily due to restricted or deficit public budgets that solutions of the situation were sought in more or less comprehensive reforms of public administration and in a review of the extent and content of public sector (public services).

The requirement of a small (minimum) state, de-etatization and decentralization of public tasks (public services) has been emphasized and applied. Basic changes have occurred in the organization and methods of traditional public administration in those countries where this approach has been enforced most radically. Expectations of savings of public expenditure have been met only partially; a trend to the contrary has also been observed. The erosion of values and standards of "good old public administration", especially of the ethical standards of civil service, has also been considered as a negative feature.

The provision of public services within a certain extent, which is considered necessary and useful belongs inseparably to the basic functions of modern state, whether it is motivated by basic and common needs and interests of various components of the society, or by the idea of solidarity or by the pragmatic effort to maintain social peace. The definition of the content and extent of public services is undoubtedly limited by economic possibilities. However, the economic interpretation of the public sector (public services, public assets) cannot be the only argument in favour of the participation of the state (public administration) in securing certain tasks and functions. Legitimate political decision-making on the issue which services are of public interest, on priorities and ways of ensuring them, requires the consensus of citizens, the compliance with democratic forms and procedures, guarantees of equal(non-discriminating) access to public services. There are also indisputable supranational contractual and ethical obligations.

Most OECD countries deal with the public sector in a positive sense so that they aim at finding a model of a modern social state, or a model of a post-social state. This approach is also confirmed by the conclusions of the World Bank based on an analysis of an extensive world-wide survey and supporting the transition from the conception of a minimum state to an effective state.Generally speaking, the development of public administration in the Western civilization in this century is characterized by deep changes which can be summed up in two basic blocks:

democratization: decentralization, strengthening of self-government; participation of citizens and of the public; shift from authority-type (power-type) administration to the concept of public administration primarily as service to citizens and to the public; the strengthening of the rule of law, guarantees of civic and human rights, "declassification" of the administration - from discrete to open, informing, transparent, accommodating and helpful administration;

increasing effectiveness: orientation towards socially valid tasks and aims, results, efficiency, economy; the utilization of experience and methods of company management in the private sector; the utilization of information and communication technologies and a transition towards an information society.

In modern democratic states, public administration is understood primarily as service to citizens (in the broad sense, comprising its protective, educating, interfering and enforcing functions). Such understanding is of completely principal importance for the definition of all functions, forms, principles and methods of activity of public administration as a whole as well as of its individual bodies and employees. The relationship between public administration and the public is changing substantially: on the one hand, the development of the rule of law and consistent application of the developed concept of human rights and, on the other hand, the information revolution enable public administration to be more understandable and accessible, to reach more effective interaction with and the control of public administration by the general public. The space for arbitrary and uncontrolled decision-making by public administration bodies is restricted, there is more space for its openness towards the public. Strategic decision, whether they concern the definition of public services, the allocation and distribution of public funds, territorial plans, the environment, the infrastructure etc., are increasingly becoming a subject of a broad dialogue with citizens in advanced democracies.

The principle of accountability to the public dominates today in the present-day Western concept of public administration. Unlike a "mere" control of public administration, this is considered an active duty to account for one´s activities. Unfortunately, no Czech equivalent has been found for this term yet, nor for the system which introduces this requirement into life. It represents a duty to explain taken decisions and to bear responsibility for them. It covers a whole range of forms from accounting and other records, reports, auditing and control of legality to civil and political "accountability" to citizens by all those who carry out their activities on the basis of delegated authority. Not only the government to the parliament and lower executive bodies to elected self-government bodies but each significant public institution considers the proof of their credibility to inform citizens (inter alia, in detailed annual reports) of their activities and the public funds management, and gets engaged in a dialogue with the public. This is a concrete demonstration of requirements for public administration: service to citizens and to the public, transparency, democratic nature and effectiveness.

1.2.2 International trends in public administration reform

Global trends

An improvement of public administration has become a continuous process in many countries, particularly in the second half of the 20th century. In Western Europe, reforms have proceeded from structural changes and territorial decentralization to other forms of de-etatization, to privatization and marketization. An excessive "swing of the pendulum" in this direction has enforced certain "sobering-up" and emphasise on such values as ethics, solidarity, legal certainty and culture of administration. Individual reforms have had their specific local and time characteristics. After the fall of the totalitarian regime in Portugal, the motto was: "The citizen in the first place", in Finland it was "A small country must support its entrepreneurs" at the time of their preparation for their accession to the EU.

The following global trends can be observed:

a turn to management oriented towards the performance and results and the creation of stimuli supporting an effective functioning of the administration system,

higher management flexibility in the financial management of administration and an increased responsibility of administrative managers for reaching the established aims,

transition to the remuneration based on performance, supported by personalised contracts of employment,

responsibility to customers (users, citizens etc.) and larger attention to be paid to individual needs of the users,

orientation towards the use of market-type mechanisms (the creation of a competitive environment, competitions etc.) in the public sector,

privatization of a part of the public sector, the transfer of some public activities to private institutions and enterprises,

the use of information and communication technologies for the development of new forms of services for the public and their increased accessibility and quality.

the rule of law requires that an arbitrary use of public power which does not serve a certain political party or class any more, be prevented,

public administration must express continuity and regularity of the State while implementing the policy of the respective government,

civil servants must be protected against undue external influences

it is necessary to introduce impartial inspection procedures,

communication and cooperation with the public must expand,

power must be decentralized.

The existence of experienced and motivated civil service is considered to be important. It is stated that civil servants lack necessary security in some countries (including the Czech Republic), that they are not protected against politically motivated decisions and that they have lower income in comparison with the private sector. The consequence is a low interest of young generation to work within public administration, low motivation of servants, high turnover of personnel, a tendency to seek higher income elsewhere, and resigning themselves to corruption.
It is recommended further in this connection:

to create special intensive training programme for government officials and politicians from key sectors oriented to the needs of public administration reform;

to develop and support national institutes and schools of public administration;

to strengthen research, information and counselling organizations dealing with the administrative reform and creating its conceptual framework.

The improvement of the quality of both the institutional

and administrative capacity and effectiveness to the level comparable with EU countries

will be costly, however, we can assume that funds spent on it will bring some profit as a result of better functioning of the public administration system.

The Rotterdam document contains a list of key factors typical of the public administration system in the EU member states (see Appendix 4) and stresses conditions which can substantially influence the ongoing reform process. They comprise especially the following:

Political will and support: therefore the most advantageous solution is that the authority responsible for the planning and overall implementation and coordination of the reform is as close to the Prime Minister and the Government as possible

Strategic approach: the reform must be based broadly and it must have an overall strategy; however good the intentions may be, partial reforms without an overall strategy and without complying with joint principles and coordination cannot substitute the general reform;

Well-considered progress: it is necessary to proceed in a well-considered, deliberate way. The introduction of innovations requires the existence of an adequate administration system. Attention is also paid to certain problems and risks. Such a risk could be e.g. the superficial introduction of market modernization steps in the public sector at the time when prerequisites, such as decentralization, legal status of civil servants, effective control mechanisms in public administration, have not been created yet,

The spirit of all materials prepared within the framework of the SIGMA programme is clear: the countries of Central and Eastern Europe cannot count with full membership in the European Union without the introduction of really effective administration systems and procedures. And this is known to have been stated explicitly in the White Book of the European Union.

1.3 Czech public administration at the turn of the millennium

1.3.1 The heritage of the totalitarian regime

The process of democratic and pro-market transformation of the society, started in November 1989, required fundamental transformation of public administration, including the overcoming of the heritage of the totalitarian regime. The totalitarian regime etatized public administration and subordinated it to the monopoly power of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. Public administration was the basic tool of the application of political and economic power as well as of interference in all fields of social life, and of the restriction of human rights.

So called "democratic centralism" was characterized by directive and administrative management of national economy as well as individual areas and sectors of public administration. It secured a high degree of centralization and it did not allow any autonomous self-government. Territorial and interest-group self-government as well as municipal and regional ownership interconnected with territorial self-government were abolished. The participation of citizens in administration could not be expressed in free democratic elections and it was restricted to subsidiary issues of municipal policy and local activities, particularly to criticism of public services and local self-help.

The totalitarian regime degraded the position of administrative staff. It abolished the legal status of civil servants (except for the legal regulation of the status of repressive components of the state machinery, which secured their privileges), which was legally replaced by a uniform legislation on labour relations in accordance with the Labour Code, but, in fact, by a system of the party nomenklatura in occupying positions at all administration tiers.

The application of the Rules of Administrative Procedure of 1967 (which are still in force), i.e. from the period of relative liberalization of the regime, increased the level of administrative decision-making. However, save a few exceptions, judicial control of state administration was abolished and administrative decision-making remained practically an exclusive and often arbitrary matter of the executive.

There was no independent inspection body, such as the Supreme Audit Office, or the Supreme Audit Court, to maintain audit of the management of state property and of the budget. However, a certain extent of pre-totalitarian administrative culture, legislative standards and specialized administration activities (such as construction laws etc.) were maintained successfully even under the totalitarian regime, this culture, however, weakened with generational changes and repeated political purges of the state machinery.

No real analysis and evaluation of the development of the state administration from the first republic up to the present has been made yet. It has not been stated clearly which things from the past must be abandoned and which represent usable value, should be maintained or transformed. Certain nervousness in relation to the preserved organizational structures, processes and rules, unnecessary maintaining of some old administrative habits and stereotypes and, on the other hand, hasty abolition of some important institutions without any substitution (particularly, typical of audit bodies and control functions) have been the consequences.

1.3.2 The development of the reform after 1989

The nature of the reform

What is at issue in the Czech Republic, like in other European post-communist countries, are not partial reforms of territorial or functional administration, not a simple process of its gradual modernization through partial and minor changes but a complete and principal qualitative transformation of public administration. It is a whole complex of principal changes replacing the etatized government of the totalitarian state and renewing the West European model of public administration which existed and functioned regularly in pre-war Czechoslovakia. However, it is not the matter of mere renewal which is not possible due to the break of more than forty years and the split of the Czechoslovak Republic. The issue is to form contemporary public administration, compatible in all basic parameters with the administration of advanced democratic states with market economy. Such administration must be fully opened to innovations. It must fully reflect worldwide development trends, such as the development in the area of information and communication technologies and the development of information society. The permanent requirement of providing services to the public, of effectiveness and economy is a motion force. At the same time, it is natural that the public administration reform understood in such a way cannot be separated from the reform of the public sector and from the changing tasks of public administration in economic and social fields.

Stages and aims of the reform

The work done so far on the reform of Czech public administration can be divided into two basic stages:

the stage connected with the existence of the Czechoslovak federation (1990 - 1992) and

the stage of the independent Czech Republic connected with the validity of the new Constitution of the Czech Republic and its application (or non-application) into life in the field of public administration (1993 - 1998).

No comprehensive conception of the principal reform of public administration was adopted at federal or republic level during the first, "federal" stage. Priorities were to secure institutionally that the newly born pluralistic political and state system exist, that the renewal of the division and balance of power applies, that free elections and democratic legitimacy of government authorities and public administration bodies are carried out, that the introduction and application of basic human and civic rights come into existence as well as basic attributes of the rule of law. An equal priority, significantly prevailing in the further development, was the forming of market economy, primarily through de-etatization of ownership relations by means of privatization of state property.

Although the chosen attitude towards the administrative reform was not a strategic one, the first period entailed the principal political transformation of public administration in the sense of its democratic transformation and the removal of bureaucratic top representatives of the old nomenklatura. The following changes were of special significance:

The abolition of so called National Committees and the renewal of self-governing municipalities in 1990 was a principal change. The new organization of local authorities was aimed primarily at ensuring accessibility of new administration, and its economy. The municipalities and state authorities were entrusted with the execution of public administration. The role of territorial government authorities was taken over by district authorities. Further development of territorial government authorities was marked especially by the fact that an indispensable concept of the development of public administration and self-government was not established after the formation of the independent Czech Republic. A spontaneous process of dramatic increase in the number of small municipalities in particular, the formation of devolved administration bodies and detached ministerial departments without any clear factual, territorial and organizational definition, and, primarily, the deferral of the regional stage of devolution led to the low effectiveness of the administration system.

Institutional and functional changes which were made in the system of central government authorities led to the abolition of administrative bodies connected with the directively administrative management of the national economy. New functions of administration were introduced into use in the central government structure, in connection with privatization and with the creation of conditions for the functioning of market economy.

The government was involved in the privatization of the state-owned property and in the process of restitution, and it was also entrusted with supervision of the compliance with the rules of economic competition.

Due to the new taxation system, long-reaching changes in the economic sphere of the administration occurred in the area of financial management because its competences and responsibilities in respect of public funds management were extended and raised. Support for the development of business, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, is a completely new task of public administration, the application of which has not yet been reflected sufficiently in the dynamics of the economic development.

The main change in the profile of public administration was the withdrawal of the State from a direct control of economy, the abandonment of central planning and economic control being fully incompatible with market economy. However, legal and administrative mechanisms securing the transparency and public control of the privatization process and protection of the emerging market economy against economic crime have been underestimated.

Nevertheless, the next step, consisting in a clear definition of the role of state and public administration in relation to public sector and public services in market economy has not been made yet. The public sector suffers from the lack of thrift and economy and, generally, of low effectiveness. There are still ambiguities in the financing of public services. The separation of social funds which was promised in the government declaration and which would make the financing of health care and social services transparent and increase the effectiveness of their inspection, has not been made yet.

The solution of problems of the public sector and public services cannot be general and instantaneous. Nevertheless, it should be subject to clarification among bodies involved and to a broad dialogue of the representatives of the State and the public in the period of creating a new system of division of powers and responsibilities between state government and territorial self-government. The results of the progress reached in the administrative reform so far do not however show any real progress in solving this issue at least at the level of ministries. A conceptual approach to this key issue should not result from consideration of what from its competences a ministry intends to "sacrifice", but rather from an analysis which will, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle, define responsibility for the execution of public services from a municipality as the basic territorial unit, through regional tier of public administration to the central government.

The aims and progress of the public administration reform are characterized in programme declarations of the government of the Czech Republic from 1992, 1996 and 1998 (January). Unfortunately, what is missing (especially in the declarations from 1992 and 1996) is a conceptual and comprehensive approach to the solution of this issue although the basic aims of the democratic transformation of public administration are laid down directly in the Constitution of the Czech Republic (despite its brevity), through its whole conception and content.

However, the most significant shortcoming of the previous programmes of coalition governments (1992 and 1996) is not the incompleteness of their conception but the fact that the planned and promised aims remained on paper only. This applies, for example, to "increasing self-governing position of individual regions", to the transfer of government functions "to really conceptual macro-regulation, which is the true function of a modern state", or to the accelerated preparation of "a draft bill on the legal status of civil servants which will lay down both the requirements for civil servants and their duties and certain compensation measures securing the stability and independence of their position ".

1.3.3 The development of Czech public administration from the viewpoint of the European Union

The final report of the expert study evaluating the situation of public administration in Central and East European countries and formulating recommendations for the strategy promoting these reforms points out the serious lagging of public administration reform behind the needs of social and economic transformation in the Czech Republic even in international comparison. (The study was ordered by the European Commission and published by EIPA in August 1997). It evaluated the Czech Republic as follows:

"Public administration reform in the Czech Republic is seriously lagging behind the approaches pursued in most of the neighbouring countries. There is a significant shortage of qualified personnel, institutional stability and procedural capacities. The emphasis on developing a pre-accession strategy should be used to engage in a serious attempt at reform. That ought to include not only further attempts at training (currently under way via the National Training Fund), but also policies to functionally link legal approximation, administrative reform and EU integration. It might furthermore make sense to help in establishing a "focal point" for administrative reform to allow for better information and transparency concerning the various reform attempts. This way the very thin layer of qualified and knowledgeable personnel and the few programmes serving as "islands" within a still anti-administrative and anti-public environment ought to be broadened".

Position paper of the Commission to the request of the Czech republic for accession to the European Union "Agenda 2000" evaluates the state of readiness of the Czech Republic for its EU entry in a similar way:

" Since 1990, the governments of Czechoslovakia and later of the Czech Republic have given low priority to the necessary reforms and modernization of public administration. There are no signs of any changes in this attitude. The non-existence of a more significant or deliberate plan for the modernization of public administration represents the only serious reason for uneasiness in this area. Measures adopted are completely insufficient with respect to the significance of problems that necessitate a solution ... it will be necessary to start and keep in operation an extensive reform process if the Czech Republic is to introduce public administration of such general quality, level of knowledge, motivation and flexibility which will be necessary for the path of the country towards further economic and social development and its membership in the European Union."

1.3.4 Recent reform progress - main strengths and deficiencies

Within the framework of activities of the Office for the legislation and public administration (1992 - 1996) and the Ministry of the Interior, a number of analytical and professional background documents have been prepared for the solution of some conceptual issues of the reform, especially that of territorial government and self-government, the legislative solution of civil service (draft prepared by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs) as well a rational solution of the organization and competences of central government. Due to the underestimated importance of public administration for the whole process of social transformation towards democracy and market economy, they have not been discussed properly in the government or in the Parliament where no agreement has been reached on a constitutional act on higher territorial self-government units in almost five years. The adoption of this act in 1997 (with the implementation envisaged in 2000) was not a result of government activity but rather the consensus reached by the decisive parliamentary majority that significant steps towards the real devolution of public administration cannot be put off any longer.

The pro-reform politicians as well as domestic and foreign specialists see the cause of this lagging-behind of public administration reform in the Czech Republic in the lack of political will. Less attention has also been paid to a critical analysis of the quality and real applicability of submitted proposals. To a certain extent, this was connected with the insufficient knowledge of those proposals among the professional and general public. A number of them have not been published; it is difficult to find them at all after the abolition of ÚLVS (Office for Legislation and Public Administration) and thus there is nothing left but to proceed from the published views of those who prepared the reform. Some proposals were worked out in legislative detail without basic conceptual issues being solved and clearly stated. This applies, for example, to attitudes towards transfers of competences without making the position of the self-government clear, without prior solutions of the issue of financing and property of self-government authorities and without any respect to the definition of public services and the conception of securing them. Some objections were raised against the civil service draft bill (more details can be found e.g. in the collection of papers called The state, problems and outlook of the public administration reform in the Czech Republic, ÚLVS 1996).

It can be stated at present that, in the course of time, the attitude of the Czech political circles to significant and not only marginal or cosmetic reforms of public administration is gradually becoming more enlightened and fruitful being under pressure of the public and from abroad. A certain change for the better is demonstrated, for example, by the preparation of legislation aimed at establishing regional self-government, further territorial decentralization, changes in public finance, the legal status of civil service and government measures for the institutional establishment of the reform.

The evaluation of the reform by public administration employees is also an important source of experience and ideas. They consider, for example, the equipment of offices with computer technology, better access to information, improved working conditions and organization of work, simplification of administrative procedures, higher flexibility in the decision-making and increased effectiveness as significant results of reform and modernization efforts. On the other hand, they are considerably critical with respect to insufficient control and coordination by their superiors, efforts of political parties to build positions inside public administration, lack of communication within individual authorities or between authorities, surviving sectoral approach and imperfect legislation which makes the work of public administration considerably more difficult.

It would be one-sided to assess the post-November development of public administration only through the prism of its problems and deficiencies. There is no doubt that a number of positive values have been reached in building a democratic public administration in the past period. These include especially the following:

The renewal of democratic legitimacy and democratic control of public administration through elected bodies of representatives and through the free application of public opinion.

The renewal of territorial self-government, restricted however only to the basic tier of municipalities and villages.

The renewal of interest group self-government while tendencies of restricting it by the government have not been overcome yet.

Adjustment of the organization and, to a certain extent, of the competences of public administration to the building of market economy.

The renewal of judicial control of public administration, however, without institutionalised administrative courts.

The elimination of the old nomenklatura from leading positions in public administration.

The establishment of an independent inspection institution but with toothless competences so far.

The preparation of the Czech Republic for accession to the EU has started a process of harmonizing the Czech legislation with acquis communautaire. The transformation of the legislation continues in accordance with the programme, however, what is lagging behind is the ability of administrative institutions to apply European legislation and to participate actively in the EU policy in the pre-accession process and to create in time the capacities necessary for full and active membership. This entails the utilization and application of knowledge obtained from analyses and recommendations resulting from activities of the EU, OECD, the Council of Europe and others.

Shortcomings and gaps in the recent development of public administration can be summed up briefly as follows:

Administrative centralism still alive due to the long-term absence of a regional tier of territorial government and self-government remains a weakness of the development of the Czech public administration.

Little has been done to increase the effectiveness of the system, which is not economical. Financing public administration is still waiting for its solution.

The necessity to secure the execution of sectoral public administration in territorial districts has led the central government to spontaneously set up their devolved bodies, or detached departments. There are around 40 such units at present. Thus a very uneconomical, uncoordinated and ineffective administrative structure has developed at the middle management level.

The absence of regional public administration also weakens significantly the possibility to draft and implement regional policy in accordance with the regional policy principles applied in the EU.

Spontaneous fragmentation of municipalities after 1990 was a reaction to the administrative method of their integration under the totalitarian regime. The number of municipalities has increased by 52% in comparison with 1990 while very small municipalities prevail (80% villages with the population of less than 1,000 but 32% with less than 500 inhabitants and 28% have less than 200 inhabitants). Small and the smallest municipalities are able neither to perform their self-government functions and competences nor their competences in the field of delegated state administration.

According to specialist analyses, the low effectiveness of public administration is also caused due to the fact that information systems of public administration have not been coordinated in a sufficient way. The improvements planned for this area will lead to more flexible and accelerated execution of public administration, while simultaneously simplifying the position of citizens in relation to government.(See also Basic principles of the development of public administration information systems adopted by the Government of the Czech Republic on 1 July 1998 as the government resolution No. 467/98).

The public administration of the Czech Republic does not yet reach European administration parameters due to gaps in the system of control both from the institutional viewpoint and from the viewpoint of controlling competences and powers.

Purposeful personnel policy has been neglected and the status of clerks has remained in principle unchanged. The system of personnel management motivating officials to increase the level and effectiveness of their specialist work is only at the beginning.

Recent proposals and adopted public administration reform procedures show that the public administration reform has been approached from organizational and legal perspectives, and less so from the viewpoint of effectiveness of administration, its modernization and cost-cutting.

In March 1998, the Interim Government appointed to bridge over the period before extraordinary elections in June 1998, adopted a resolution on further progress of the government in the public administration reform. After five years of existence of the independent, sovereign Czech Republic, this is the first more comprehensive approach of the Government to the public administration reform, although still very general, with the implementation to envisage in 2000. This government document already envisages the definition of a long-term strategy for the transformation of public administration comprising the following:

• a reform of territorial self-government, both local and regional,
• a reform of central and territorial government,
• a regulatory reform,
• the legal regulation of civil service and integrated study of public administration,
• the completion of the system of administrative judiciary in accordance with European requirements.

It should be stressed again at the end of this chapter that the reform of public administration must be understood in a conceptual and comprehensive way as a long-term strategic task which is accepted and supported actively by the decisive political forces as a social priority. It is necessary to define clearly the aims, to solve all principal interrelated issues, and to set the time sequence of introducing the reform into life. The conception and method of implementing the reform must have the support of most political forces. The success of the reform also requires practical political support, including financial, and the support of the public. Thus the preparation of the reform and especially its implementation cannot be the matter of a narrow circle of officials and specialists. It is necessary to lead it as an open process, with the participation of the professional and general public and the business sector. It is very important to keep informed and involved all those who are primarily engaged in the reform. It is necessary to persuade public administration staff to be in favour of the reform because the reform cannot be implemented without their contribution. The restructuring that requires transfers or reduction of staff must be connected with retraining programmes and guarantees give by employers.