Progress to European Union - A Challenge for the Public Service. EIPAScope 1992(3):pp. 1-8

Sutherland, Peter. (1992) Progress to European Union - A Challenge for the Public Service. EIPAScope 1992(3):pp. 1-8. pp. 1-8.

Preview

PDF Download (57Kb) | Preview

Abstract

Why should we be thinking about the European Public Service and European Public Management now? Don't we have a European Public Service? Isn't this what all those 'Brussels Bureaucrats' in the Commission and the other Community institutions are supposed to be doing? In a sense this is correct. We should not forget that, along with having its own sources of revenue and financial resources and its own legal system, having its own public service is one of the things that distinguishes the EC from other international organizations and gives it a supranational character. But this is only the beginning of the story and not the end. We have now reached an important stage in the process of creating a European Public Service which will contribute considerably to the process of integration if it is well managed. Community development in the 1990s requires much more attention to the management capacities and skills needed to make EC policies work effectively. Since nothing in the European Community is ever simple, we need to see the development of the European Public Service in two perspectives. First, there is the core Community institutions, in particular the European Commission which is responsible for overseeing the management of Community policies. Within the Commission it is possible to envisage the introduction of many straightforward management reforms to improve operational performance and, equally badly needed, coordination. Second, in a broader perspective, there is the design and development of new management systems and administrative networks reaching out to all levels of government in the Member States. In this perspective the European Public Service is built up on partnerships between the Community institutions and the administrations of the Member States. And, in this broader perspective, we probably have to rethink the role of the Community.

Actions (login required)