Europeanisation and transformation of public administration: the case of the Czech Republic

Abstract

This article examines the public administration reform in the Czech Republic within the context of the process of European integration. At the same time, it tries to assess the major aspects of Europeanisation of the Czech central state administration. As far as the impact of Europeanisation is concerned it cannot easily be distinguished to what extent the reform of public administration is the result of the Czech Republic’s membership in important European and Euro-Atlantic structures (such as the Council of Europe, WTO, IMF, World Bank, OECD, NATO etc.) and of the expected accession to the EU, and to what extent this reform is influenced by the country’s transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, from a communist dictatorial regime to a pluralist parliamentary democracy. The reform of public administration in the Czech Republic is based on three major components: territorial structure reform of public administration, reform of the central state administration, and reform of the administrative functions as such. In general, the reform of public administration had been neglected for many years in the Czech Republic. In fact, very little has been achieved until the 1998 elections. Since then, great steps forward have been made as far as de-centralisation and de-concentration is concerned. In this respect, a major part of the territorial reorganisation of the country has been accomplished. On the other hand, only limited progress can be observed in the field of the reform of the central state administration with the aim of improving its functioning, effectiveness and efficiency. This is connected to the non-existence of the Civil Service Act, which in May 2002 finally has been adopted and will enter into force on 1st January 2004. This is also the date of the expected entry of Czech Republic into the EU. In this context, certainly still a lot remains to be done with respect to the overall capacity of the Czech public administration not only in view of the ability to join the EU, but also in view of the postaccession period.