Prime Minister Janez Janša today in Portorož attended the 13th Days of Slovenian Public Administration. In his address he emphasised that the old, inflexible and rigid role of the state should give way to a new, flexible partnership in which the state together with all other subsystems as an equal partner facilitates successful development of the entire society. “The Slovenian Public Administration is at the turning point: its users have been increasingly more satisfied with its services in the past two years, and it faces a new challenge – Slovenia’s presidency of the European Union,” said the Prime Minister.
FOTO: Arsen Perić/Salomon 2000
He went on to say that this week the Government had concluded its first round of visits to Slovenian regions. In his opinion these visits offer a good opportunity to exchange views with the representatives of the economy, public administration and others. Businessmen and mayors pointed out three important areas of major concern to them: nonstimulating tax regulations, inflexible labour legislation and various administrative barriers.
Conscious of this, the Government adopted the framework of economic and social reforms aimed at increasing prosperity in Slovenia. “These reforms cannot be implemented without an effective and well organised public administration,” added Mr Janša. In his opinion public administration procedures must be further streamlined in terms of contents and time. He is also aware of the fact that there will always be a potential divide between the clients’ wishes and realisation of their requests, but nevertheless every effort must be made to minimize this divide.
Although public administration is not an economic branch where market rules prevail, Mr Janša stressed the significance of managerial approach in this administrative branch. According to Mr Janša, good co-operation between the public administration and the economy will contribute to social development. “In designing an effective administration which will facilitate optimal economic development, we should bear in mind a broader picture and consider the real needs of people. In the past the complex red tape contributed to lengthy waiting for decisions in administrative matters,” remarked Mr Janša.
Administration is one of the fields where the employees carry the biggest burden, hence Mr Janša believes that the state will have to set up a system of internal reserves to reward employees for their performance.
