Civil service in an enlarged Europe

Recommendation 1322 (1997)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

See Doc. 7765, report of the Committee on the Budget and the Intergovernmental Work Programme, rapporteur: Mr Pantelejevs. Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 19 March 1997.

Thesaurus

1. Since the historical changes of 1989, the Council of Europe has supported the democratic transition in central and east European countries and is integrating the latter into the process of European construction.

2. In central and east European countries, the establishment and consolidation of democratic institutions requires a public administration that is loyal to the elected representatives and respectful of the citizens it serves.

3. In west European countries, there is a general trend towards a reform of civil service systems to increase their efficiency and productivity.

4. These issues were examined by parliamentarians, government officials, experts and representatives of international organisations at two colloquies organised by the Parliamentary Assembly in Portoroz (Slovenia) in June 1994 and in Geneva (Switzerland) in October 1995.

5. Discussions during the colloquies revealed that there are a number of different ways to organise a public civil service and showed the interaction between democratic transition and civil service systems.

6. At the same time, it appeared that there is a European dimension to civil service, in particular in the framework of the European Union, and a need to harmonise the basic principles which should be respected by Council of Europe member states when legislating in this field.

7. In this respect, the Assembly considers that the European Convention on Human Rights lays down a foundation of common values and although it contains no provisions on civil service, could serve as a basis to devise a code of values for a civil service in a European democratic society.

8. n its Recommendation 1303 (1996) on the proposal for a second summit of heads of state and government of the Council of Europe, the Assembly already asked the Committee of Ministers to include the drawing up of European legal instruments on civil service amongst the points to be discussed at this meeting.

9. Consequently, the Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

9.1 include activities relating to the harmonisation of civil service principles (recruitment, training, ethics and status) in the intergovernmental work programme;

9.2 instruct the European Committee on Legal Co-operation to examine the possibility of preparing a recommendation in order to improve the efficiency of the civil service and to elaborate a European code on the civil service in which not only the rights but the duties of civil servants would be listed.