“The public administration reform agenda in Macedonia-three decades of challenges and results”

Abstract

Democratic countries across the world are usually involved in a continuous process referred to as public administration reform. For Macedonia a former Yugoslav Republic, this reform is vital to them since it is a precondition set for them for a successful European Union integration. Public administration reformation in Macedonia is a step in the structural process of becoming closer to the standards of the EU, putting European best practices into effect, and adhering to the Principles of Public Administration. It is one of the essential conditions for the Republic of Macedonia's entry into the European Union and one of the top priorities outlined in the Accession Partnership. The agenda is continually updated with plans for modernizing and improving the administration.  The core of the entire public sector can be said to be public and civil administration which the group and activities of every democratic activity depend on (Mehmedi S., 2017). The Republic of Macedonia, a candidate country for membership in the European Union, has implanted and refined the principles of the European Administrative Space through the implementation of two public administration reform projects during the previous few years. Although it didn't have a timeframe, the first PAR Strategy was adopted in 1999 and set the foundation for the legislative and organizational framework needed to start the public administration reform process. Its 2010 approval of a 2010-2015 PAR Strategy and Action Plan helped to improve the quality of administrative services offered to people and businesses as well as the formulation and implementation of effective public policies (Stojanovski S, Denkova J, Ananiev J.2015) The recent political and institutional crisis in the Republic of Macedonia has demonstrated the flagrant violations of the rule of law and the proper operation of the legal system, as well as the serious damage that the strong division of civil and public institutions has done to the institutions' credibility and integrity. The Republic of Macedonia has earned the moniker "the captive state of captive institutions" as a result of the state and institutions' slow response to the political crisis  (Zendeli F . 2015).