Abstract:

This paper examines the fates of civil service reforms that Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries undertook to prepare themselves for the EU accession that took place in May 2004 (5^th EU enlargement). Before accession, the EU had made administrative capacity-building a condition for EU membership. Therefore, civil service reform policy in these countries was based on the “principles for a European Administrative Space”, which were developed by Sigma in the late 1990s. Since accession, the civil service has nevertheless played only a small part in the EU’s policy towards the new Member States.

The paper concentrates on describing the current situation in the eight CEE countries (CEECs) that joined the EU in 2004. Special focus is given on the extent to which these countries have continued the reform of the civil service after accession and the extent to which their civil service systems currently fit the European principles of administration. The analysis distinguishes eleven domains of civil service governance and three levels of institutionalization. Only a minority of countries (Baltic States) has made progress since gaining full EU membership in 2004. Some domains of civil service governance are characterized by a greater degree of post-accession sustainability than others, whereas the depth of institutionalization of European principles varies across domains and across countries. Therefore, deeper analyses are needed in order to identify the reasons explaining those diverse national pathways.

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