Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Slovenia
Abstract: Political Background Until 25 June 1991, Slovenia was a constituent republic of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The first multiparty elections in Slovenia took place in the spring of 1990. On 23 December 1991, a new constitution was adopted. It created a modern democratic constitutional order and established the basis for a parliamentary system of government. The first parliamentary elections following independence took place in December 1992. The most recent presidential elections took place in November 1997. Milan Kucan was re-elected as president in the first round with more than 55 per cent of the vote. The next presidential elections are scheduled for November 2001. The most recent parliamentary elections took place in November 1996. Approximately thirty political parties fielded candidates in the elections. Following the elections, the Liberal Democrats entered into a coalition with the Slovenian People’s Party and the DeSUS Party. The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Janez Drnovšek, was re-elected as prime minister.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform, Western Balkans
Creation-Date: 1999-01-01
Number: 1
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:1-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Slovakia
Abstract: Slovakia was established as an independent, sovereign state on 1 January 1993. Since the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, Slovakia has focused on the following activities: transforming a centrally controlled economy into a free market economy; the reform of public administration; passing constitutional laws and guarantees of fundamental human rights and freedoms; harmonising the legal system to be consistent with the norms of the European Union; emphasising economic, political, cultural, defensive and humanitarian co-operation with the European Union; and joining the European Union. The first parliamentary elections were held in September 1994.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 1999-09-01
Number: 2
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:2-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Serbia and Montenegro - State Union Level
Abstract: As the highest legal act of Serbia and Montenegro, the Constitutional Charter regulates issues and competences of the State Union, regulates institutions of the State Union as well as its competences. The Constitutional Charter also regulates the issue of leaving the State Union as well as the issue of changes to the Constitutional Charter. Laws as general administrative legal acts regulate in principle issues which are in the competency of Serbia and Montenegro. Implementation of the laws is ensured by secondary legislation acts.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 2003-10-01
Number: 3
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:3-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Romania
Abstract: Since the revolution of December 1989, Romania has returned to democratic traditions, a multi-party system and a market economy. Democratic parliamentary and presidential elections were held in 1990, 1992 and 1996. The latest parliamentary elections of November 1996 were won by the Democratic Convention of Romania (CDR), an alliance of the National Peasant Christian Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party, the Romanian Ecologist Party, and organisations and formations of civil society.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 1999-11-01
Number: 4
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:4-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Poland
Abstract: On 2 April 1997, the National Assembly adopted a new Constitution. It replaced the Constitutional Law on the Relationships between the Legislative and Executive Powers and on Local Self-government, known as the Small Constitution, which had been in force since 1992. The new Constitution was approved in a popular referendum on 26 May 1997, signed by the President and published on 16 July 1997. The Constitution finally entered into force on 17 October 1997. The new Constitution had been under discussion since 1989, but several earlier attempts to adopt a new constitution had failed. According to the new constitutional provisions, constitutional amendments may only be proposed by at least one-fifth of the statutory number of Sejm deputies, by the Senate, or by the President of the Republic. A Bill to amend the Constitution needs to be adopted by the Sejm by a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes and in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of deputies, and by the Senate by an absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half the statutory number of senators. If changes are to be made to chapters I, II or XII of the Constitution, the initiators of such changes may call for a popular confirmatory referendum. Poland has traditionally been part of the continental law tradition. Even under communism, the country did not break with this legal heritage. The legal system of Poland is based on a hierarchy of legal norms.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 1999-11-01
Number: 5
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:5-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Serbia and Montenegro - Republic of Montenegro
Abstract: Before the independence of the four other constituent Republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia), Montenegro was a constituent Republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The first multiparty elections in Montenegro took place in 1990 following the period of the one-party system, which had been in force after the Second World War. There were three main principles in the legal system, in relation to the Federal State of Yugoslavia and constituent Republics, as well as in relation to Serbia and Montenegro within the new State. The first was a principle of “double track” in the implementation of laws: (federal authorities execute federal law, and Republican authorities execute the laws of the Republic). The second principle was a presumption of power in favour of the Republics (Serbia and Montenegro). The third principle was the possibility of delegating the power from constituent Republics to the Federal State. These were the main features of the period after dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, and means that the competence of the Federal Administration was limited only to the fields that were explicitly envisaged by the Federal Constitution.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform, Western Balkans
Creation-Date: 2003-11-01
Number: 6
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:6-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Lithuania
Abstract: On 11 March 1990, the Supreme Council adopted the Provisional Basic Law of the Republic of Lithuania, which was viewed as the constitution, thereby suspending the former constitution of 12 May 1938. However, the Provisional Basic Law was only a constitutional Act of a transitional character; it did not change the structure of state power, and not all of the institutions characteristic of a democratic state were re-established. The Provisional Basic Law remained in force until the autumn of 1992. On 25 October 1992 citizens voted in a referendum to approve the constitution of the Republic of Lithuania, which re-established all the traditional state institutions, i.e. the Seimas, the presidency, the government, and the judiciary. In addition, the constitution introduced some new institutions to support the democratic functioning of the state, including the constitutional court, the ombudsman, and the state control department. The constitutional court’s status and procedures for executing its powers are established by the Law on the Constitutional Court of Lithuania, which the parliament adopted on 3 February 1993. The constitution also introduced the principle of independence for local governments.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 1999-09-01
Number: 7
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:7-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Latvia
Abstract: Latvia is a parliamentary republic first established on 18 November 1918, whose constitution (Satversme) was adopted on 15 February 1922. Its de facto sovereignty and independence ended with the USSR’s occupation as from 1940 and were restored by the Declaration of the Renewal of the Independence of the Republic of Latvia dated 4 May 1990 and the 21 August 1991 declaration re-establishing de facto independence, both of which proclaimed the authority of the Satversme. The Satversme was fully reinstated on 6 July 1993 when the parliament (Saeima) convened after the first democratic elections since the 1930s. On 17 June 1999, the 100-member Saeima cast 53 votes for Vaira Vike-Freiberga, who became the first woman to be elected president in the former Soviet Union.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 1999-08-01
Number: 8
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:8-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Serbia and Montenegro: Kosovo
Abstract: Kosovo and Metohija used to be as an autonomous province an integral part of the Republic of Serbia. In 1989 Serbia revoked unilaterally the autonomy of the province. In the second half of the 1990s, the tensions between Kosovo Albanians and Serb military forces led to fighting. The international community and NATO began a military intervention in March 1999 to stop the violence and the humanitarian crisis. After three months of NATO air strikes against Serbian police and military positions the United Nations Security Council issued, in June 1999, Resolution 1244 which established an interim international administration in Kosovo (United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo — UNMIK). The main objective of this provisional administration is to work towards creating the conditions necessary to build provisional democratic institutions of governance to ensure a peaceful and normal life for all the inhabitants of Kosovo. The head of UNMIK is the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo (SRSG). Bernard Kouchner (France) served as the first head of UNMIK, from July 1999 to January 2001. He was followed by Hans Haekkerup (Denmark) who served from February 2001 to December 2001. Michael Steiner (Germany) served from January 2002 to July 2003. Since July 2003 the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo has been Harri Holkeri (Finland). The first municipal elections under the administration of UNMIK, for the establishment of the local institutions of municipal governments, were held in September 2000. The second municipal elections were held in October 2002. The general elections for the establishment of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG) were held in November 2001.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform, Western Balkans
Creation-Date: 2003-12-01
Number: 9
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:9-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Hongrie
Abstract: After the parliamentary elections, Viktor Orbán, leader of the FIDESZ-Magyar Polgári Párt (Alliance of Young Democrats-Hungarian Civic Party), received a mandate from the president of the republic to form a government and to submit his government programme to parliament. He was elected by parliament as prime minister in June 1998. The new government is composed of the prime minister and 17 ministers. Of the latter, 12 were nominated by FIDESZ-MPP, four represent the Independent Small-Holders’ Party, and one was proposed by the third coalition partner, the Hungarian Democratic Forum. The new coalition has an absolute majority in parliament (with some 55 per cent of the seats). The next regular parliamentary elections are scheduled for spring 2002. The president of the republic is Árpád Göncz. In 1995, he was re-elected by parliament for a five-year term of office. Parliament has approved the new government programme for the next four years. Its priorities include the development of the social state; the maintenance of citizens’ security in all spheres of life; and the fostering of economic growth.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 2003-11-01
Number: 10
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:10-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Abstract: Until 1991, Macedonia was a constituent Republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During the disintegration of the federation in the early 1990s, the Republic of Macedonia elected its first democratic parliamentary assembly (the Sobranie) in November 1990. A referendum on independence was held on 8 September 1991. On the basis of this referendum, the Sobranie declared the independence and sovereignty of the Republic of Macedonia1 on 17 September 1991. The Sobranie adopted a Constitution, establishing the foundations of parliamentary democracy, civil society, the rule of law and a market economy, on 17 November 1991. The Republic of Macedonia was accepted as a member state of the United Nations on 8 April 1993. The Republic of Macedonia is a member of the OSCE (12 October 1995), the Council of Europe (9 November 1995), the NATO Partnership for Peace (15 November 1995), WTO (4 April 2003), and other international organisations and institutions. The Republic of Macedonia signed the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU on 6 April 2001. After the ratification by all 15 EU member states, the SAA entered into force on 1 April 2004. On 22 March 2004 the Republic of Macedonia submitted its application for EU membership. In 2001 armed conflict in the Republic of Macedonia began. The conflict was settled with the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement on 13 August 2001 by the four leading political parties (Union of Social-Democrats (SDSM), Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation (VMRO-DPMNE), Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) and Democratic Party of the Albanians (DPA)). The Ohrid Agreement stipulates adoption and implementation of constitutional and other reforms which improve the rights of ethnic minorities, in accordance with international standards and principles. After the constitution of the Republic of Macedonia was adopted, the first parliamentary elections were held in 1991. The most recent general elections took place on 15 September 2002 and the coalition called “Together for Macedonia” won.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform, Western Balkans
Creation-Date: 2003-11-01
Number: 11
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:11-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Estonia
Abstract: The constitution establishes the principle of legal continuity of the Republic of Estonia, which was proclaimed independent on 24 February 1918, occupied by the Soviet Union on 17 June 1940 and subsequently annexed thereto on 6 August 1940. The constitution reflects the idea of legal restoration, which served as a basis for the return to independence and liberation from the Soviet Union on 21 August 1991. The Riigikogu has recently begun to consider the results of a review carried out by the government expert committee on constitutional revision. The committee’s proposals, if adopted, would not alter the basic principles of the constitution but would reinforce the parliamentary and constitutional system of government. The most important proposals are the establishment of a separate constitutional court, reinforcement of civil control over the defence forces, and attribution of the powers of an ombudsman to the legal chancellor. Moreover, amendments may have to be made in view of the accession of Estonia to the European Union; these amendments touch upon a basic principle of the constitution, the principle of sovereignty.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 1999-10-01
Number: 12
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:12-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Czech Republic
Abstract: The period of democratic transition began in November 1989 and was mainly defined by the following events: the ending of the totalitarian rule of the Communist Party on 17 November 1989; the beginning of the reconstruction of state administration and the centralized economic system in January 1990; the first democratic parliamentary elections to the Federal Assembly, the Czech National Council and the Slovak National Council in June 1990; the dissolution of the Federation on 1 January 1993; and the subsequent establishment of a public management system for the newly independent Czech Republic.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 1999-09-01
Number: 13
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:13-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Croatia
Abstract: The Republic of Croatia ended unilateral formal-legal relations with the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia with the Declaration on Sovereignty and Independence, on 25 June 1991. Following international recognition in 1992, Croatia became a member of the United Nations on 22 May 1992. The first decade of the independence (1990-2000) of the Republic of Croatia was marked by the war, which ended in 1995, and the nationalistic Centre-right Government of the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) under President Franjo Tudjman, in power until the elections in January 2000. During this period the HDZ was in absolute majority in both houses of the Croatian Parliament – the House of Representatives and the House of Counties (a unicameral system was introduced 2000). Franjo Tudjman won both presidential elections (1992 and 1997) in the first round. The new Croat state public administration was built using the existing republican administration. Even though there was an administrative system for most of the functions of a state, certain services had to be developed from the very beginning (for example diplomatic service, defence, finances), as they were centralised in ex-Yugoslavia.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 2003-11-01
Number: 14
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:14-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Bulgaria
Abstract: The Republic of Bulgaria was restored in January 1990, following amendments to the communist-inspired constitution, which put an end to the single-party rule of the Bulgarian Communist Party, and the conclusion of the round table agreement between the communist government and representatives of the democratic opposition. The new Bulgarian Constitution was adopted by the Grand National Assembly in July 1991. It marked the return to multi-party democracy. Since the beginning of democratic transformation in Bulgaria, four general parliamentary elections have been held, including the elections to what was then called the Grand National Assembly of June 1990, and elections to the national assembly in October 1991, December 1994 and, most recently, April 1997. The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for spring 2001. Presidential elections were held in January 1992 and November 1996. The next elections for the presidency will be held in autumn 2001. Democratic local government elections took place in October 1991 and in November 1995. The next round of local elections will take place in the autumn of 1999.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform
Creation-Date: 1999-01-01
Number: 15
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:15-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Bosnia and Herzegovina - State Level
Abstract: In its present borders, Bosnia-Herzegovina was created on 25 November 1943 at a session of Tito’s Communist Party, the winning party after the Second World War. After the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was created in 1945, Bosnia-Herzegovina existed as one of its six republics for nearly 50 years. In the early 1990s, the events in former Yugoslavia and consequently in Bosnia-Herzegovina started to multiply at a dramatic speed. After the referendum, which was boycotted by the majority of the Bosnian Serbs and endorsed by Bosniaks and the Bosnian Croats, Bosnia-Herzegovina declared independence on 1 March 1992, but the existence of the newly proclaimed state was short – the war started the following month. The beginning of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina saw two sides at war with each other: on one side were Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks and on the other Bosnian Serbs. However, throughout 1993, Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks fought also heavily with each other. In March 1994, under U.S. pressure, fighting between Bosniaks and Croats ended, with the two sides agreeing to establish a federation on the territory they controlled (the ‘Washington Agreement’). They then joined forces against the Bosnian Serbs who lost ground to the offensive and endured NATO strikes in August 1995.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform, Western Balkans
Creation-Date: 2004-05-01
Number: 16
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:16-EN

Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: OECD
Title: Bosnia and Herzegovina - Federation
Abstract: The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (GFAP), popularly known as the Dayton Peace Agreement (DPA) since it was negotiated and initialed at a U.S. Air Force base in Dayton, Ohio, defined Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state consisting of two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Republika Srpska (RS). In accordance with international law, Bosnia and Herzegovina continued the legal existence of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with its internal structure modified, but within the existing, internationally recognised, borders. The Federation covers 51 per cent of the state territory, that is, 26 110 sq km. Geographically, the Federation occupies central and western parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, although the two entities are intertwined, which makes it difficult to attach to them geographical designations. Moreover, according to the DPA, the entities do not have jurisdiction over border control. The last official census took place in 1991, but the Federation Bureau of Statistics published on 30 June 2003 an official estimate of population figures. According to the Bureau, in summer 2003 the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina had 2 839 215 inhabitants, of which 2 321 058 actually resided in the Federation. The remaining 518 157 persons were categorized as refugees.
Keywords: EU candidate, public administration reform, Western Balkans
Creation-Date: 2004-05-01
Number: 17
Handle: RePEc:oec:govaad:17-EN