Otto Aiglsperger on the current challenges facing well functioning public service delivery

A functioning civil service is not an end in itself. It is the foundation for freedom, security, democracy and economic development.

However, the civil service no longer has any personnel reserves. Due to the Corona pandemic, our colleagues, including those who are not directly involved in fighting it, are working to the limit and beyond. Overwork, depression, anxiety and burnout are the consequences. A similar situation had already occurred five years earlier when it was necessary to deal with the large refugee and migration movements.

The EPC study on ‘Well performing public services for a fair and resilient European society’ shows what can be concretely improved and how this can be achieved. I would like to briefly pick out two points as examples, the first being digitalization.

The financial pressure for the introduction of digital technologies is greater for the public service sector than for the general economy.

However, digitalization must improve the lives of all and not be a money-making programme for a few who accumulate immense wealth. After all, the new technologies and possibilities have been developed mainly by employees. They should benefit at least as much as the entrepreneurial side. The public employer must be a role model in ensuring that digitalization benefits all public employees. Digitalization is above all an instrument for better quality of service provision and not an instrument for savings.

The second point is the proposal for an “annual report on the quality of public services in the EU”. This should provide EU-wide and country-specific insights through a common methodology for assessing the quality of public services. And this information should then feed into the proposals prepared and published in the context of the European Semester to bring about improvements.

Finally, I am pleased that Austria is mentioned positively with regard to the role of the Court of Audit. Apart from the Parliament, the Austrian Court of Audit is the only institution that controls the government and its bureaucracy on a broader, interdepartmental basis. It points out undesirable developments, makes concrete proposals for improvement and demands reports on their implementation. Although the Court of Audit – apart from these reporting obligations – has no means of exerting pressure, a large part of its recommendations are regularly implemented. This is exactly how the “Annual Report on the Quality of Public Services in the EU” could be used to create pressure for high-performance public services.

Otto Aiglsperger