The public service as a 'performing organisation'

Abstract

As Malta’s term to lead the EU Presidency between January and June 2017 is under way, the main political issues that are on the political agenda and that are ultimately discussed by the EU citizens are the immigration crisis and Brexit. Both issues are undermining the foundations of the European Union and had stalled the EU project of becoming stronger and more unified, at least for the foreseeable future. There is another fundamental issue that is a growing concern amongst the EU member states, that of detachment between the political class, the public administrations and the citizens. Although this issue is now defined as a major challenge to the EU, there is no clear focus on how to overcome this problem. Dealing with such a massive task is not easy especially when considering the long list of factors and the continuum of stakeholders at play. One silent reform that could bring a real change in the day-to-day lives of EU citizens is the way public services are offered and managed. Public services are expected to meet the aspirations and the needs of the various spectra of groups within a society in a timely manner. Red tape and bureaucracy have become commonly used ‘buzz words’ and such a perception is weakening the good work done by the respective public administrations of the EU member states. A holistic performance management approach incorporating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) could be the answer to streamline and improve the quality of public services while strengthening the efficiency and effectiveness in the way the services are offered to the citizens. This document was prepared between September 2016 and March 2017. It includes a literature review (Section 1) and an analysis of a survey conducted with all the European Commission and EU member states (Section 2) regarding the implementation and use of KPIs. The questions asked are detailed in the Appendix. The aspiration of the authors is that the theoretical and practical underpinnings outlined in this document be a channel to bring the citizens closer to the public administrations, the political class and ultimately the European Union.