Increasing administrative skills prior to Slovenia becoming an EU member state

March, 2001

Slovenia has committed itself to be capable of taking on the responsibilities which go with membership of the EU by the end of 2002. Among the measures required for the smooth functioning of the internal administration in these new circumstances and for successful operation within the EU is appropriate training for Slovenia's civil servants. EU membership requires consistent implementation of the acquis. In other words, putting in place a training programme for civil servants and functionaries is one of the key tasks that Slovenia has to carry out prior to becoming an EU member. Thus by the end of 2002, 1,500 administrative employees will need further training and a further 2,000 will require additional education.

It is expected that, on an annual basis, Slovene civil servants will take part in over 100 sessions of the European Council, 100 sessions of the Committee of Permanent Representatives and approximately 2,500 meetings of various working groups within the Council. Taking part in the meetings of working groups and of expert groups within the Commission, as well as informal meetings, is of vital importance. Approximately 60% of state administration employees - or more than 10,000 people (excluding those employed by the army and the police) - will be closely involved in work connected with EU membership. After Slovenia becomes an EU member, approximately 200 Slovene representatives are expected to be employed by the European Commission and other EU institutions. One of the indicators of the success of Slovenia's EU membership will be the successful drawing down of resources from the structural and cohesive funds, as well as resources for the implementation of the common agricultural policy.

The goals of training

The most important strategic goal of the training of civil servants in the area of European affairs is to facilitate and accelerate the execution of tasks linked to EU membership. Training would increase the efficiency of the administration; employees' skills would be better adapted to the new technologies and procedures used in the work of the administration; and both horizontal and vertical mobility of employees would be improved, as would motivation and the management of human resources. In the accession process it is necessary to bring internal rules, standards, institutions and formal procedures in line with those in the European Union; and the heaviest burden of adapting to and, later, functioning within these constraints will be borne precisely by the civil servants included in the training programme.

Target groups

Slovenia's administration employs approximately 18,000 people (excluding those employed by the army and the police), and there are an additional 3,200 employees working in local government. Approximately 60% of these employees will be working in areas linked to EU membership in one way or another. This means that 10,000 people will be carrying out work connected with European affairs. Approximately 4,000 employees will be daily involved in issues connected with the EU and its institutions. The training strategy involves the following groups of employees:

the highest categories of civil servants (state under-secretaries, government counsellors, under-secretaries) as well as those involved in European affairs (1,000 individuals)
administration functionaries (100 a year)
employees below the age of 33 with up to five years experience (100 individuals)
trainees
civil servants who are occasionally involved in European affairs.

Administration employees will need to be trained mainly in the following areas:

the history of the development of the EU and its institutions
EU institutions and their inter-relationships
EU procedures for establishing norms
the relationship between EU institutions and the bodies within member states, as well as the transposition of the Acquis communautaire into the legal systems of the member states
the EU budget and its implementation
common (public) EU policies
structural and regional funds
European Monetary Union
the second EU pillar
the third EU pillar
Slovenia's strategy for achieving EU membership and the institutional structure supporting future EU membership

In order to carry out this extensive project, which is without precedent in the experience of Slovenia's administration, a very high quality personnel structure will have to be put in place. The project involves the teaching of skills for which we do as yet not have any qualified lecturers and therefore co-operation with experienced foreign training institutions will be of great importance during the first few years.

The curriculum will be co-ordinated by the Academy for Administration, which is a part of the Directorate for the Organisation and the Development of the Administration, as well as the Office for European Affairs. The Academy for Administration will analyse training needs and manage the implementation of the training strategy. The Ministry of the Interior has recommended that 550-720 million Slovene tolars be earmarked for training each year.