This brief has made as a part of Towards a Smart Staff Retention Policy for the Sustainable EU Integration of Serbia.

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The 43,4% turnout (out of which 6% of votes were blank/invalid) at the infamous “quota referendum”, point to the fact that exploiting the topic of migrants in a populist manner is not sufficient to mobilise the general electorate, worried about everyday issues, such as economic conditions. The referendum campaign, aside from presenting the migrants as a security threat, blamed Brussels for wanting “to take away a part of Hungary’s sovereignty”. However, the Council Decision has so far proven to be ill-fated in any case – one year since it was adopted, the member states have relocated only 5.2% of the agreed number of asylum applicants from Italy and Greece (5,651 out of agreed 106,000 persons). Hence, this referendum does not carry relevance even from the perspective of the implementation of this Decision, given that practically all member states have been failing to enforce it so far

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During our most recent research project on human resource management in the PA, both former and current civil servants indicated that frequent political changes have resulted in professional civil servants being used as scapegoats. As an outcome of this process, these state employees have found themselves in a disadvantageous position – they have had to handle a lack of political support on one hand, and a negative image of their profession in the wider public on the other. While our research focuses on civil servants working on jobs related to the EU integration process (including the management of EU and other development funds), these results can be used as indicative of a wider dissatisfaction of staff within the PA.

How does the wider public picture civil servants? The common characterisation is that of civil servants as protected from sanctions, lazy, underperforming, disinterested in their work, etc. An illustration could be the pejorative phrase “protected as a polar bear”, widely present in public discourse to describe a civil servant who has all the legal means to remain safe at his or her workplace, despite their actual performance. Additionally, this characterisation is not limited to the private sphere, but is relatively widely spread in the media as well. For an example, one of the larger media outlets titled one of their articles “Malady of Civil Servants: Don’t bother me, I’m sleeping at work.”^[2] Another example of the common understanding of the  public administration and wider public sector in Serbia is a popular TV comedy “Government Job”, focusing on three incompetent local servants who aimlessly spend their working hours.

While it is true that the legal framework makes it difficult to sanction or terminate the employment of civil servants, and that this situation allows unqualified individuals to remain in their positions, our recent research insights offer a another perspective of this group of public sector employees. Namely, the process of rationalisation has left the Serbian PA with a lower number of civil servants than the average EU member state administration.^[3] This creates a situation in which problems such as unpaid overtime, work pressure, understaffed units, unattainable deadlines, difficulties for managers to motivate and manage their staff, and others issues abound and prevent civil servants from performing to their fullest potential. Consequently, the adequate performance management in the organisation is lacking, in the stressful environment in which ad hoc tasks are emerging constantly, prioritisation is hampered while responsibilities are not distributed properly among the employees. In particular, this also means that instead of innovating and reforming the PA, civil servants may often be ‘stuck’ with repetitive administrative tasks which have no added value for the work of the administration.

An additionally relevant insight from our research has been the value which civil servants give to the nature of their work. More precisely, work content and the feeling of contributing to the common good are among the three job advantages indicated by civil servants. This is an important result, given that it confirms the theoretical assumption about two types of work motivations, materialistic and nonmaterialistic. As a UNDP report from 2010 explains:

Non‐materialistic motivation is particularly strong in the public sector, and so‐called “public service motivation” may be defined as an altruistic motivation to serve the interests of the community.^[4]
If you want to keep reading about civil servants in the context of Serbia’s EU accession and the need to retain quality staff, go to our policy study Towards a Smart Staff Retention Policy for the Sustainable EU Integration of Serbia. This study was produced within the German-Serbian development cooperation programme Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the project “Support to EU Accession Negotiations in Serbia.” Additional financial support was provided by the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (SIPRU).In this context, our research reveals that the insufficient recognition of the importance of the work of civil servants presents an obstacle for motivating them and fostering an innovative and result-oriented atmosphere within the PA. The degraded image of the civil servant in the media and the wider public, combined with the lack of appreciation from the political leadership, threatens to influence the decision of qualified civil servants to leave the administration. From a more long-term perspective for Serbia, a quality PA reform and a successful EU integration process are impossible without adequately motivated civil servants who present the backbone of these processes. Additionally, a negative image of civil servants will continue to create distrust in the PA and the public sector in general. Hence, choosing not to invest in ameliorating the image of the public administration is a risk both for strategic political goals of Serbia, as well as for the long-term relationship between the public sector and the citizens it is supposed to serve.

^[1] Ipsos MORI, “Politicians are still trusted less than estate agents, journalists and bankers,” Public Sector News, 22 January 2016,
https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/politicians-are-still-trusted-less-estate-agents-journalists-and-bankers.

^[2] Blic, “Boljka državnih službenika: Ne ometaj, spavam na poslu,” 14 December, 2014,
http://www.blic.rs/vesti/drustvo/boljka-drzavnih-sluzbenika-ne-ometaj-spavam-na-poslu/9rr73gw.

^[3] Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, “Modern State – Rational State: How much, how, and why?”, position paper, Belgrade, May 2015, http://www.mduls.gov.rs/doc/Pozicioni%20dokument_Moderna%20i%20racionalna%20drzava.docx.

^[4] UNDP, Motivating Civil Servants for Reform and Performance, 2010, http://orbi.ulg.be/bitstream/2268/37467/1/Motivating%20Civil%20Servants%20for%20Reform%20and%20Performance.pdf.

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Given that over 50% of surveyed employees working on EU/IPA jobs have an intention of leaving the administration within the following year, a quality staff retention policy is essential, especially taking into account the relevance of these employees and their contribution to the EU accession and integration processes.

The research project behind this policy study was initiated with the goal of assessing and understanding the intensity and causes of staff turnover, as well as factors of motivation and demotivation, and the overall job satisfaction of employees working on EU/IPA jobs. Results were obtained through qualitative and quantitative analysis of a questionnaire filled out by 195 respondents currently working on EU/IPA jobs, two focus groups with former civil servants who have left these jobs (including both executive and managerial positions), and 16 interviews with current managers within relevant state administration bodies.

This research was conducted within the German-Serbian development cooperation programme Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the project “Support to EU Accession Negotiations in Serbia.” Additional financial support was provided by the Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit of the Government of the Republic of Serbia (SIPRU). During project implementation, CEP successfully cooperated with the European Integration Office, which is the main beneficiary.

Članak Towards a Smart Staff Retention Policy for the Sustainable EU Integration of Serbia se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

So what are the legal and humanitarian implications of the Maltese presidency’s request? Does the request merit such a brisk reaction from humanitarian organisations even without the details of the request being known?

The short answer is yes.

More specifically, the fundamental principle of refugee law, enshrined in the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of refugees, is the principle of non-refoulement. Put simply, this principle signifies that no state can return refugees to a territory where their life or freedom would be threatened, whether based on their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Hence, if such a basic principle is called into question, it challenges all other standards and obligations the EU and member states have set in place or are trying to implement.

For example, in December 2016, UNHCR provided recommendations to the Maltese presidency to cooperate and enable dialogue with African partners, notably at the Senior Officials Meeting which is to be held in Valletta on 8-9 February this year. In this context, dialogue on ‘fair and efficient procedures, refugee rights and durable solutions’ appears complex enough, but what if the most elementary element of international refugee law is called into question? Given the response of the Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, who emphasised that the Commission “will stick to the international law”, it appears unlikely that the Maltese request will have bearing on future asylum dialogue. However, it remains to be seen if we are entering into dangerous waters just by considering the option of questioning non-refoulement.

As a recent CEP insight explained, one of the priorities of the Maltese presidency is the reform of the Common European Asylum System, a tedious task which requires aligning different sets of priorities across member states and EU decision-making bodies, most notably aligning the need for respecting human rights with growing security concerns. Given this alarming recent step of the Maltese presidency, CEP will continue closely following the actions that the current presidency takes in the context of migration and asylum. Keep reading!

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Who Demands Open Data in Serbia? 

On one hand, it demonstrates that civil society interest in open data is currently restricted to a particular niche of CSOs. On the other, it points to the potentials of open data for think tanks and other CSOs conducting research, not only in terms of better monitoring of government performance but also in diversifying their own research methodologies, improving their evidence-based advocacy efforts, and enhancing the ‘data light’ research environment in Serbia in the long-term. Additionally, this paper argues that cross-sector collaboration between these CSOs and media, academic, and private sector stakeholders, as well as the tech community, could increase open data demand and enhance related efforts in Serbia.

However, all these potentials for open data and CSOs are also dependent upon the further involvement of the donor community, which needs to recognize the value of open data in the Serbian context, as well as invest in analytical and technical capacities of CSOs needed to properly handle open data.

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They plan to focus on the essentials, by which they mean innovation, growth, jobs, and stronger relationships with civil society organisations and EU citizens. The realisation of these topics, however, might be hampered by a set of issues which depend on external circumstances and which the EU needs to tackle together with the third-party actors, namely the refugee and migration influx, issues related to its common energy policy and the looming question of Brexit. Considering their level of complexity and urgency, the question remains of whether the proposed essentials can really be the Presidency’s primary focus. This Insight provides analysis on the state of play in the issues of energy policy, refugee and migration influx and the British EU membership referendum and it looks at how the Dutch Presidency plans to manage these issues.

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As the massive refugee influx continues to grow, the European Union is attempting and failing to find effective solutions.

The most recent such attempt was the meeting in Brussels at the end of October, which gathered leaders from Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, and Slovenia. The result of this meeting was the 17-point plan of action (the Plan). This CEP Insight deconstructs the Plan and provides critique of its most controversial measures. Furthermore, the Temporary Protection Directive is presented, explained, and advocated for as an alternative solution to the current crisis. Finally, the article considers the repercussions of the Plan in the context of Serbia.

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This article attempts to deconstruct the EU’s response to the current ‘crisis’ and outline its relevance for Serbia’s asylum strategy. The focus will be on relevant EU legislation, such as the Dublin III Regulation, and ensuing issues, as well as the response taken regarding border policies and political discourse.

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