Cristian BITEA
Ph.D. Candidate, National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania E-mail: contact@bitea.ro
Abstract
Paper intends to highlight and analyze some novelty aspects introduced by the Administrative Code in the field of professional training system for public administration, including ‘big four’ categories of per-sonnel: central appointed officials, local elected officials, contractual staff and emphasizing civil servants.
This is due to the new access conditions (requirements) introduced, regarding the graduated studies for the occupation of certain categories of positions, but also from the perspective of the competence frameworks and the training credits system which represents from a legislative point of view an absolute novelty. We will also focus on the institutional aspects, as well as those related to the public training provider and other train-ing providers, the mandatory annual traintrain-ing plan, the standards and some relevant methodological aspects concerning initial public administration (PA) education and continuous training. Practicalities, questions and points of view are not missing from this study-essay.
Keywords: competence frameworks, training credits system, access conditions, training providers, training need analysis, annual training plan, performance appraisal, civil servants.
1. Preliminaries
The Administrative Code is the newest regulatory act for public administration as a whole, it comprised 16 normative acts that were abolished. The Code was adopt-ed through Government Emergency Ordinance (GEO1), published and entered into force on the same day, on the 5th of July 2019, and it contains 638 articles and 6 An-nexes/Appendices. Articles related to the professional training are, mainly: for civil servants: articles 458, 459, for contractual staff: article 551, for local elected officials:
article 217, for central appointed officials: there are no specific provisions. Now the Administrative Code is subject to the Constitutional Court (CCR) analysis accord-ing to the Constitutional provisions followed by a notification of the Romanian Ombudsmen. This main regulatory framework in the field of training for public ad-ministration is completed with a range of programmatic and strategic documents2, but we find that all are outdated and rightly we raise the question ‘what’s next’?
2. To whom does it apply?
The provisions apply to civil servants3 (high ranking civil servants positions (HRCS)4 – secretaries-general, deputy secretaries-general, governmental inspec-tors, prefects, subprefects; senior civil servants general positions (SCS)5 – general directors, deputy general directors, directors, deputy directors, heads of the sector, heads of office; regular civil servants general positions (RCS)6 – counselors, experts, inspectors, auditors, judicial advisers (counselors), public tender advisers (counsel-ors)7, centrally appointed officials (dignitaries – ministers, secretary of state and undersecretary of state), local elected officials (mayors, deputy mayors, city and county councilors) and contractual staff (under a labor contract – officials’ cabinets, those who do not have in their job description prerogatives/duties that imply using
1 GEO no. 57/2019.
2 Strategy on professional training for public administration 2016-2020, adopted through GD no. 650/2016; GD no.1066/2008 to approve the rules regarding the professional training of civil servants; Strategy for the development of the civil service 2016-2020, adopted through GD no.
525/2016; Strategy for strengthening the public administration 2014-2020, adopted through GD no.
909/2014; GO no. 129/2000 regarding adult vocational training; Strategy of education and voca-tional training in Romania for the period 2016-2020, adopted through GD no. 317/2016; Long Life Learning National Strategy 2015-2020, adopted through GD no. 418/2015.
3 The Administrative Code recognized the right and the obligation of the civil servants to get train-ing programs in order to improve their knowledge in public administration matters/issues.
4 Top management level.
5 Managing level.
6 Executive level.
7 New introduced position by Administrative Code.
public force/power on executive and managing positions and under a management contract – public administrators: commune, city, county – managers).
For occupying a permanent position in HRCS, it is mandatory to have university studies, master studies, to graduate specialized training programs delivered by the National Institute of Administration (NIA) and to have at least 7 years seniority af-ter university graduation. For occupying a temporary HRCS position is not manda-tory to graduate a specialized training program delivered by NIA. We may note that about 90% of HCRS in Romanian public administration are temporarily appointed in their positions.
For occupying a permanent position of SCS is mandatory to graduate university studies, master studies and to have at least 5- or 7-years seniority after university graduation depending on the requirements of the position. A new condition in-troduced through the Administrative Code is to follow/attend a training program according to the training credits system or to follow/attend a 30 hours training program. We may also note that the Administrative Code introduced for senior civil servants, recommendations to follow a specialized program in order to develop their skills delivered by NIA.
In order to promote to the next professional-grade, it is mandatory for RCS to follow/attend a training program according to the training credits system or to fol-low/attend a 30 hours training program and to obtain at least the ‘good’ rating in the last two performance appraisal processes.
A new provision regulates that in the competitions for occupying public func-tions, the subjects and related bibliography must have8: information and topics re-garding the respect of human dignity, the protection of human rights and fundamen-tal freedoms, the prevention and combating of incitement and discrimination. This fact requires a special training field for members of the competitions’ committees.
Administrative Code introduced some new conditions regarding studies for cer-tain positions as follow (Table 1):
Table 1: Conditions regarding studies for certain positions
Position Studies Mention
8 Administrative Code: article 467, paragraph 2.
3. Main issues
According to the Administrative Code, about training participation, the public institutions have the obligation to ensure the participation for each public official (civil servant or contracting staff) in at least one training program every two years, organized by the National Institute of Administration (NIA) or other training pro-viders. There are no provisions regarding central appointed officials or local elected officials in this respect.
Analysis of training need is fulfilled mostly through these two methods: within the performance appraisal process – yearly, by civil servant’s superior or proposed by civil servant on his/her own evaluation and approved or not by the head of the public institution.
Competence frameworks are the reference framework for organizing and de-veloping the career of civil servants, expressed by all the standards, indicators and descriptors used with reference to a person’s ability to select, combine and use knowledge, skills and other acquisitions consisting of values and attitudes, for suc-cessfully solving the tasks established in the exercise of a public function, as well as for professional or personal development under conditions of effectiveness and efficiency9.
The norms regarding the content, the competence and the procedure of elabora-tion and approval of the competence frameworks are approved by the decision of the Government (GD), at the proposal of the National Agency of the Civil Servants (NACS)10.
Public institutions have the obligation to draw up an annual training plan for the civil servants and for the contracting staff, to show the estimation and the distinct highlighting of all the amounts foreseen in their budgets for training purposes. For civil servants, the model for the annual training plan is approved by the President of the National Agency of Civil Servants (NACS) Act. There are no provisions on who is in charge of the model document for contractual staff. The annual training plan should be the tool/instrument to further support the design of the training programs and offers of training providers.
Training credits system11 introduced by Administrative Code is required for promotion, both for regular civil servants and senior civil servants, and it will be extensively regulated through GD proposed by NACS12. The training system will include credited programs/courses, seminars, conferences, study visits, professional exchanges.
9 Administrative Code: article 401, paragraph 3.
10 Notice: There is no deadline for NACS to submit the GD.
11 Administrative Code: article 483, paragraph 3.
12 Notice: There is no deadline for NACS to submit the GD.
4. Training system or training market? Budgetary matters
Providers of professional training for public administration are ‘a great un-known’. On the one hand, we have the public provider which is National Institute of Administration (NIA)13 with its role temporarily consolidated through Adminis-trative Code, and on the other hand private providers (most of them commercials entities/SMEs companies), but also foundations or associations (NGOs), operating through ‘ancient’ GD no. 1066/2008. This last regulatory act has recognized among training providers for public administration personnel even universities, but there were many interests for those kinds of specific activities until now.
We may classify types of training programs using some criteria as follow: pe-riod (short-term programs – 3 / 5 / 7 days, and long-term programs (specialized programs) – 1 / 3 / 6 / 12 months), location (organized at other locations/training resorts or organized at the premises of public institutions), method of delivery (de-livered in the class-room or de(de-livered in online or as blended learning), choice op-tions (providers general offers and customized/on-demand).
Practitioners, academics, ‘pracademics’ or independent trainers/freelancers could ‘teach’ or ‘train’ within these programs, Administrative Code stipulating14 that each person from all categories of personnel, can act as a trainer for public administration programs and this activity is not an incompatible one.
University, master and Ph.D. studies cannot be financed from the state bud-get or from the local budbud-gets15. Instead, the following should be eligible and could be financed by public institutions: postgraduate training programs, postgraduate training, and continuous professional development programs or advanced research postdoctoral programs16. Civil servants17 following training programs, lasting more than 90 days in a calendar year, organized in the country or abroad, financed in whole or in part through the budget of the public institution, from the state budget or the local budget, are obliged to commit in writing that they will work in the public administration between 2 and 5 years from the graduation/completion of the programs, in proportion to the number of training days they have benefited.
13 (Re) established in 2016 through GO no. 23/2016. Four months after entry into force of Administra-tive Code, the NIA was (re)abolished by the new Government, and its activity was included within Ministry of Public Works, Development and Administration (MPWDA) (November 2019). On April 30, the Government adopted a GD, not yet published, which regulated the fact that the former NIA became a so-called ‘National School of Public Administration’, without legal personality led by a pre-middle management civil servant, within the MPWDA (May 2020).
14 Administrative Code: article 462.
15 Administrative Code: article 458, paragraph 9.
16 As they are defined in the National Education Law no 1/2011.
17 Administrative Code: article 458, paragraph 6.
Payments from the budget18 may cover training fees19, travel costs, and accom-modation20.
5. Standards and best practices?
It is a tough truth that today there are no standards21, monitoring, and evalua-tion in training delivery. There is no authority responsible for authorizaevalua-tion/licens- authorization/licens-ing or supervisauthorization/licens-ing trainauthorization/licens-ing programs and trainauthorization/licens-ing providers for public administra-tion personnel.
Not very far in the past, a range of specific NACS Regulations no. 269 and 270/201522 established an official and specific PPP model for public training. They gave the best results in several indicators: number of participants, number of traing programs, budget revenue and first of all – quality and measurtraing traintraing in-struments. It lasted two years (2015-2016), but unfortunately, those best practices have not been taken over, and they were abrogated.
Among the main tasks of the Government, the Administrative Code23 added a new and interesting one ‘it provides binding/mandatory standards at central and local public administration level to guarantee good administration’, but nothing was designned, regulated, piloted or send it into practice yet, even less in terms of the public administration training system.
18 We may note that there is a huge lack of authority coming from Ministry of Finance and even Court of Accounts in monitoring training costs which are in some cases increasingly multiplied compared to the amounts the regulation allowed.
19 The average fee for 1-week training program is of around 200 Eur (plus VAT) at private providers and 150 Eur (VAT included) at public provider.
20 The accommodation including meals according to the Regulation GD no 714/2018 is of around 50 Eur/day/person, and it can be extended exceptionally at 75 Euro/day/person.
21 There is a single special provision in Administrative Code for civil servants that are ‘ethics advi-sors’. In this case training standards are elaborated by NACS and training delivery by NIA. Public institutions have the obligation to ensure the participation of ethics advisers in the training pro-grams, organized by NIA. But as we showed previously in the study, the NIA was abolished, and its activity was not transferred and is not operational yet.
22 NACS Regulation 269/2015 regarding partnership contracts, establishment of the Register of pro-fessional training partners for public administration, approval of the contents of the records of the training programs carried out and the specific indicators for measuring training activities; NACS Regulation 270/2015 for the approval of the documentation of administrative compliance and of the compliance with the minimum standards regarding the technical, logistic and didactic capacity in carrying out the training programs.
23 Administrative Code: article 25, letter (p).
6. Conclusions and some ‘questionable issues’
The Administrative Code has tried to bring a number of new concepts to an emerging sector, such as the competence frameworks, the training credits system and so on, but without bringing the necessary clarity for their sustainable imple-mentation. Moreover, it has left some compulsory fields of action uncovered in this intrasystemic Lego game.
It is not set a deadline/a legal term for many regulatory acts that the public ad-ministration personnel expect them (see Table 2).
Table 2: Deadline for regulatory acts
Regulation Act Responsible Deadline/Status
GD regulating methodology rules of professional training
for civil servants MPWDA Not established
GD regulating methodology rules of professional training
for contracting staff MPWDA Not established
GD regulating the activity of public training provider activities
(former NIA) MPWDA Not established
GD regulating competence frameworks
for civil servants NACS Not established
GD regulating training credits system NACS Not established
President of NACS Act regulating the model
for Annually Training Plan NACS Not established
President of NACS Act regulating the standards
for ‘ethics advisors’ training programs NACS Not established
We are constantly approaching a ‘work in progress’ in this field of training in public administration, in which hypotheses, stakeholders’ view, regulators’ view, beneficiaries’ view seek their answers and the intersection of a good and sustain-able re/set-up.
The organization of the training system for the public administration personnel is not subject to a common standard, existing with most models of good practice applicable, compared and presented in various working meetings, studies, and spe-cialized publications, and which refer mainly to the legal and institutional bases, governance and control structure, financial, managerial and personnel rules, as well as at the functions performed, areas in which heterogeneity takes precedence over homogeneity, be it the European or the American space.
But the lack of a clear vision and benchmarks in the Romanian domestic space creates real difficulties of adaptation and long-term development with consequenc-es for the public administration and the ‘public’ of the administration.
References:
1. Government Emergency Ordinance no. 57/2019 regarding the Administrative Code, published in the Official Journal of Roumania no. 555 from July 5, 2019.
2. Romanian Government, ‘Strategy on Professional Training for Public Administration 2016-2020’ adopted through Government Decision no. 650/2016, published in the Official Journal of Roumania no. 777 from October 4, 2016.
3. Government Decision no.1066/2008 to approve the rules regarding the professional training of civil servants, published in the Official Journal of Roumania no. 665 from September 24, 2008.
4. ‘Strategy for the Development of the Civil Service 2016-2020’, adopted through Govern-ment Decision no. 525/2016, published in the Official Journal of Roumania no. 700 from September 8, 2016.
5. ‘Strategy for Strengthening the Public Administration 2014-2020’, adopted through Gov-ernment Decision no. 909/2014, published in the Official Journal of Roumania no. 834 from November 17, 2014.
6. Government Ordinance no. 129/2000 regarding adult vocational training, (re)published in the Official Journal of Roumania no. 110 from February 13, 2014.
7. ‘Strategy of Education and Vocational Training in Romania for the period 2016-2020’, adopted through Government Ordinance no. 317/2016, published in the Official Journal of Roumania no. 347 from May 6, 2016.
8. ‘Long Life Learning National Strategy 2015-2020’, adopted through Government Ordi-nance no. 418/2015, published in the Official Journal of Roumania no. 448 from June 23, 2015.
9. Bitea, C. ‘Codul administrativ, at a glance: Formarea și perfecționarea profesională’ (Ad-ministrative Code at a Glance: Professional Training and Development), 2019, Revis-ta de Note și Studii JURIDICE, [Online] available at https://www.juridice.ro/647742/cod ul-administrativ-at-a-glance-formarea-si-perfectionarea-profesionala.html, accessed on September 29, 2019.