June 2020
The second phase of the reform of rationalisation of executive agencies and regulators is a continuation of the first phase, which began in 2018. The reform, as part of the reform dialogue between Kosovo and the European Union in the field of public administration, was initiated in 2015. This reform is also part of the political priorities agreed between Kosovo and the EU in 2016 for implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. This comes after the first phase, whose implementation has not yet been concluded, and consequently there are delays in implementation of the second phase, which, according to the action plan for the implementation of the entire reform was intended to be concluded by the end of this year. As for this reform as a whole, the entry into force of the three framework laws on public administration reform is also important for this phase, although two of them have been suspended by the Constitutional Court until the end of June this year, which is expected to affect effective implementation of this reform. However, these laws set a standardized and uniform regulatory framework on organization of public institutions, on public officials and on public sector wages. Furthermore, based on the policy framework for this reform, twenty executive agencies of the Government were selected in the second phase, half of which should be rationalized by merging them into the relevant ministries or by merging them with other agencies or among themselves. Their rationalisation aims to improve accountability and correct overlapping of responsibilities between them or with those of other institutions. In order to contribute to implementation of the second phase of this reform, this policy paper tackles this reform in two aspects. On the one hand, it assesses the state of play regarding the agencies of this phase. On the other hand, the paper discusses possible options for their rationalisation. The paper, therefore, consists of two chapters.