site.btaIncumbents Present Administrative Reform Priorities

Incumbents Present Administrative Reform Priorities


Sofia, January 19 (BTA) - The aim of improving the
administration's work is to make governance open and
transparent, Deputy Prime Minister for Coalition Policy and
Public Administration Roumyana Buchvarova told journalists at
the Council of Ministers building on Monday. She presented the
priorities of her work on administrative reform and
e-government, as well as the advisors with whom she will be
working.

The goal is to improve the administration's efficiency and lower
 corruption, as well as include civic organizations and
businesses as partners in the executive decision-making process,
 the Deputy PM added.
   
There are 2,312 administrative services and 924 licensing
regimes in Bulgaria. In practice, 63 per cent of the
transactions of services in 2013 were between institutions with
people and businesses not being the end consumers. Citizens play
 the role of intermediaries between the administrations,
Buchvarova noted. The more efficient connections between
institutions will save tens of millions of man hours each year,
she added.

It turns out that the hardest problems to solve in governance
are at the boundaries of different power structures. The
situation, when the government took office, called for quick and
 decisive measures in each and every field, she said, adding
that concepts for reforms are being drafted in areas, such as
justice, health care and education.

"We will work without our own institution - mostly through the
Council for Development, the Administrative Reform Council and
the E-government Council, with funding from the Council of
Ministers' budget, Buchvarova explained.

A list of the 100 data bases of highest priority was adopted
during hr Administrative Reform Council's last meeting on
January 14. The list will be open to the public. The trend for
optimizing the administration will continue. The population was
decreasing between 2001 and 2009, while the administration was
growing. This is why it was reduced by 12 per cent after 2009
(during the first GERB government) or by 16,000 permanent staff,
 Buchvarova said. "We want to conduct a thorough audit of the
administrative services. We will count on a smaller but more
efficient administration, although layoffs are not our main
goal," she said, adding that a little under 120,000 persons are
currently employed in the various administrations.