Retrospective: Transformation of the Civil Service in Europe
Description and content of the event
As part of the project ‘The Transformation of Civil Service in Europe’, the National Institute for Public Administration Germany welcomed numerous scientists from all over Europe to a two-day workshop in Speyer. The aim of the project is to establish civil service as a transnational European research topic and to develop a comprehensive, comparatively designed handbook. The project is financially supported by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation for the Promotion of Science and the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
Finally, around 50 authors met in Speyer or remotely on 30 June and 1 July 2022 to discuss conceptual and methodological issues with the editors of the handbook, Prof. Dr Dr h.c. Karl-Peter Sommermann, Prof. Dr Cristina Fraenkel-Haeberle and Ass.-Prof. Dr Adam Krzywoń. In the presentations and discussion rounds, the national legal regimes were examined and individual aspects of the employment systems were compared with a view to identifying common standards. Privatisation processes in the public sector, rights and freedoms of civil servants, gender equality issues and changes brought about by the influence of artificial intelligence were discussed, as were the role of national administrative cultures and their transformation. Last but not least, future challenges and potential developments in the public service of European states were highlighted.
Time, place and organisation
| Date of the event: | 30 June / 1 July 2022 |
| Location | Speyer / (hybrid) |
Related Projects
The Transformation of the public sector in Europe
The aim of the project is to produce a handbook on civil service law in Europe. This will be achieved by conducting a rigorous legal analysis and integrating findings from empirical sciences, in particular public administration, political science and sociology. This analysis will be carried out in collaboration with the scientific community from different EU countries. The handbook will be structured in such a way that the first part will examine the impact and significance of the changes on selected national European public sector laws, while the second part will assess the effectiveness and impact of the changes on public sector law in Europe. The first part will consist of country-specific reports, which will form the core, while also covering EU public sector law. The second part will focus on the establishment of common European standards for specific areas of public sector law, based on comparative analyses. Finally, the third part will draw conclusions by examining the transformation and Europeanisation of the civil service, in particular in terms of changes in the relationship between state and society, a revised conceptualisation of public administration and increased integration into the European multi-level system. It will also identify future challenges and propose practical recommendations.
