The document discusses various strategies to enhance public trust in government through effective parliamentary oversight and transparent lawmaking, highlighting the importance of engagement and evidence-based decision-making. It emphasizes the need for strong parliamentary scrutiny, stakeholder involvement, and the establishment of a professional civil service to attract and retain talent, while addressing challenges in policy development and digital transformation. Overall, it underscores the interconnectedness of public trust, effective governance, and inclusive digitalization to strengthen democracy in Eastern Partnership countries.

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Key points from parallel session discussions
Session 1. Effective parliamentary oversight as a way of increasing
trust in government
Importance of public trust for PAR and policy
• Public trust is essential for achieving government policy goals and advancing difficult reforms
in public administration and other sectors.
• Public trust is an issue not only for the Eastern partnership countries (EaP), but also for the
developed world. OECD’s initiative of reinforcing democracy and public trust- found less than
40% of the public trusted parliaments in the OECD countries, and slightly higher.
o As the OECD report Building Trust to Reinforce Democracy (https://www.oecd-
ilibrary.org/sites/b407f99c-en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/b407f99c-en)
underlines, openness is among the key generators of public trust in the institutions of
governance.
Role of Parliament in advancing good governance and gaining trust
• Strong parliaments through their scrutiny of work have a direct impact on public trust. In all
countries public trust faces challenges and a strong effort is needed by the state institutions.
National parliaments play crucial role in building public trust.
• In a parliamentary system of government, the government relies on parliament to deliver on
public policy pledges – many reforms rely on adoption of laws hence the involvement of
parliament is key.
• It is important that the scrutiny and approval of laws is evidence-based and transparent.
• Access to high-quality information and data is equally important for effective parliamentary
scrutiny for gaining the trust of citizens and the public in general.
• A single key element impacting trust arguably is openness and transparency of parliamentary
lawmaking and scrutiny. Therefore, open and transparent lawmaking procedures can increase
trust in state institutions, enhance citizen engagement and promote democratic values and
attitudes.
• For effective parliamentary scrutiny sufficient human and financial resources are essential.
Communication and awareness about parliamentary work is key for citizen engagement and trust
building.
How do SIGMA principles address the issue of parliamentary scrutiny and trust ?
• The Principles framework is comprehensive- including the involvement of parliament and other
state institutions most relevant for effective public administration.
• Parliament is strongly featured in the Principles framework directly or indirectly in several
areas:

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o SFPAR- PAR strategy implementation- requires wider consensus, adoption of laws,
monitoring.
o PDC- Parliamentary scrutiny of government policy making, legislative planning and
lawmaking, ex-ante and ex-post assessments etc.
o OAO- Accountability and parliamentary oversight.
o PFM- budget approval and oversight of budgetary processes.
o Parliamentary Administration as a part of the Public Administration needs to align with
relevant SIGMA Principles their structures and processes for better and modern
institutions.
In conclusion
• Public trust is not granted- it should be earned. It is essential for effective functioning of
democratic institutions and for delivering PAR.
• Parliament-Trust relationship is a two-way street. Strong parliamentary scrutiny impacts public
trust. At the same time, strong public trust impacts and helps effective parliamentary scrutiny.
• Citizens must feel they own the decision-making process, that they have a say and their word
impacts the final decision. This is how they will develop more trust in state institutions.
• Open, transparent and evidence-based lawmaking, scrutiny and oversight processes are
important not only for creating good quality laws and effective oversight, but for building trust
and through that deliver bigger reforms.
• The executive and parliament – although they represent different branches of government-
they both have and share the same common objective; to generate and strengthen public trust
in state institutions to strengthen democracy and deliver policy.
• Countries of the EaP region are using parliamentary scrutiny and oversight instruments,
including hearings, inquiries, Q&As.
• Some countries, like the Republic of Moldova, have effectively institutionalised ex-post
monitoring and evaluation tools. Parliamentary working bodies conduct regular evaluation of
laws one year after adoption: legal impact and policy impact are assessed. They have adopted
the methodology, but need further support with capacity building and expertise for more
effective implementation of the evaluation function.
• Georgia has also been strengthening their regulatory impact assessment system to help
parliament implement the scrutiny work more effectively.
• Capacities of parliamentary administration requires strengthening for more effective scrutiny
that can lead to a stronger public trust.
• Officials and units involved in co-ordination of work between parliament and government
administration, for both political and professional services, have an important role to ensure
the process functions effectively and smoothly, and that key information and data is obtained
and shared with MPs and the public.
• Accessing reliable data and information for lawmaking and scrutiny is a challenge; how to
differentiate good/bad quality data and information? More collaboration between the
executive and parliament and with external scientific and research institutes can help. But it is
also important to be proportionate.

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Session 2. Increasing government effectiveness through improved
policy development and decision-making processes.
The underlying message in both groups was that stakeholder involvement at all stages of policy
development and planning is an important pre-condition for having good quality policies and more
effective implementation. This also increases the awareness, transparency, accountability, ownership
and trust.
The key takeaways on how to improve decision-making are:
• To improve the quality and implementation of laws and regulations it is important to engage
the public and implementing institutions in the discussions from the very onset of law-making.
Consultation should take place at each stage of policy making, however, the challenge here is
ensuring sufficient number of participants at the consultations. A (pilot) platform for effective
consultations is currently being finalized in Georgia. It is planned to ensure all the participants
and stakeholders via mentioned platform.
Key takeaways on how to improve policy planning and implementation:
• It is important to avoid “over-strategising” and focus on prioritisation in many ways – to
reduce the number of planning documents, to reduce the activities. It is important to define
standards and practice for when strategies are needed. Because of instability in the region the
strategies should be mostly short-to-medium-term, while they are sometimes designed for up
to 20 years and more. Simplified processes for strategy prioritization on specific aspects should
be leveraged with less recourses.
• Political ownership in policy planning is important. Political vision and priorities are an
important starting point in strategy development. They have to be communicated in order to
be able to prioritise.
• Sufficient time should be dedicated to the development of planning documents, their
preparation should start early enough to allow analysis and involvement of stakeholders.
• Strategies have to be sufficiently flexible instruments to allow adjustments under rapidly
changing environments.
• Communication and awareness of adopted strategies is important to ensure a shared
understanding of commitments, improve responsibility and mobilise support of administration
and beneficiaries.
• People have to be able to see their role in strategy implementation. Translating of high-level
objectives into institutional, departmental and individual responsibility is needed.
• Monitoring and reporting should be enhanced to increase the importance of strategies.
Follow-up is needed to remind that implementation is important and should not be forgotten
after adoption of strategies. Data is an important precondition for the quality of the policies.
Key takeaways on how to improve stakeholder involvement:
• It is important to involve grassroots stakeholders in addition to the associations or unions.
Engage implementors during the design stage. Also motivation tools and exercises (for civil
servants) such as salaries, capacity building sessions, etc. should be observed during the design
phase and taken into consideration during implementation phase.
• Ministries should be proactive to reach out to the beneficiaries and key stakeholders instead
of consulting them at the very end of policy development or planning. Stakeholders have to be
informed in advance of planned changes to policies.

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• Active way of consulting and diverse consultations tools should be used in addition to online
consultation – working groups as a method with stakeholder involvement, workshops,
meetings, etc. should be organised.
Cross-cutting aspects:
• Space for failure, prototyping and piloting should be allowed to improve the quality of policies
and their implementation.
• It is important to establish clear systems and business processes in policy making and policy
planning for them to become a norm across public administration.
• It is important to ensure the functioning of communities of practice and mentoring in policy
making from the centre of government in order to ensure communication and enforcement of
standards.
• Responsibilities for policy making and policy planning should be adequately assigned within
institutions. The secretary general should play an important role in leading the process within
ministries and the policy co-ordination function should be in place to co-ordinate, support and
guide the process.

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Session 3. Building a professional civil service.
The groups discussed the following four questions:
1. What are the main challenges and potential solutions to attract talent in the public service?
2. How can public administration retain, motivate and develop good professionals already in
the system?
3. Why is establishing a professional top management function in public service so difficult?
What steps could be taken?
4. To what extent is the political responsibility for the public service clearly defined and
established?
Below are the main takeaways from the sessions held on both days for each of the four main topics
discussed:
1) Attraction of talent
The groups highlighted the following main determinants of successful attraction:
• Factors related to working conditions in public administration: The groups underlined
intangible elements such as the quality of the organisation and work culture (which is highly
influenced by the quality of middle-level and top managers) and the stability and predictability
of employment.
It was also pointed out that the competitiveness of salaries as one of the main determinants
of attractiveness. The latter is perceived as one key problem hindering the attractiveness of
jobs in public administration in EaP countries.
Finally, they indicated the limited professional development opportunities i.e. career
advancement and training.
• Factors related to the management of the recruitment process including: its transparency, the
use of wider and more diverse recruitment channels, the use of employer branding, the
adequacy of selection tools used (i.e., whether they assess professional competencies of
candidates, rather than their ability to memorise legislation), the efficiency and smoothness of
the whole process management.
The group identified the following potential solutions:
• The development and use of employer branding to position public administration as an
employer of choice.
• Promote inclusiveness and gender balance to best use all the talent available.
• Keep waiting lists of the best-short-listed and not-appointed candidates after the selection
processes during a reasonable period (e.g., one year), e.g., for temporary assignments.
2) Retention of talent
The main challenges identified in this area were:
• The competitiveness of salaries regarding other economic sectors.
• More rigid working conditions, i.e., fewer opportunities for flexible work schedules and
telework.

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• Limits for career growth, e.g., fewer opportunities for horizontal progression and mobility
aimed at learning (secondments to other public or private institutions, academic institutions,
etc.).
• A chronic issue of empty and budgeted vacancies, used for bonuses and rewards for existing
staff, prevents recruitment and hinders mobility and career development opportunities.
The potential solutions suggested were: the improvement of working conditions, including the
competitiveness of salaries but also non-monetary elements such as recognition (rewards),
opportunities for promotion and career development (including mentoring, coaching), flexible work
arrangements, work-life balance, and well-being-related aspects (e.g., offering psychological
counselling).
3) Professional Top Public Management
The groups agreed that any improvement in establishing a professional top management function in
public service requires strong political will and the conviction that professional, depoliticised top
managers are essential for the correct functioning of public administration, including political decision-
making.
The groups discussed other elements around this function, such as different solutions regarding the
term of mandate (permanent or fixed term) and the need for a clear categorisation and definition of
these jobs, which may involve different levels of responsibility and sector specialisation.
4) Political authority for the public service policy
This topic was only discussed on the second day. The group debated the advantages and disadvantages
of having political responsibility for the public service in the centre of government (CoG) institutions. A
shortcoming identified was the lack of clear attribution of political responsibility, given that, in those
cases, this responsibility is usually attributed to the prime minister or the government, and the specific
official in charge is not a member of the Council of Ministers (e.g., the Secretary of the Government of
Moldova, the Head of the Administration of the Government of Georgia).
Another issue identified in some countries was the lack of clear accountability lines for central co-
ordination bodies responsible for monitoring and supporting the implementation of the central
government administration's public service policy and human resource management procedure.
The group concluded that different institutional arrangements are possible, with advantages and
shortcomings (e.g., a ministry responsible for public service may have difficulties exercising its authority
with peer ministries). Whatever the system, political responsibility should be clearly and concretely
allocated, and the unit responsible for implementation should report to it.

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Session 4. Inclusive Digitalisation transformation
The countries from the EaP region, stand at a pivotal moment in their digital transformation journey.
As these countries strive to modernize their economies and public services through the adoption of
digital technologies, the imperative for inclusiveness becomes ever more pressing. Digital
transformation offers unparalleled opportunities for economic growth, innovation, and improved
quality of life. However, to fully harness these benefits, it is crucial to ensure that digital advancements
are accessible to all segments of society, including rural communities, the elderly, and people with
disabilities.
The session focused on digital transformation and service delivery as prerequisites for inclusion.
Participants explored how leveraging technology can bridge gaps and ensure equitable access to public
services. Discussions centred on leveraging digital platforms and means to reach people with special
needs and provide essential services efficiently. Besides discussing legal provisions and rights in laws on
administrative procedures, participants also discussed the importance of human-centric design in
developing digital services to cater to diverse needs and abilities.
The main take-aways can be summarised as:
- Inclusiveness is not something to be considered at the end, but needs to be ensured from the
start. When designing or re-designing services (process, procedures), users should be included.
Citizens and/or businesses should be not only be consulted in a formal manner, but public
administrations should interact in an in-depth manner to understand the needs and expectations
from the (different kind) of users.
- Accessibility is core, but need to be carefully thought through. Digitisation can increase
accessibility massively and the dynamic to put services online, rather then people in line should be
supported. Nonetheless a well-reflected strategic approach on service delivery is a multi-/ omni-
channel approach, including on- and offline channels. The mix of channels is carefully designed
reflecting the needs and expectations of the (different kind of) users, (cost) efficiency arguments
and the nature of the services.
- Provision of e-services without uptake is an empty box. Countries in the region went fast into the
digitalisation of services (also fuelled by COVID). The uptake of these e-services didn’t happened to
the same extent. Far from it in most countries. Therefore, besides the policy, legal, technical side of
digitalisation, there is also a capacity of society side. Citizens / users need to be made aware services
exist, the skills need to be available (or boosted) in society to interact with public administration in
a digital manner and finally citizens/users need to be willing. Trust is key in the latter.
- Although a strategic and legal framework is in place which allows for digitalisation of public
services, EaP countries are not ready to go fully digital at this stage. Private – public partnership
in digitalisation transformation of public services is still a challenge since it is linked also to
mandates, data protection, cybersecurity and “trust’ in giving away certain services.
- Participants empathised the need to have an enhanced co-operation between the government (i.e.
E-Governance and Digital Transformation Institutions) and parliament (administrations) when it
comes to development and implementation of E-Governance and Digital Transformation solutions.
- In the context of EU Integration process and integration with the EU Digital Framework , there is a
significant support to TRIO countries in adhering to respective EU acquis and ensuring the effective
implementation of the respective solutions in the overall PAR framework. In the context of AI, there
is no legal framework/strategy currently in place.

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Session 5. Rule of Law
The participants provided different examples of how rule of law and PAR are very much connected. It
is first and foremost evident in elements, such as lawful implementation of administrative procedures
and easy access to justice in case of any doubts, developing good quality legislation (incl. analysing
their impacts in advance and consulting them with stakeholders) in order to ensure their legitimacy,
ensuring the overall transparency and accountability of administration. Also in ensuring merit-based
recruitment: only equal treatment of candidates and their selection based on merit can be considered
as lawful in the end. Therefore, everyeone agreed it would be beneficial to both – RoL and PAR – if they
are taken in tandem and developed together. Only then can both elements strengthen each other,
becauseeasy and effective access to administrative justice is one of the preconditions for ensuring a
strong and well-functioning public administration.
Participants provided several examples from the practices of EaP countries of how certain elements of
RoL are already functioning well, e.g. consultation portals ensuring involvement of stakeholders during
legislative process; easy and online access to legislation in force; ensuring gender equality; fighting
corruption through protection for whistleblowers as well as impact as regulatory impact assessment.
Nevertheless, there are still challenges as well, as in any region or country. All participants agreed that
one of the most effective ways for addressing the challenges are exchanging experiences with other
countries, most notably with countries from the region who are facing the same challenges or have the
same priorities, e.g. EU accession.