FUNCTIONAL
LEvEL TITLE PART OF SCS?
1st Level Secretary General of the Ministry
Yes
2nd Level Director-General Yes
3rd Level Director Yes
4th Level Deputy Director In certain cases
5th Level Head of Service In certain cases
6th Level Deputy Head of Service In certain cases
78 / PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT IN EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES
Civil service recruitment remains essentially centralised. Civil servants are mainly recruited at the beginning of their careers, through highly competitive examinations and training, through special institutes. The most important schools (grandes ecoles) are: National Administration School (ENA) and the Polytechnic School (EP). Entrants to grandes ecoles immediately become salaried civil servants and the top 20% (ENA) and top 25% (EP) are appointed to the most prestigious grands corps.
ENA is the principal means for accessing the high-level civil service functions.
However, there is also the possibility of becoming a Civil Administrator through specific recruitment systems opened to all civil servants throughout their career (known as Tour extérieur). There are also specific examinations for technical corps (Polytechnic School) and specific competitions are organised by Ministries such as Foreign affairs, in order to recruit agents with specific competencies.
Entry Recruitment: ENA: At least a higher education diploma (or similar) and an examination. The proportion of posts via external examination is 50%, 40% internally and 10% from a third channel open to candidates from the private sector or those who have an elected mandate. EP: Secondary diploma, two years of preparatory classes and a competitive examination.
There are discretionary appointments by the Government (Prefects, Directors, Ambassadors, etc.) without a fixed term contract and revocable at any time, and classical management appointments with a defined duration (three years, renewable once). For discretionary appointments by the Government, a formalised procedure does not exist; for other appointments, there is a very limited procedure (call for application, nomination, validation by the Prime Minister and the Minister concerned and consultation with the General Directorate for Administration and Civil Service).
Senior Civil Servants are recruited by a more centralised process than general civil servants. Performance appraisal takes place annually. The Assessment interview is held between the Programme Manager and the Senior Civil Servant, or at the very top level. There are three core elements in the appraisal: Indicator-based objectives;
operational quality of the service and the capacity of the Director and the assessment carried out by the hierarchical leaders. The appraisal defines the amount of the performance-based pay, which can be up to a maximum of 20% of the total salary.
The ENA and EP carry out training at the entry level and subsequently (senior positions receive training within six months of their appointment). Leadership training for senior civil servants consists of training in negotiation, communication skills, public governance, etc.
As for remuneration, Directors and Director-Generals have performance-related pay.
Civil servants’ remuneration is based on three components: basic salary assigned to each corps. Two additional levels: At the inter-ministerial level: a fixed premium for productivity or the percentage of the base salaries of the different pay grades. At ministerial level: an efficiency premium is used, which is also defined as a percentage of the base salaries of the different pay grades.
FRANCE / 79
Part-time work for SCS is allowed by Law, but in practice, like tele-working, it is not really common practice, arising only for jurisdictional functions. SCS have more free days to compensate for the flat-rate time worked, but in practice many executives are unable to take their days off. For members of the grands corps there is mobility between ministries and various positions within the administrative system. By means of temporary assignments, they can be loaned to other ministries. They are permitted to take leaves of absence to hold political office or work in the private sector while maintaining their benefits such as rate of pay and level of seniority upon their return.
Statistics: In France there are over 5,000 senior civil servants in the Central Administration (around 16% of which are female). Since 2005, career initiatives and the elimination of the 50 years old age limit makes it easier to recruit senior executives via the “tour extérieur”. This procedure, which is open to Category A civil servants with at least eight years of service, is specifically designed to take account of professional experience. Mobility obstacles between the three branches of the civil service have also been removed so that local government and hospital civil servants seconded into the civil administrators’ corps may move there permanently after 2 years of service.
8. RECENT REFORMS AND PROSPECTS
Several reform projects have been initiated, including ones dealing with individualised remuneration, mobility, evaluation, training and diversity. A number of these are part of the roadmap for the “Public Service 2012 Pact”. They are also part of the wider General Review of Public Policies, specifically in relation to human resources.
The 2008 reforms mentioned in the social dialogue and other reforms approved by the Public Policy Modernisation Council to improve the quality of public services and meet the objective of replacing only one out of two retiring civil servants between 2009 and 2011 to reduce the size of the public service have also been initiated.
Other reforms affect the modernisation of the 15 French Ministries to improve their efficiency, which have already been culminated in the Ministries of Defence, Sustainable Development and the Interior. A series of inter-departmental measures include multi-year budgets, modernisation of the State’s territorial organisation, streamlining internal procedures, modernising human resource management, modernising the State’s support functions (payroll, State purchases), and a “zero red tape” policy.
GERMANY / 81
GERMANY
GERMANY
1.- REGIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION INTRODUCTION
Germany is a federal parliamentary republic made up of sixteen states (Bundesländer).
The capital and largest city is Berlin. It is a member of the United Nations, NATO, G8, G4 nations, and signatory to the Kyoto Protocol. It is the world’s third largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, the leader in Europe, and the world’s largest exporter of goods in 2007.
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT
Executive Power is invested in the Chancellor and federal ministers. The Head of State is the President of the Republic, who essentially has powers of representation and is characterized by his/her neutrality in Government policy.
The Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag, and is normally the leader of the party that obtained the majority vote in this chamber. Although the Chancellor proposes the members of the Government to the President of the Republic, the composition of the Government is usually negotiated between the coalition parties as there is almost always a coalition government. The Government is ruled by three principles:
• Richtlinie-Prinzip: The Chancellor defines the general policy guidelines.
• Ressort-Prinzip: Within these guidelines, each Minister acts independently and is accountable to the Chancellor.
• Kollegial-Princip: The Federal Government adopts joint decisions.
Generally speaking, the Federal level is responsible for legislative and coordination tasks, and the territorial administrations have executive powers as well as monitoring and implementation. For coordination, the Chancellor and Ministers have advisory and support Cabinets, which are normally made up of civil servants.
REGIONAL ORGANIZATION
German federalism has two characteristics which differentiate it from other federal systems:
1. The Federal level is responsible for legislation, coordination, political impulse whilst state level is responsible for implementing public policies.
2. Representatives of the Federal Chamber (Bundesrag) are not elected directly by the people, but they are appointed by the executive power of the Länder.
1. REGIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION Introduction
Germany is a federal parliamentary republic made up of sixteen states (Bundesländer).
The capital and largest city is Berlin. It is a member of the United Nations, NATO, G8, G4 nations, and signatory to the Kyoto Protocol. It is the world’s third largest economy in terms of nominal GDP, the leader in Europe, and the world’s largest exporter of goods in 2007.
System of government
Executive Power is invested in the Chancellor and federal ministers. The Head of State is the President of the Republic, who essentially has powers of representation and is characterized by his/her neutrality in Government policy.
The Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag, and is normally the leader of the party that obtained the majority vote in this chamber. Although the Chancellor proposes the members of the Government to the President of the Republic, the composition of the Government is usually negotiated between the coalition parties as there is almost always a coalition government. The Government is ruled by three principles:
Richtlinie-Prinzip: The Chancellor defines the general policy guidelines.
•
Ressort-Prinzip: Within these guidelines, each Minister acts independently and is
•
accountable to the Chancellor.
Kollegial-Princip: The Federal Government adopts joint decisions.
•
Generally speaking, the Federal level is responsible for legislative and coordination tasks, and the territorial administrations have executive powers as well as monitoring and implementation. For coordination, the Chancellor and Ministers have advisory and support Cabinets, which are normally made up of civil servants.
Regional organization
German federalism has two characteristics which differentiate it from other federal systems:
82 / PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT IN EUROPEAN UNION MEMBER STATES
The Federal level is responsible for legislation, coordination, political impulse 1.
whilst state level is responsible for implementing public policies.
Representatives of the Federal Chamber (Bundesrag) are not elected directly by 2.
the people, but they are appointed by the executive power of the Länder.
The first territorial administration is the federal administration and the second level is state administration: the Länder. Each Länd has a Constitution and the division of powers takes place in its own territory. Each Länd has its own legislative, executive and judicial bodies and is self-organized. The Landtag (State Parliament) has sovereignty to pass laws within its sphere of competence: local authorities, police system, culture and education. Like the Länder, they carry out essentially executive tasks. Part of the activity of the Landtag is being assumed by the federal level through framework legislation.
Political management lies with the President and administrative tasks are carried out on three levels by peripheral delegations: At the higher level: by the Ministers of the Länd; at the second level: by a state government delegate; at the third level: by the Municipalities with delegated powers of the Länder.
Local Administration consists of various models depending on the size of the Länder.
In the nine large Länder, there are three levels: Regions, provinces and communes or villages; whilst there is no regional level in the four smaller Länder.
The first territorial administration is the federal administration and the second level is state administration: the Länder. Each Länd has a Constitution and the division of powers takes place in its own territory. Each Länd has its own legislative, executive and judicial bodies and is self-organized. The Landtag (State Parliament) has sovereignty to pass laws within its sphere of competence: local authorities, police system, culture and education. Like the Länder, they carry out essentially executive tasks. Part of the activity of the Landtag is being assumed by the federal level through framework legislation.
Political management lies with the President and administrative tasks are carried out on three levels by peripheral delegations: At the higher level: by the Ministers of the Länd; at the second level: by a state government delegate; at the third level: by the Municipalities with delegated powers of the Länder.
Local Administration consists of various models depending on the size of the Länder. In the nine large Länder, there are three levels: Regions, provinces and communes or villages; whilst there is no regional level in the four smaller Länder.