EUPAN German Presidency Report 01 July – 31 December 2020
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Berlin, 29 January 2021 EUPAN German Presidency Report 01 July – 31 December 2020 1. Summary The German Presidency in the second semester of 2020 took place under the impression of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. Regrettably, as was the case already under the Croatian Presidency in the first semester, there could be no physical meetings. Instead of holding a plenary meeting on the Working Level, Working Level colleagues were asked to engage via e-mail. Two Secretariat meetings on both the Working and Directors General Level were held in the virtual sphere. The plenary EUPAN Directors General Meeting took place via videoconference on 17 November 2020. The meeting on 17 November saw the launch of a EUPAN Summer School whose first edition will be organised by Germany in the summer of 2021. Covering the topics of integrity, trust and professionalism, the first EUPAN Summer School will provide exchange, insight and knowledge on prerequisites and circumstances in administrative responsibilities. The Covid-19 pandemic gravely influenced not only the organisational part of the German Presidency, but also its focal points. To further the work and goals of EUPAN in the light of ongoing exceptional circumstances, the German Presidency endeavoured to collect knowledge acquired and experiences made by public administrations in handling the (first wave of the) pandemic. The questionnaire it composed aimed to render different approaches visible and, in the end, comparable. Submissions were collected in August and September of 2020. Most EUPAN partners invested considerable time and effort to describe their administration’s general setup and its adaptation to the challenges of the coronavirus. Many went to great lengths to explain their specific situation to the rest of the network. From those individual submissions, a comprehensive picture can be drawn – a picture which, regrettably, only illustrates the situation during the so-called first wave of the pandemic in the spring and summer of 2020. While many challenges remain unchanged during the second and, in many places, third wave of the pandemic, some coping mechanisms have evolved. The Directors General videoconference on 17 November allowed for a discussion of lessons learnt since the end of the survey. The Presidency Report presented today seeks to offer a quick and focused overview of the main activities during the German Presidency. For better orientation, the main documents are compiled in the annex to this report. Managing the EUPAN Presidency in a time of global crisis required the support, goodwill and flexibility of the EUPAN partners. Germany is especially indebted to the members of the EUPAN 5 group who offered close cooperation throughout the semester. The communal spirit integral to EUPAN could be preserved despite the fact that there were no physical meetings. Table of Contents 1. Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Covid-19 Questionnaire ................................................................................................................ 3 2.1. Setup ............................................................................................................................................. 3 2.2. Return ........................................................................................................................................... 3 2.3. Evaluation ..................................................................................................................................... 4 2.4. Discussion .................................................................................................................................... 6 3. EUPAN Summer School ................................................................................................................ 7 3.1. Idea ................................................................................................................................................ 7 3.2. Decision of the Directors General ........................................................................................... 8 3.3. First Summer School in July 2021 ........................................................................................... 9 4. Miscellaneous Items ...................................................................................................................... 9 4.1. Publication “Public Administration in Germany” ................................................................ 9 4.2. Workshop “A Journey to an Inclusive Organsiation” ...................................................... 10 EUPAN German Presidency Report | Page 2 4.3. Initiative for a Ministerial Meeting ...................................................................................... 11 5. Annex.............................................................................................................................................. 11 2. Covid-19 Questionnaire One of the German Presidency’s two focal points, the other one being the launch of the EUPAN Summer School, was the realisation of a comprehensive Covid-19 survey among EUPAN Members and Observer States. 2.1. Setup Cf. Annex A: Covid-19 Questionnaire The main challenge in designing the questionnaire was to find the right angle: The German Presidency strived to develop questions that would generate input useful to the EUPAN partners. To make sure that the questionnaire did not go past their actual need the Presidency decided to ask the network to deliver feedback early on in the drafting process. A first draft of the questionnaire was circulated with the Welcome Letter of the German Presidency. The scope of this first draft was very wide. It was subsequently limited to take into account the feedback by EUPAN partners and to avoid overlaps with other surveys under way at the time. In the end, the questionnaire’s focus was sharpened to better reflect EUPAN’s specific public service scope. The emphasis was put on the collection of different experiences rather than the collection of numerical data. This way, the German Presidency hoped to create a vivid and instructive tableau of challenges and coping mechanisms across the continent. Seeing as no two administrations are set up in the same way, there can be no universal truths drawn from the survey. This was not the goal of the survey. Instead, the idea was to invite administrations to learn about their partners’ successes and challenges and to inspire them to maybe take a second look at their own measures. 2.2. Return Cf. Annex B: Covid-19 Questionnaire – Individual Replies by Country / Organisation EUPAN German Presidency Report | Page 3 Replies were received by 28 EUPAN Members and Observer States. The vast majority of EUPAN Members and Observers came back with comprehensive and thorough assessments of the situation in their administration. Many went to great lengths to explain how their administration’s structural setup influenced their handling of the situation, identifying both advantages and difficulties. 2.3. Evaluation The questionnaire encouraged the sharing of experiences and asked for the description of a country’s administrative framework outside of multiple choice boxes. This is why there can be no comprehensive evaluation of every reply in relation to the next in the form of a table. An insight into a country`s or the European Commission’s specific approach and into individual challenges encountered in the process is best achieved by referring directly to that country’s or the Commissions’s individual reply (cf. Annex B). However, reading the submissions as a whole yields some interesting observations. The so- called first wave was largely over at the time of completion of the questionnaire while the second, in many places even the third wave, is under way at the moment. As the situation progresses, it may be useful to reconsider certain approaches in the light of lessons learnt also by other administrations. It is important to note again, though, that there is no universal right or wrong in the context of Covid-19 measures. With innumerous variables in play, ranging from geographical and demographic factors to the particularities of national economies, no two administrations face the exact same challenges. That being said, the following observations warrant the reader’s special attention and maybe further consideration: Structural Information: o Asked to provide structural information on their administration, roughly three quarters of countries indicated that their Covid-19 crisis management had (mostly) happened on the central level. The remaining countries took Covid- EUPAN German Presidency Report | Page 4 19 measures on a central and regional level. In a few countries, all three levels, the central, regional and municipal, were responsible for decisions intended to contain the pandemic. o Irrespective of their individual organisational structure, all countries but one indicated that their division of competences had proven apt to deal with the unprecedented challenges of the Covid-19 crisis. o While there will be a certain bias with every administration deeming its own setup to be the best, it goes to show that there is no right and wrong organisational structure when it comes to a pandemic. Depending on the administration’s structural setup, challenges will differ. At different times during the pandemic, one system may seem preferable over another – but this can shift. Handling