Moroccan House of Representatives and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Organize Colloquium on "Reform of the Administration"

The House of Representatives, in partnership with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, organized on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, at the House, a colloquium on the evaluation of public policies in the field of administration reform, as part of the project "Support to the development of the role of the Parliament in consolidating democracy in Morocco 2020-2023."

The colloquium featured the participation of the Chairperson and members of the Thematic Working Group in charge of Evaluating the 2018-2021 National Administration Reform Plan, the Head of the national parliamentary representation to the PACE, representatives of the EU Delegation to Morocco and the Head of the Office of the Council of Europe in Morocco.

At the onset of the meeting, Mr. Hafid Ouachak, Chairperson of the Thematic Working Group in charge of Evaluating the 2018-2021 National Administration Reform Plan, gave an address on "Administration Reform - Comparative Practices: Views of Legislators and Experts." In this regard, he noted that the evaluation of public policies is an essential prerogative of the Moroccan Parliament, as provided for in the 2011 Constitution, hence extending the competences of the Parliament and strengthening the democratic institutional practice.

Mr. Ouachak also stressed the importance of public administrative service in the economic, social and cultural dynamics, which imposes putting it always at the heart of the reform to keep pace with the social and economic needs and grant it the confidence of citizens. In this respect, Mr. Ouachak called for laying the foundations for a modern citizen administration that meets the requirements of our times, in a way that aligns with the message addressed by His Majesty King Mohammed VI to the participants in the National Forum on Senior Civil Service on February 27, 2018, in which the Sovereign had emphasized that "the efficient management of the means and resources needed to achieve comprehensive development puts the issue of the efficiency of the civil service and state institutions in sharp focus, which requires reviewing their work methods and modes for the management of public resources."

For his part, the Head of the Cooperation Department at the European Union Delegation in Rabat, Mr. Severin Strohal, referred to the constitutional provisions whereby Parliament plays a key role in the consolidation of the concept of public policy evaluation, provided that it is accompanied by the drawing of the necessary conclusions and be methodological in a way that enables it to identify the progress in achieving the set objectives.

During the same event, the Head of the representation of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco to the PACE, Ms. Salma Benaziz, emphasized the role of the administration in achieving development, and called for capitalizing on the achievements realized in various fields, namely those relating to the European experience in this field.

On the same note, the Head of the Office of the Council of Europe in Morocco, Ms. Carmen Morte Gómez, highlighted the role of participatory democracy in the evaluation of public policies, while taking into account the need to promote the right to access information and consolidate transparency and equality.

Moreover, the colloquium shed light on comparative experiences in the field of administration reform. In this context, experts presented views on certain international practices, such as the Portuguese experience in Administration Reform through decentralization, and on the link between this process and the new mechanism of territorial division based on the demographic and political changes, added to the need for engaging actively citizens in political life. This proximity to citizens was achieved in Portugal thanks to its choice of decentralization, despite the budgetary and financial constraints it poses.

With a view to concretizing the Reform Plan, experts discussed the need to adapt the strategies to the political and administrative context of each State, and to identify effective ways of assessing the implementation of public policies, particularly in view of the complexity of territorial administration. They also stressed the necessity to avoid mistakes made in certain comparative experiences and to evoke the means of efficiency and good governance.

With regard to Moroccan parliamentary experience, participants presented a comprehensive assessment of the Moroccan practice in Administration Reform, drawing in particular on the experience of the Thematic Working Group in charge of Evaluating the 2018-2021 National Administration Reform Plan. On that point, they emphasized that "the Plan has been and still is an urgent requirement, given the digital transformations around the world and the repercussions of Covid-19. Therefore, the aim would be the upgrade of the public administration and the civil service through restructuring and strengthening their capacities to meet the challenges of good governance and provide high quality public services."

The colloquium also offered an opportunity for the members of the Thematic Working Group, European parliamentarians and the other international experts to exchange views, expertise and ideas on their national experiences in the field of Administration Reform, particularly with regard to administrative decentralization, digital transition, and the transformation and ethical dimension of public administration.

It should be noted that the evaluation of public policies is a prerogative of the Parliament pursuant to Article 70 of the Constitution. In this respect, the House of Representatives had already launched public policy evaluation operations in several areas.