The Eastern Partnership (EaP) initiative, put forward by Poland and Sweden, implicates bilaterally strengthening the existing cooperation of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, referred to as the “eastern partners”, with the EU countries and continuing it in a multilateral format within the ENP. Within the EaP, it is envisaged the new cooperation agreements in the field of deep and comprehensive free trade, EU-funded programmes, “mobility and security pacts”, visa-free travel, access to the EU labour market, alignment with EU legislation and standards, and cooperation in the fields of people-to-people contacts. The following platforms have been established for discussions within the EaP multilateral format:
- Platform on Democracy, Good Governance and Stability (Platform 1);
- Platform on Economic Integration and Convergence with EU Policies (Platform 2);
- Platform on Energy Security (Platform 3);
- Platform on Mobility and People-to-People Contacts (Platform 4).
The SEC participates in the meetings of the Public Administration Reforms Panel of the 1st Platform on “Democracy, Good Governance and Stability”.
Panel meetings are held regularly within the framework of the platforms.
The EU Eastern Partnership Platform on Democracy, Good Governance and Stability includes 3 priority areas and Panels operate in each area:
- Democratic Governance;
- Justice and Internal Affairs;
- Security and Stability.
Seminars, conferences, round tables, trainings, panel discussions, internship programs are regularly held in all panels. EaP countries, some EU members, as well as international organizations such as the Council of Europe and SIGMA are invited to the events.
The Public Administration Reforms Panel operates in 4 main directions, with a lead country responsible for each area:
|
1. |
Civil service, public administration institutions and their activities (Human resources management, civil service recruitment rules, legislation) |
Poland |
|
2. |
Transparency, e-government and data protection |
Estonia |
|
3. |
Local governance and decentralization |
Czech Republic |
|
4. |
Effective management of technical assistance tools |
Ukraine |
The events organized within the framework of the panel are distributed among the states included in that panel and are part of the annual activity plan.
To note that in 2017, a number of events were held by the State Examination Center of the Republic of Azerbaijan with regard to the 1st direction of the Public Administration Panel (Civil service, public administration institutions and their activities, Human resources management, civil service admission rules, legislation).