4.1. Profile of centres of government
The Centre of Government (CoG) performs several critical horizontal functions, which ensure the effective functioning of the government, such as supporting the head of government’s decision-making process, and ensuring that individual policies are in line with the government programme. The CoG can involve more than one institution, for instance in Serbia it comprises the Office of Prime Minister, General Secretariat of the Government, Republic Secretariat for Legislation, Public Policy Secretariat, among others. By contrast, in Albania it is only one institution, the Office of Prime Minister, which supports the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime Minister.
A larger proportion of CoGs in the Western Balkans region have exclusive competence over strategic government functions (e.g. strategic planning, relations with the parliament) than in OECD-EU and OECD countries. Yet, when considering both shared and exclusive responsibilities, CoGs in OECD-EU and OECD countries have a broader range of functions than those in the Western Balkans.
Preparation of the government programme, and planning and management of transition between governments are part of CoG’s exclusive responsibilities in the Western Balkans, except in Albania where both are shared with line ministries. Preparation of the government programme is the exclusive competence of the CoG in 59% of OECD-EU countries, while preparation and management of the transition between governments in 73%.
The CoG performs other functions that bring coherence to the government as a whole. Across the entire Western Balkan region, like the majority of OECD members, the CoG is responsible for strategic planning. Similarly, in five of six economies in the Western Balkan region, policy co-ordination is the exclusive competence of CoG. The same applies in 77% of OECD-EU countries.
The CoG is in a strategic position to maintain relationships with other parts of government. For instance, relations with parliament are the exclusive competence of all CoGs in the Western Balkan region. In Albania, there is a Minister of State for Relations with Parliament. In around half of OECD countries, this is also the exclusive responsibility of the CoG. International co-ordination in general and European integration in particular are part of CoGs’ shared responsibilities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. In 91% of OECD-EU countries, CoGs are involved in international coordination.
In the past, CoGs’ responsibilities in communication were limited to issuing press releases and organising conferences, nowadays many are also in charge of social media accounts. CoGs in the Western Balkans are following this trend: in half of them, communication with the public and other parts of the administration is their excusive competence, while in the others it is shared. Similarly, 59% share this responsibility with other bodies in OECD-EU countries.
Regarding the head of the CoG, in Albania and Kosovo, this position has the status of a civil servant, while in the other countries, it is a political designation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it depends on the internal administrative solutions, for example in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina it is a civil servant and in the rest it is a political position. In 48% of OECD countries, the position is filled by a civil servant, and in the rest it is a political appointee. If the leadership of a CoG is constantly changing (e.g. if the head of the CoG is replaced with every change of government) it can create challenges and risks in terms of continuity and stability of performing core government functions, especially during the transition between governments.
The data were collected via the 2019 OECD Questionnaire for the Western Balkans on Organisation and Functions of the Centre of Government and the 2017 OECD Survey on Organisation and functions of the Centre of Government. Data for the OECD refer to 34 respondent countries, and for the OECD-EU to 22 countries. Respondents were senior officials who provide direct support and advice to heads of government and the council of ministers or cabinet and provided information for the year 2019.
The CoG is the body that serves the head of government and the Council of Ministers (e.g. Cabinet Office), as well as the office that specifically serves the head of government (e.g. Prime Minister’s Office). This report uses a narrow definition, focusing on the functioning of the main institutions within the core centre of the executive branch. OECD/SIGMA reports on the Western Balkan region use a broader definition, including ministries and institutions performing key horizontal functions, such as the Ministry of Finance to check the financial affordability of policies. Methodological differences should be considered when comparing the results with other reports, including SIGMA Monitoring Assessments.
Figure notes
Because of the complex constitutional setup, the CoG functions in Bosnia and Herzegovina are performed by several levels of administration. For Bosnia and Herzegovina’s results are based on consolidated responses received from the State level, the two entities and Brčko District (for disaggregation see StatLinks).
4.1. In Brčko District of BiH, the CoG shares the responsibility of transition planning and management with the assembly. More areas of responsibility are available online (in StatLink)
4.2. Italy did not provide a response.
Source: OECD (2019) Questionnaire for the Western Balkans on Organisation and Functions of the Centre of Government; OECD (2017), OECD Survey on Organisation and functions of the Centre of Government.
Source: OECD(2019) Questionnaire for the Western Balkans on Organisation and Functions of the Centre of Government; OECD (2017), OECD Survey on Organisation and functions of the Centre of Government.
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