Assessment and recommendations

Lithuania has been successful in transitioning from a pervasive and underperforming state apparatus to a modern public administration, but institutional challenges remain. Since regaining independence in March 1990, Lithuania has undergone a series of institutional reforms that paved the way for EU accession and NATO membership in 2004 and the adoption of the euro in January 2015. Lithuania has reformed the civil service, introducing a clear separation between political and professional functions, and streamlined central and local administrative and institutional structures. However, as for a number of former communist countries, ministries tend to work in silos, with limited horizontal co-ordination. Some of the reforms introduced to meet EU accession requirements, including evidence-based policy making and strategic planning, have not yet been fully mainstreamed.