Opening remarks given by the ReSPA Director, Ms. Ratka Sekulovic, at the Regional conference on the functioning of centres of government in the Western Balkans held in Danilovgrad, Montenegro on 22-23 June 2017.

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Opening Remarks by the ReSPA Director Ms. Ratka Sekulovic at
the Regional Conference on Functioning of Centres of Government (CoG)
ReSPA, Danilovgrad, 22 June 2017
"It is my pleasure to welcome you all to ReSPA, to the Regional Conference devoted to the
CoGs in the Western Balkans.
I am thankful for this unique opportunity to have credible partners from the EC, SIGMA and
RCC with us.
As you already know, for almost seven years of its existence, ReSPA has done a lot in its
mission to boost regional cooperation and strengthen public administration reform as one of
the three main preconditions for the successful integration of the Western Balkans to the EU.
Recognising the role and position of the CoGs in that demanding process, we decided
together with our partners, to present SIGMA Study on the state of play regarding CoGs in
the region and to initiate discussion on its main findings.
This Conference will be also an opportunity to share good practices and country initiatives,
to discuss key challenges but also to learn from the European Commission’s focus on this
important aspect of public administration. Also, this is an opportunity to hear about the
results of the work of the OECD around the World, and Latvian experience as well.
This occasion of networking of the Western Balkans’ representatives also provides an
opportunity to discuss the work initiated by ReSPA and RCC towards effective and efficient
public consultation practices in policy and legislation development.
At the end of the event, we should clearly see how ReSPA can further support CoGs in the
region".