Public Administration Minister Boris Koprivnikar answered questions from MMC's chatroom as part of MMC's effort to introduce members of Miro Cerar's government to the public. In his presentation to the Interior Affairs, Public Administration and Local Government Committee in September, Koprivnikar said that Slovenia's public administration system is not oversized. He said it is comparable to other EU countries in terms of size, but the real problem is efficiency.

"The performance of public servants needs to be measured or at least monitored, and their pay must reflect their performance. But often the problem lies in the fact that our laws are too complicated. Investors often want to obtain a building permit for areas where it simply cannot be granted ... Oftentimes, we cannot blame our public servants if such problems occur," Koprivnikar said in MMC's chatroom.

He was asked whether he agreed that reforms are not being implemented fast enough – especially considering the fact that virtually everyone in Slovenia thinks there are huge problems in areas like public administration, public health care and the judiciary. Koprivnikar said in his response that long-term changes require systemic changes, which take more than just a few months to implement. "The second reason is less rational ... People want change, but they are usually not prepared to accept change themselves," the minister stressed.

The Ministry of Public Administration is currently working on a strategy for the country's public administration and local government systems. However, it appears that the ministry has no intention of cutting the number of municipalities in Slovenia.

Gregor Cerar; MMC
translated by D.V.