With a view to monitoring the measurable effects of the reforms in the European integration process of the Republic of Serbia, the members of coalition prEUgovor have selected six institutions whose competences fall under Chapter 23 (Justice and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security).
To this end, a methodology has been devised to measure the effectiveness of these institutions - the overall performance of some of them, and specific activities of others. The selected six institutions are:
- the Anti-Corruption Agency
- the Internal Control Sector of the Ministry of the Interior
- the Commissariat for Refugees and Migrations
- the Centre for Human Trafficking Victims Protection
- the Commissioner for Protection of Equality
- the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection
The pioneering results of the application of these methodologies are presented in the first edition of the Institutional Barometer. In our approach, indicators were formulated which reflect the dimensions of outcome and process, with a special emphasis on the implementation, which is recognized as the main challenge and is therefore the focus of monitoring by the European Union as well. The indicators were divided into three “baskets” that reflect three dimensions of institutional functioning: internal efficacy, institutional embedment and institutional legitimacy. This approach has enabled us to group different types of indicators, which then reflect the different dimensions of management that they measure.
It is precisely this approach that has provided us with the data testifying to the effectiveness of the institutional set-up. Further, monitoring the indicators in the period between the first edition and this one, as well as in the years to come, will allow us to identify the trend regarding the success of the state in improving the situation in specific areas. By grouping our indicators into the “baskets” we were able to choose from a myriad of indicators the ones that are relevant for a specific institutional design and by using various sources of data to juxtapose public perceptions and experience on the one side with pure administrative data on the other. We are confident in this one-of-a-kind approach because the three baskets that reflect the three dimensions of institutional effectiveness are mutually balanced and create a unique checks-and-balance system with the measurement framework, thus minimising the possibility of arbitrary assessments and interpretations of results.
The results obtained using this methodology could be a source of information for relevant actors, both the decision makers and civil society organisations, as they can use them to formulate concrete proposals on how to overcome the key shortcomings and problems and improve institutional design.
The Institutional Barometer 2.0 is a continuation of the prEUgovor coalition’s persevering work, aiming to the extent possible to contribute to the reforms and concrete changes in the field through its findings. With this aim in mind, we have in the meantime improved specific indicators and formulated new ones, in order to provide as thorough as possible an analysis of the current state of the institutional set-up and its operation. We would like to invite you to continue reading this report and find out more about what has changed between two of our editions in the “area“ of institutional effectiveness, what we have learnt, where we are now, and what our hopes for the future are.
The Action is supported by the European Union through the program “Civil Society Facility” under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The contents of the Report are the sole responsibility of the publisher and views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the European Union.