EUROPEAN COMMISSION: INTERNAL REFORM PROVING HARD TO CARRY THROUGH.

• Position: Brief Article

Neil Kinnock, European Commission Vice-President with responsibility for the Administrative Reform portfolio, claims the report represents "the outcome is a series of very candid documents that offer comprehensive analysis and provide both positive and critical assessments of the current systems". He adds: "We now have a very solid foundation for the Action Plans which will quickly be compiled in order to provide systematic means of pursuing remedy and gaining improvement", welcoming this "tangible evidence of the active commitment of the Commission and its staff to genuine accountability and constant improvement".The Synthesis Report adopted is the result of one of the major measures set out in the March 2000 White Paper on Administrative Reform. The Report states that at the end of 2001, between 70 and 75% of DGs considered they had achieved the minimum standards identified for each of the five major reform headings: control environment, level of services and risk assessment, information and...