PUBLIC POLICY ADVICE: AN EVOLVING ROLE

At the moment several trends can be detected within the public sector. The origin of these trends can be found in the ongoing introduction of public management methods and tools within the public sector. The government of the future will be an effective, cost-efficient and accountable government that delivers high-quality services.

If governments want to have major impact, they need to take decisions based on well thought visions. They have to understand the current day situation, the potential needs and evolutions, the agenda’s of all relevant stakeholders. Based on scenario building they have to take decisions on pursued strategy, build the platforms to execute and monitor the outcomes and the impact of the government role.

Public Policy Advice can be summarised under four main headings: Analysis/Strategic Studies, Policy Design, Evaluation and implementation.

Analysis/Strategic Studies

Providing analysis, strategic insights, and policy solutions to decision makers in government  Analysing the nature, causes, and effects of a given problem or situation and propose solutions. Effective policy definition starts with having a clear view of the change you want to achieve. 

Policy Design

Policy design consists of assisting the European public sector in originating and developing a policy or programme and organisational approaches to implementation. Services are designed to assist the public sector in delivering sustainable governance structures, policies and programmes.

Policy Evaluation

Evaluation is a judgment of interventions according to their results, impacts and needs they aim to satisfy. The evaluation may focus on a simple intervention such as a project which produces direct impact in the field or on a more complex intervention such as a programme which produces indirect impacts through downstream interventions.

When carrying out a policy evaluation, it is necessary to investigate the relevance of actions, effectiveness, and efficiency of the policy intervention, its implementation and processes. It is also important to determine its merit, worth, or value in terms of improving the social and economic conditions of the different stakeholders. The range of methods that may be applied  include quantitative as well as qualitative methods, theory based approaches and research synthesis methods.

Policy Implementation

Policy implementation consists of assisting the EU institutions with delivery of a policy.