Ending the handpicking of public executives: the keys to the new government reform

BarcelonaOne of the flagship projects of Salvador Illa's government is the reform of the administration, which he commissioned from a group of experts led by political science professor Carles Ramió. He has already put some changes on the table, such as the "right to error" for both citizens and civil servants to combat gridlock. It has dragged on for legislature after legislature and no government until now has been able to implement: the regulation of the professional public manager, which involves putting an end to the discretion with which the parties now choose the people who occupy the general directorships and deputy directorships of the government of the Generalitat. In other words, a reform to put an end to the election of politicians and the

This Monday the executive has solemnly made the proposal its own with a staging with the president, Salvador Illa, and Antoni Biarnés and Carme Poveda, the representatives of the Forum of Entities for the Reform of the Administration (FERA), which brings together dozens of associations that have long been demanding the CA of Barcelona and the Council of Chambers, Josep Santacreu; the president of CECOT, Xavier Panés; as well as CCOO and the UGT. -he assured-, it is not a change designed for the government that governs but for the administration and the governments to come", he concluded. And the fact is that the reform would affect around 200 appointments that are now in the hands of the political parties.

of management of the administrative machinery that is based on "the performance of objectives and managerial responsibility" and not only on political trust, such as "Professional public management must provide the Generalitat with robust governance with a stable, coherent and results-oriented architecture", they assure from the political executive, that they execute them through the machinery of the administration directed by professional public managers after a meritocratic selection process. should allow us to put the right people in charge of public services [...]. Society does not understand why with each change of government more than 500 positions are changed and not on professional criteria", added the president of CECOT, Xavier Panés.

The change would affect two groups. The first, departmental directorates-general, as well as service directorates or equivalent positions that are considered senior positions because they are appointed by political confidence. The second, deputy directorates-general, are now also elected by free appointment by the political power, with the only difference being that they must be civil servants. The reform would require that in both cases, the candidates undergo a selection process through a commission (still to be finalized) that would produce a shortlist of three candidates. The government would choose the candidate from this shortlist, although it has not specified the requirements they must meet. In any case, the requirement of being a civil servant would be maintained in the deputy directorates-general.

Ultimately, the government's idea is to change the selection method to incorporate "criteria for evaluating managerial skills and monitoring the results achieved." The preliminary report of the bill will be approved this Tuesday in the Executive Council. The final project will not reach the government until the first quarter of 2026, and it will be processed in Parliament throughout the next year.

The pillars of the reform, according to the executive, will be the following:

• Detaching professional public management from the "exclusively political or civil service logic," so that this layer of managers does not change every time there is a new government.
• "Improve the quality of the selection process," the Executive says, to make it more "impartial and transparent."
• Associate management positions with the achievement of "measurable" objectives.
• Have a specific legal framework for that layer of public managers separate from the rest.
• Create an independent qualification committee as a mechanism for evaluating candidates.
• Establish temporary mandates linked to objectives rather than the specific color of the government.