How can civil service exams change? Measures to reform the administration

BarcelonaAt the beginning of its term, Salvador Illa's government set the goal of reforming public administration as its legislative objective. To this end, it has a group of experts (CETRA), led by professor of political science and public administration Carles Ramió, who has proposed up to ten measures for implementation. The most notable are: a reform to professionalize public administration; introducing artificial intelligence into the functioning of the Generalitat; changing the selection of civil servants; and ensuring that the administration is proactive in providing aid. "We are aware that we must combat skepticism from society, the media, and public servants themselves," Ramió admitted in statements to the press, since administrative reform is an issue that governments always have on their agenda and is never implemented. Below are the first ten measures the executive will work on, although some have not specified deadlines, such as the depoliticization of public administration, which remains in the hands of the government's schedule and the support of the other political parties.

Civil servant selection processes

Experts have made a proposal to change the method for selecting civil servants. They want to modify the rote method of public examinations to implement a competency-based selection process. This, they believe, would attract young people and other talents to the administration. This reform would also require a legislative change that the Government must draft, although the executive branch assures that it is conducting pilot projects.

Creation of the civil service position

One of the proposals that has long been on the table in Catalonia is the professionalization of public management. Ramió's group of experts advocates changing access to the directorates-general of the Generalitat (Catalan government), which are currently freely appointed by political parties and which tend to change in majority when the government changes its political party. The reform aims for these positions to be chosen on a meritocratic basis: there would be a first phase in which half would be chosen by shortlists (three candidates) filtered by talent scouts within the School of Public Administration; and, in a second phase, all directorates-general would be chosen on a meritocratic basis. They also propose that access to the deputy directorates-general, which currently requires being a civil servant but is ultimately decided by free appointment, be done through merit and ability tests. Dismissal would continue to be in the hands of the current minister (therefore, it could also change each term), but the new appointment, the group of experts explains, would have to go through a selection process.

The idea is for this to be enabled through a law that affects the Generalitat (Catalan government) initially, and subsequently also local government and universities. The government has expressed its commitment to passing this legislation, but hasn't specified when it plans to approve the draft law in the executive council. Nor has it specified whether the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) and its partners, Esquerra (Republican Left) and the Comuns (Commons), will fully adopt the experts' proposal.

This is a delicate issue for political parties, given that, to be successful, they would need to secure a majority in Parliament. A change of this nature would affect the parties' financing, as these political officials in the Generalitat (Catalan government) now contribute to the party treasury through a portion of their salary (the so-called financial charter or revolutionary tax). If these individuals—we're talking about around 500 officials—become professional public managers, the parties would lose that source of income.

Artificial intelligence

Experts also call for incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into the administration's internal processes, which is why they will create a general directorate for this area. The idea is for it to participate in decision-making processes such as the granting of planning permits, which will be handled by a person in any case.

The specialists' proposal is intended so that the administration, rather than being passive, can be proactive in offering services to citizens. This includes information for large families, school supplies, or pre-registration. To achieve this, the government is working to create a large database of existing services.

The Government estimates that it currently takes about seven and a half months to award a grant. The group of experts proposes a new technological platform, called TSCat, to manage a total of 1,473 calls for proposals, worth €3.72 billion, with 237,492 beneficiaries. This would not affect the Department of Social Rights, which would maintain its own tool. It is expected to come into effect in the last quarter of 2025.

Public-private partnership

The experts propose a planning strategy for the Generalitat's services and also for evaluating the granting of these services. However, the Government is still working on how this would be implemented within the framework of the Department of Economy.