Who we are

Laws and regulations are important in a society. They are designed to ensure that everyone can participate in society and to observe societal considerations. They offer safety, security and protection of our social surroundings and the environment.

But if citizens are subjected to costs through laws, regulations and procedures, that could have been avoided, then it is a matter of societal waste which leads to unnecessary burdens and irritations for citizens. Citizens will have the feeling that they are not taken seriously by government, which disturbs the relation between government and its citizens.

Governments have the responsibility to serve their citizens in the best possible way. European countries are therefore increasingly paying attention to the reduction of bureaucracy and the improvement of public service delivery to citizens. This can be done in different ways such as reducing the administrative burdens for citizens, using ICT to make services easier obtainable, streamlining and simplification of procedures and addressing specific obstacles of citizens in their relation with government.

As more and more countries in Europe are addressing the issue of better public service delivery with less bureaucracy and red tape, it is important to cooperate to exchange best practices, knowledge and learn about the experiences of other countries. A first step was taken with the organisation of the international seminar “What a relief!” in Amsterdam in the end of November 2007.

Secondly, under the umbrella of the European Public Administration Network, a Learning Team on reducing administrative burdens for citizens was established. During four meetings in 2008, the participants of the Learning team will work together intensively, to learn more about the national approaches and methodologies to measure and to reduce administrative burdens for citizens and to improve public service delivery. More than 20 countries are participating in this learning team and it has already produced some interesting results (see also publications).

To strengthen the cooperation between the participants of both the “What a relief!” seminar and the EUPAN Learning Team it was decided to set up a common website. This website will serve to exchange news, results, best practices, manuals and other publications on improving public service delivery with less administrative burdens for citizens. The website is sponsored and hosted by the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations.