A comparison of civil service reform trajectories in selected SEE countries in the context of EU accession

This study aimed to investigate and compare the civil service reform trajectories of candidate countries in preparation for their accession to the EU. The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding and to describe how the three countries have developed in recent years. To explore and describe these potential similarities and differences between the trajectories is relevant insofar as it might provide the basis for causal research at a later point. Therefore, the following research question has been formulated: What measures are taken to reform the public administration/civil service in selected Western Balkan countries in terms of depoliticization, accountability and transparency during the accession process in order to comply with EU conditionality? The selected cases are North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. In order to answer the research question, secondary data from official documents of the EU was collected and a document analysis conducted. The expectation that the reform trajectories of Serbia and Montenegro would mainly exhibit similarities could not be confirmed. The expectation that North Macedonia’s progress would differ and potentially slower was partially confirmed.