The Centre of Government (CoG) performs several critical horizontal functions, which ensure the effective functioning of the government, such as supporting the head of government’s decision-making process, and ensuring that individual policies are in line with the government programme. The CoG can involve more than one institution, for instance in Serbia it comprises the Office of Prime Minister, General Secretariat of the Government, Republic Secretariat for Legislation, Public Policy Secretariat, among others. By contrast, in Albania it is only one institution, the Office of Prime Minister, which supports the Council of Ministers as well as the Prime Minister.
A larger proportion of CoGs in the Western Balkans region have exclusive competence over strategic government functions (e.g. strategic planning, relations with the parliament) than in OECD-EU and OECD countries. Yet, when considering both shared and exclusive responsibilities, CoGs in OECD-EU and OECD countries have a broader range of functions than those in the Western Balkans.
Preparation of the government programme, and planning and management of transition between governments are part of CoG’s exclusive responsibilities in the Western Balkans, except in Albania where both are shared with line ministries. Preparation of the government programme is the exclusive competence of the CoG in 59% of OECD-EU countries, while preparation and management of the transition between governments in 73%.
The CoG performs other functions that bring coherence to the government as a whole. Across the entire Western Balkan region, like the majority of OECD members, the CoG is responsible for strategic planning. Similarly, in five of six economies in the Western Balkan region, policy co-ordination is the exclusive competence of CoG. The same applies in 77% of OECD-EU countries.
The CoG is in a strategic position to maintain relationships with other parts of government. For instance, relations with parliament are the exclusive competence of all CoGs in the Western Balkan region. In Albania, there is a Minister of State for Relations with Parliament. In around half of OECD countries, this is also the exclusive responsibility of the CoG. International co-ordination in general and European integration in particular are part of CoGs’ shared responsibilities in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. In 91% of OECD-EU countries, CoGs are involved in international coordination.
In the past, CoGs’ responsibilities in communication were limited to issuing press releases and organising conferences, nowadays many are also in charge of social media accounts. CoGs in the Western Balkans are following this trend: in half of them, communication with the public and other parts of the administration is their excusive competence, while in the others it is shared. Similarly, 59% share this responsibility with other bodies in OECD-EU countries.
Regarding the head of the CoG, in Albania and Kosovo, this position has the status of a civil servant, while in the other countries, it is a political designation. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, it depends on the internal administrative solutions, for example in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina it is a civil servant and in the rest it is a political position. In 48% of OECD countries, the position is filled by a civil servant, and in the rest it is a political appointee. If the leadership of a CoG is constantly changing (e.g. if the head of the CoG is replaced with every change of government) it can create challenges and risks in terms of continuity and stability of performing core government functions, especially during the transition between governments.
