“The Merit Ladder”, the new public administration reform, aims to establish unified standards for recruitment into public administration, career development and performance evaluation, ensuring that professionalism, skills and results are the determining factors at every level of public service. Through a single national examination, the National Talent Register and digital tools, the reform seeks to strengthen transparency, accountability and a more professional administration in the service of citizens and Albania’s European integration process.
Prime Minister Edi Rama: Greetings to everyone!
Very often, over these past weeks, you have heard, and I have heard, that for months some people have been trying to make their voices heard, but no one has listened to them, me included.
In fact, quite the opposite is true, and it is so true that if today we have “Besa”, “Prania Besnike”, “Pasqyrë Albania”, and a transformed Diella, now a servant actively available not only to provide instructions but also to carry out a large part of the work that, until yesterday, had to be done by those accessing e-Albania to obtain services, it is because I have reflected, and we have reflected, on how to be closer to people by bringing the administration closer to them, by bringing the state closer to them, and by bringing them closer to the feeling that they are the very reason for the existence, the very purpose, of administrative services. And part of all these changes, in which we have called upon Artificial Intelligence, technology, but not only these, is also “The Merit Ladder”.
“The Merit Ladder” is another reform that essentially revolves around a very simple question: How can we make the Albanian administration a place where the most capable, the best prepared, the most dedicated people and, above all, those most eager to serve their country from within the administration, on behalf of the state, can not only enter but also advance through the hierarchical ranks of the administration once they have joined?
That is why we have called it “The Merit Ladder”. And part of this reform is also what I announced with the establishment of the Ministry of Public Administration, a ministry dedicated entirely, for the first time, to administration and good governance, encompassing the organisation of institutions, the management of human capital, the quality of services, and the responsibility of the state and of everyone within the administration towards citizens who rightly knock on its doors, make requests, file complaints, seek to have their concerns heard and, above all, want to ensure that their problems do not disappear into the ocean of bureaucracy.
I am here with the Minister, the Minister of Public Administration, who, in the capacity of Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption, has been leading this reform for some time now. Naturally, the establishment of the ministry has attracted greater attention, while the ministry is not being built from nothing, but upon work already carried out and a solid foundation.
The establishment of the Ministry is an important institutional development, while “The Merit Ladder”, which may appear to be a more technical aspect, actually touches upon something much deeper: the way we understand the relationship between citizens and the state, and between the state and the people who work for it, meaning for the state.
Throughout these years, the transformation of Albania’s public administration speaks through facts, facts which, like all facts, become lost in the great “fog” of everyday life, of lies, of half-truths, which are the greatest lies, and of news that naturally takes centre stage because it concerns the events of the day. But we have changed the way services are delivered. We have eliminated service counters, those dreadful counters which it is worth remembering when we speak about where we have come from, where we are and where we want to go, and which used to be a defining feature of citizens’ daily lives when accessing the overwhelming majority of services.
We have invested heavily in technology, which has made us an example in the region and attracted attention beyond the region as well, turning us into a country invited to share its experience at conferences, forums and summits on services and technology. We have built a digital infrastructure that has placed us, in fact, not according to me, not according to us, but according to the World Bank, among the most advanced countries in the GovTech assessment, meaning governance through technology. We have made extraordinary progress in an area where the state was once synonymous with queues, paperwork, stamps, wasted time and bribes, even just to obtain a birth certificate on time.
Today, all of this seems so distant, and in fact is so far behind us, that it becomes almost impossible to establish an immediate common understanding when we bring it up, because for many people it is almost as though these things never existed. But in fact, the major difference between a state that has modern systems and a state that functions in a modern way at every level lies precisely in the progress of its administration. And here, I agree with the people.
You may have the most sophisticated digital service, but if behind that service there is an institution that still fails to respond to citizens on time, does not take responsibility when a citizen’s request is delayed or lost, and lacks the ability to correct itself, then citizens continue to have a serious problem with the state as a whole. Because a single institution, a single door that does not open, is enough to create a very negative perception of the state.
You may have the best recruitment rules, and we do have them, but if within an institution the person who performs better has no greater opportunity to advance than someone who does not work, then, at a fundamental level, the system cannot be considered fully functional. That is why, with “Besa”, we have aimed to change precisely this relationship between citizens and public services.
With “Pasqyra”, we are strengthening transparency and accountability. And with “The Merit Ladder”, we are addressing an element that affects all the others: the people working in the administration, the way they are managed as human capital, and the way this human capital of the Republic of Albania is evaluated. I want to dwell on this for another reason as well, one that relates to Albania’s experience during the negotiations for membership in the European Union.
I have said it before and I will always say it: when we were about to enter this process, I would always say to my colleagues, both men and women, “Okay, okay, we keep pushing, pushing and pushing, and these damn negotiations will finally open, but then what are we going to do when we sit down at the table?” Because I had serious doubts about whether our administration would be capable of handling what awaited us. And this is not simply about the volume of work, which is extraordinary, but about the level of preparation, the depth of knowledge and the discipline required by such a process, with the Brussels bureaucrats sitting opposite you, who, as the saying goes, are like a Swiss watch, like the mechanisms of a Swiss watch.
Today, it is being confirmed, step by step, and not by us, not by me, but by Brussels and by the European partners with whom we now engage in intensive exchanges every day within the framework of the negotiations, that fortunately our administration has people who know their fields in detail. Fields which, in fact, are often extremely complex. People who engage with European Commission experts with dignity, as equals, and who earn and command respect. People who have, in fact, devoted their professional lives to serving the Republic of Albania and, through that service, to serving European Albania itself.
And I am not talking here about one or two individuals, because you can always find one, two, three, ten or fifteen. I am talking about hundreds of people, about an entire body of professional potential that exists today within the Albanian state and which we have a duty to recognise much better and value with much greater care. This is not simply about technical experts who draft legislation aligned with EU standards or who are merely good students in Brussels’ “school” of state-building. We are talking about those who, day after day, are shaping the administration of Albania as a member state of the European Union.
Nevertheless, as we have seen and understood from the internal surveys we conduct every year among public administration employees, a civil servant may work with dedication for years, take on major responsibilities and still have no clear path for career advancement. They may be fortunate enough to work under a manager who recognises their value and appreciates their merit, but they may also have a manager who does neither, and their career can often depend on this chance circumstance.
This is unfair. And, in fact, it is not only unfair to individuals who deserve to be respected, valued and promoted, but it ultimately becomes unfair to the citizens receiving services, because it creates within the administrative system a sense of paralysis, demotivation and a breakdown of precisely that ladder of merit which we intend to place at the centre of our attention and which will be the highest priority of the new Ministry of Public Administration. To date, we have done a great deal to improve working conditions in the administration. We have increased salaries by between 35% and 65%, and today the average salary in the public sector stands at around 1,100 euros.
We have invested in professional training, but also in meeting the requirements for dignified working conditions through new investments in physical infrastructure, through projects of the Albanian Investment Corporation. These projects are still in their early stages, but they nevertheless guarantee that, in Albania as a member state of the European Union, the entire administration will finally be accommodated in optimal conditions, and no part of it will remain housed in rented premises, for example.
Nevertheless, better pay and better working conditions do not, in themselves, solve the fundamental problem: merit. We have heard, and are hearing increasingly often, in what has become something of a trend in the broader public debate, people asking, “Where is merit? There is no merit. People are not valued according to merit.” And it is important that we listen to this, although not everything is as bleak as it may seem, just as not everything is perfect. There are many more nuances to this assessment, but we are aware of the problem.
You can pay people better and still fail to distinguish between someone who performs exceptionally well and someone who does the bare minimum. And we must not, and will not, leave that distinction to the discretion of one manager or another. That distinction must become systemic. You can invest in training and still fail to open the way for someone who has demonstrated the ability to take on greater responsibilities. And again, that ability to assume greater responsibilities must be recognized by the system, not simply understood, or not understood, by the person above you. And this is where “The Merit Ladder” assumes its fundamental importance.
First, entry into the administration. Through national testing, a single national examination, candidates will have the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and skills against a common standard. This national examination will be conducted in cooperation with the Educational Services Centre, which is already adopting the Cambridge examination model. Secure examinations, equal standards and everything carried out through technology at the first stage.
Those who pass successfully will receive a certificate valid for four years, allowing them to participate in competitions for the relevant positions. The examination certificate does not automatically guarantee a job, but it creates a fairer and more credible basis for competition. A young person, wherever they live in Albania, should not see entry into the administration as a door for which they need to find someone to open it. They should know that there is a clear path through which they can demonstrate what they know and what they can do. And following this logic, we will make this door available to everyone, the door of the single national examination.
Second, career advancement. Meritocracy. There is much talk about meritocracy. There are many complaints, and there is a deeply rooted feeling that meritocracy does not exist. But meritocracy must not simply be a requirement that the state imposes on its employees. It must also be a guarantee that the state provides to them, continuously affirming that good work is recognised and that ability is the non-negotiable condition for climbing the career ladder.
Third, leadership. Here we will be even more demanding., This is also connected to an issue that has assumed particular importance in recent developments: responsibility for the management of institutions. Around ten days ago, the heads of several institutions that provide direct services to citizens underwent a performance evaluation process.
This is by no means an unusual move, nor a competition to see how many directors are removed from office, nor an exercise in changing the names at the heads of institutions or replacing one person with another. It is a requirement to examine more critically where leadership has produced results and where it has produced nothing but routine, or worse still has damaged the image of those state institutions.
Where there is professionalism and there are results, they must be recognized and protected. Where problems recur and accountability are lacking, there must be consequences, without undermining capacities and without interrupting, even for a moment, either the work of serving citizens or the negotiation process with the European Union. This process and “The Merit Ladder” come together around one principle. Leading an institution cannot be a privilege detached from results, and accountability cannot begin only when problems arise and become public. It must be an everyday part of how the state functions. The establishment of the Ministry of Public Administration gives this responsibility for the sound management of the Republic of Albania’s human capital a clear institutional home.
This will be a ministry that will continue the reform work already initiated, encompassing public administration reform in its entirety, the organization and functioning of institutions, the development of human capacities, good governance and accountability.
Meanwhile, “The Merit Ladder” will be supported by concrete instruments that will facilitate its implementation in real time: the National Catalogue of Positions and Competencies, the National Talent Register, the National Digital Examination System and Meritë AI, which is another component of the system. Now, what does a National Talent Register actually mean?
It means that everyone who wishes to contribute to the Albanian state will have the opportunity to register their candidacy, meaning their interest and willingness to serve. Then, based on their profession and field of expertise, as reflected in the documents they themselves upload to this register, they will be informed in real time about all emerging opportunities and all competitions that are announced.
They will therefore have the opportunity not only to stay informed, but also to actively engage with these opportunities and competitions. These instruments will help us establish unified and objective standards, better identify professional potential, organize far more credible recruitment competitions and use data to understand where the system is functioning and where corrections are needed.
I know there is skepticisms. I know that even now, as I speak, many people are saying, “Oh, here we go, another way to prolong a period in government while avoiding doing what really needs to be done.”
I have heard these things before, but I want to recall just one of many facts.
In the early years of our government, university admissions remained chaotic. They were still a race in which those who got ahead were not those who could run the fastest, but those who had influential people supporting them, allowing them to jump the queue and get ahead of those who did not have a well-known first name, a famous surname, a wealthy father or a party connection.
How many years has it been since merit in university admissions was last a subject of debate?
The same thing will happen with public administration, because it will be impossible to interfere with the single examination system and, likewise, with the entire merit-based promotion system that we are creating through “The Merit Ladder”.
Artificial Intelligence will help us identify problems that we are currently unable to detect in time, and which we only recognise once they have become too widespread. It will not be Artificial Intelligence that decides who will be employed, who should advance or who should be dismissed, because responsibility for these decisions remains human and legal.
However, thanks to Artificial Intelligence, everything will be transparent, and every transfer, every promotion and every dismissal will be based precisely on the standards of “The Merit Ladder”. Implementation must be gradual, with the preparation of the necessary framework, the piloting of new mechanisms and their expansion in the years ahead.
We do not claim that an entire administrative culture can change overnight. On the contrary, we want to tell everyone: do not expect change overnight. And when we speak of a day and a night, do not forget that what may seem like a long time in a human life, even when we are talking about a whole year, is merely a fraction of time, just a minute, in the history of a country.
Nevertheless, I am optimistic because we have entered an irreversible phase in which the demands for performance at a different level are becoming increasingly greater.
And we are not building a European administration solely for the day when Albania becomes a member of the European Union. Alongside the old and new challenges, we are building an administration that must serve Albanians better today and which, precisely for that reason, will also be worthy of the European Albania of tomorrow.
I will stop here and give the floor to the Minister of Public Administration, who, I repeat, has led with competence and determination an entire process of transformation that is visible to everyone willing to see it, but who today has taken on the new responsibility of leading an entire ministry that will serve as the driving mechanism of the public administration of the Republic of Albania.
