Maastricht, NL, 4 March 2021: On 4 March 2021, the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) commenced its 40-year celebration with an online conference on the  ‘Challenges and opportunities for public administrations in times of recovery’, gathering public and private actors involved in the recovery of the European economy to discuss the role that public administration can play therein.

Opening of conference by EU Commissioner Elisa Ferreira and Portuguese Presidency

Keynote speeches by Elisa Ferreira, EU Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms; Alexandra Leitão, Portuguese Minister for Modernisation of the State and Public Administration; and Maria de Fátima Fonseca, Secretary of State for Innovation and Administrative Modernisation, opened the conference. Speakers represented both the public and the private sector, most notably the European Commission (DG REFORM and SG.RECOVER) and Member States’ Ministries.

As European Commissioner Elisa Ferreira underlined during her keynote speech, ‘High-quality public administration is a necessity for economic recovery, green and digital transition and a strong and resilient Europe’, highlighting the importance of the advancement of public administration moving into the future.

Dissemination to an audience from all over Europe and beyond

More than 700 participants from 42 countries registered for the conference, with the majority coming from National and EU Public Administration. Universities, think tanks and the private sector, were also represented proving that the conference’s topic sparked interest in many spheres.

EIPA provides a European platform

EIPA’s mission is to facilitate the exchange of good practices for the European public sector, striving to be a platform and network for exchange, supporting public administrations on their path to recovery. The institute aims to play a fundamental role, as a European hub, for actors to work together towards a global recovery led by a dynamic and efficient public sector.

This event kicked-off EIPA’s celebration for #EIPA40years, with more events to follow this year, all leading up to the formal celebration, of a one-day conference in October.

The conference is available to watch here.

About EIPA

EIPA is one of the longest standing experts in European public affairs, having been established in Maastricht in 1981. EIPA celebrates its 40-year anniversary this year. Its mission is the dissemination of knowledge on EU policies related to EU public affairs to all professionals, with the key objective of further improving their skills and capabilities for efficient management of the policies. EIPA has its headquarters in Maastricht and an office in Luxembourg.

Annually, around 10,000 civil servants from the EU institutions, bodies and agencies, as well as national public administrations, participate in the activities conducted by the Institute, resulting in close to 14,000 days of activities per year. The Institute is supported by the EU Member States as well as the European Commission through its Erasmus+ programme.