Brussels, 06/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday, Strasbourg will host the 8th meeting of the European ministers for the civil service and administration. Chaired by French Minister Michel Sapin, the meeting will be devoted to the following themes: i) European social dialogue; ii) quality of public services (follow-up to the colloquium in Lisbon); iii) reform of the European Commission; iv) quality of regulation; v) "e-Government". Announcing this conference, Michel Sapin made it clear to the AFP he hoped the meeting would not be "a waste of time" and would contribute to establishing common quality criteria without, of course, any intention of harmonising the functioning of the Union's public administrations.
European Commission Vice-President Mr Kinnock will be at the meeting. In parallel to the ministerial meeting, two other meetings are planned: the social forum of public services and the meeting of civil service directors-general. The last meeting of European civil service ministers was held in 1998.