PUBLIC SERVICE WEEK 2000 SEMINARS AND FIELD VISITS

PUBLIC SERVICE WEEK 2000 SEMINARS AND FIELD VISITS

The programme of Public Service Week continued today with a seminar for senior public officers in the morning, followed by meetings between delegates from the Finnish Institute of Public Management with senior Government officials in the afternoon.

The morning's seminar was held for senior officers from the Ministry for Home Affairs, the Customs Division and the Armed Forces of Malta. It was presented by Mrs Hely Keh'�, Head of Development at the Finnish Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for immigration and border control among other areas. Mrs Keh'� spoke about the training strategy adopted by the ministry in preparation for membership of the EU. She outlined the methodology adopted to identify training needs and the steps taken to meet those needs, including formal courses, attachments abroad and study visits (both to the European Commission and to selected EU member states).

Mrs Keh'� also made available to seminar participants material on Finnish border control procedures in the context of the Schengen agreement, which provides for the abolition of checks at internal borders within the EU without a loss of security at its external borders.

The seminar was organised by the Staff Development Organisation at the Office of the Prime Minister, and held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre.

In the afternoon Mrs Keh'�, together with Mr Juha Rumpunen, Training Manager at the Finnish Institute of Public Management, undertook field visits to the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry for Economic Services and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There they met various senior public officials involved with EU-related policy, including the Permanent Secretaries at the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was agreed to explore the possibility of sending Maltese officials on attachments with relevant departments of the Finnish government to gain experience in the application of EU procedures and systems.

Mrs Keh'� and Mr Rumpunen were accompanied by Dr Philip von Brockdorff, Director of the Staff Development Organisation.