Role of European Union in Public Service Management: The Case of the City of Bjelovar

Svrha ovog istraživanja je povezivanje procesa europeizacije s promjenom načina upravljanja javnim uslugama na području grada Bjelovara. Ovakav vid istraživanja utjecaja Europske unije na lokalnu razinu vlasti relativno je nov, posebice u Hrvatskoj, stoga je cilj ovog rada popuniti istraživačke praznine. Analizirane su usluge predškolskog odgoja, osnovnoškolskog obrazovanja te gradske organizacije koja je ujedno organizator i osnivač navedenih javnih usluga. Studija slučaja grada Bjelovara temelji se na kvalitativnoj analizi dokumenata te intervjua koji su provedeni s osobama iz upravljačkih struktura odabranih organizacija. Analiza je provedena u dva koraka. U prvom koraku identificirani su mehanizmi kojima Europska unija utječe na javne usluge u gradu Bjelovaru. Drugi korak sastojao se od analize upravljanja na razini sustava, organizacije i pojedinca. Rezultati su pokazali kako grad Bjelovar pripada reformskom modelu nove javne uprave, što upućuje na okretanje ka suradnji formalnih i neformalnih aktera, te smanjenje hijerarhiziranosti javne uprave.The purpose of this research is to link the Europeanization process with the changes in public service management in the city of Bjelovar. This kind of research on the influence of the European Union on the local government is relatively new, especially in Croatia, so the aim of this paper is to fill the research gaps. The paper analyzes pre-school education, elementary education and management of public services on the local level. This case study is based on qualitative analysis of documents and interviews. Interviews were conducted with people from the management structures of the selected organizations. The analysis was carried out in two steps. The mechanisms that EU uses to influence local government are identified in the first step. The second step was to analyse system-, organizational- and individual-level of public service management. Analysis showed that the city of Bjelovar belongs to the reform model which is known as New Public Government. This indicates turning to the cooperation of formal and informal actors, and reducing the hierarchy of public administration