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The current Public Administration Reform has as main aims to raise the efficiency of public services, bring them closest to citizens and to reduce public primary expanditure, thus reducing the weight of this sector in the state budget.  

To reach this objectives several areas of public administration are undergoing a comprehensive renewal.

The starting point of this reform was the Restructuring of State Central Administration Programme (PRACE), launched in 2005, that had as objective to reorganise central government in order to cut costs and raise efficiency by simplifying and modernising Public Administration and streamlining its structures, through the organisational reassessment of the different ministries and the analysis of the respective duties, operating regulations, size, resources and procedures. This programme is based on the following principles:

• Assess the current duties of central government in order to establish those that must be maintained, eliminated or transferred to other public or private entities;
• The devolution of duties to local and regional levels, in order to move Public Administration closer to the general public, companies and communities;
• The decentralisation of duties to local authorities, particularly in the areas of provision of public services, without contravening the principles and mechanisms that aim to control public spending;
• The reduction of administrative structures, conjugated with the improvement to the quality of services provided to the general public and companies;
• The simplification, streamlining and re-engineering of administrative procedures.

The restructuring of regionalised services is in compliance with the geographical layout of NUTS.

The restructuring of services devolved to sub-regional and local levels is conducted through:

• The creation of one-stop shops, which combine the policy of approaching Public Administration to the general public and the streamlining of public services already existing at that level;
• Fostering the provision of multiple services by each public office whenever the demand for a particular service does not warrant its continued provision by a dedicated public office.

The restructuring of the centralised services of ministries shall especially involve the progressive organisation of duty-sharing services and common activities, particularly in the context of  general secretariats.

Other pilars of this reform are the mobility regime, the integrated system of management and assessment, the social protection reform, the new legal employment regime, new carrer system and new pay scales.

The new mobility regime for civil servants and contractual staff was established in 2006 and aimed at making the most of Public Administration human resources in a rational way. The regime reinforced the general mobility mechanisms, namely the transfer, exchange, secondment and outward assignment and simultaneously introduced two new ones: specific assignment and special loan. It also laid down the placement of civil servants and contractual staff in a special mobility situation (special mobility regime), in case of the abolishment, merger or restructuring of services, as a result of rationalization of staff or on a voluntary basis.

A new integrated system of management and assessment in the Public Administration was approved by the Assembly of the Republic in December 2007. For the first time, an assessment of services will be made with top and intermediate managers and remaining staff, thus facilitating the coherent alignment of the performance of services and of the staff working therein. The system integrates three subsystems: assessment of services; assessment of managers, top and intermediate; and assessment of remaining workers.

Reformulations in the social field also took place. A definition of social protection for workers in public functions (to come into force and effect simultaneously with the new employment contract in public functions regime) was stipulated and a new convergent civil service social protection regime was set up, in substitution of the former one. In other words, as of 1^st January 2009 there will be only one social protection regime for all workers in public functions. It also occurred the creation of a reference rate for social aid (for the purpose of pensions and other social benefits indexation), reinforcement of family benefits, the convergence of the civil service social protection regime (and of several special regimes) with the social protection general regime as to retirement conditions and calculation of pensions and the coverage of all staff with regard to unemployment protection. Regarding social benefits, there was an extension of the health sub-system to all staff, convergence of health sectoral sub-systems with the general sub-system, reinforcement of the sustainability of the health sub-system (with increase of contributions by workers) and reform of the complementary social action (centralisation in the Public Administration Social Services).

Due to the considerable complexity of methods of constituting the legal relationship; the excessive number of careers; the opacity of the pay scheme, without relationship to the management of the service or  budget availabilities; the rigidity of the system, withdrawing management capacity from managers; automatic remuneration evolution in many situations; and the excessive relevance given to seniority, a change in the employment link, careers and remuneration of staff fulfilling public functions became both urgent and indispensable.

In 2006 a diagnosis of the labour situation of civil service staff was carried out. In 2007 the new legal employment, career and remuneration regime was elaborated, negotiated and approved by the Government and trade unions. In 2008 the law establishing this new regime was approved by the Assembly of the Republic.

In the light of the new regime, the employment link is either by appointment (for functions with the performance of powers of authority) or employment contract in public functions (for the remaining functions). The career system is reduced to three general careers - senior official, specialist assistant and operational assistant, replacing the 1715 existing careers, and career advancement and change of pay positioning is based on performance assessment. A single pay scheme has been drawn up (115 pay-scales) with the total number of pay-levels to be used in setting workers' basic remuneration, replacing the existent 22 pay schemes with 522 pay-scales. Performance bonuses may also be granted, to stimulate merit by rewarding workers who achieve the highest levels of assessment.

The employment contract in public functions regime is foreseen in the new legal employment, career system and pay scales law and shall govern the employment contract in public functions, the norm applicable to the majority of civil servants. The aim of the new regime is to bring the labour legislation of Public Administration closer to the labour regime of the private sector, that is to say, to the Labour Code, although maintaining the specificities of the civil service. The regime will be approved until the end of 2008.