PFM II - Public Finance Management Reform
Practical Information
The course is intended for Commission staff, notably for DG Devco in HQ and Delegation. The course is also open to colleagues from the European Institutions, notably DG ECFIN, ELARG, TRADE, ECHO and the EEAS.
This course lasts 3 days and can take place both in Brussels (HQ) and Delegation.
Prerequisite - Participants are required to have a good understanding of Public Financial Management, acquired through attendance to the course PFM I or any other training or working experience.
For further information, please contact the DEVCO Training Team.
Training Objectives
To provide EC officials and colleagues in partner countries and donor organisations with the introductory tools to design and assess programmes for the reform and improvement of public financial management systems.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of the course participants should:
- Be equipped with some basic frameworks for looking at Public Financial Management
- Be aware of the complex nature of PFM reform – the political dimension, change management, capacity development, the constraining dimension of functional linkage
- Be able to identify the ways in which the PEFA analysis can help in identifying key elements for PFM reform
- Be able to question the nature of relevance of some popularly promoted PFM reforms – such as performance budgeting, budgeting by objectives, activity based budgeting, the use of MTEF, accrual accounting, IFMIS, public-private partnerships; the (mis)application of “best practice”
- Understand the idea of sequencing in PFM reform and improvement, and that any sequencing must be adapted to the situation in any country; identify why sequencing is important (is it important?) because "things" take time and "things" should take time.
- Identify the different perspectives on sequencing – the platform approach, the “evolution” approach, “islands” of perfection; PFM activity chains, basics and beyond basics – and their strengths and weaknesses
- Be able to identify the type of capacity development support that could usefully be provided
Language
This training is offered in English, but also in French PFM II - Réforme de la Gestion des Finances Publiques (GFP).
Outline and Course Materials
Module 1 - The Issus of Budgetary Reform - Unit 1. Approaches to PFM Reform
1.1 - PFM Objectives and Budgetary Approaches
1.2 - Why Reform PFM Systems? Why Establish a Sequencing?
1.3 - The Starting Point: Assessing PFM Systems
1.4 - Conditions for Successful Reforms
Module 2 - Budget Classification and Programme - Unit 2. PFM Domains and Sequencing of Reforms
2.1 - Expenditure Classification, Budget Preparation and the MTEF
2.2 - Expenditure and Accounting Cycle
2.3 - Programme / Performance Budget
2.4 - External Control, Legislative and Regulatory Framework and IT Issues
Module 3 - The Issues of Budgetary Reform - Unit 3. PFM Reform - Change Management
3.1 - Essential Tasks, Change Management
3.2 - Preparing and Managing a Reform Programme
All course modules can be downloaded together in a compressed zip file:
Download (7.56 MB)
Methodological Training References
