The State Agency for the Evaluation of Public Policies and Quality of Services (AEVAL) aims to promote and conduct evaluations of public policies and programs, favoring the rational use of public resources, as well as the promotion of the management of the quality of public services. In order to develop its mission of driving a new public management model at the service of general interests, through the evaluation and quality of public services, AEVAL operates with a systemic concept of the quality of public action that is in line with the European Commission’s proposal in this document.

As stated by Professor Fukuyama, quoted in this same text, “Much more important than the size of the government is its quality (…) There is a very strong correlation between the quality of the government and good economic results.” This is undeniable but it is necessary to specify what is understood by the quality of the government or the quality of the administration. This is precisely what clarifies this Toolbox for the quality of public administration. Indeed, the quality of public administration requires an integrative and comprehensive approach that is not limited to a set of techniques but understands and interrelates all the elements involved in the complex process of public action. From the principles and values of good governance, through the professionalism and technical competence of the institutions and the improvement of the provision of services, to the strengthening of the quality of judicial systems and the effective management of public funds. At our national level, the Charter of Commitments to the Quality of Spanish Public Administrations, adopted at the Sectoral Conference of the Public Administration on 16 November 2009, is in line with this holistic European perspective.

The Evaluation and Quality Agency, which is actively involved in the activities of the EUPAN network and its various working groups, welcomes this initiative, which shows the fruits of European cooperation in this area, and congratulates its promoters, the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission and the authors of this work, whose Spanish version we now offer to the public managers of our country.