The meeting of Directors-General responsible for public administration from EU Member States, observer countries, representatives of the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), the National and European Trade Union Delegation (TUNED), the European Commission and other invitees was held within the framework of the Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council and was aimed at exchanging experiences and good practices in the field of human resources management in public administration. The main theme was the management of older employees and talent in the public administration.

The event was chaired by Mr Peter Pogačar, Director General of the Directorate for the Public Sector at the Ministry of Public Administration, and officially opened by welcoming remarks by Mr Boštjan Koritnik, Minister of Public Administration, and Ms Gertrud Ingestad, Director General for Human Resources and Security at the European Commission.

Mr Koritnik began by saying that digital technologies have already radically changed the way public administrations and employees work. "This trend will only continue to develop in the future. We have a large share of different hybrid ways of working and more interconnected organisations, virtual teams and technology-enabled workplaces than ever before. New ways of working underline the need for employees to constantly adapt their skills. At the same time, we need to be aware that all technological change will only be successful if people trust and use it."

In his address, the Minister also spoke about the area of talent management, saying that it can be understood as the proactive use of strategies to adapt workforce management to the needs of specific groups in order to meet organisational objectives. As he pointed out, public administrations should build on the systematic attraction, identification, development, retention and deployment of talent from all age groups. Greater use of talent management tools and practices can be an effective component of age-inclusive workforce development strategies, he said.

The event featured a keynote speech by Elsa Pilichowski, Director for Public Administration at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), followed by a presentation of a study on Ageing and Talent Management in the Public Administration, conducted by the OECD in collaboration with the Slovenian Ministry of Public Administration.

The morning part of the meeting concluded with a workshop where participants discussed the challenges and added value of good practices in different areas of ageing and talent management (intergenerational cooperation, attracting, recruiting and retaining employees, inclusive ageing in the workplace and succession planning, employee mobility and development-oriented leadership in talent management).

The following contributed to the content of the event with their presentations: Gertrud Ingestad with an update on the Commission's HR strategy, SIGMA (OECD) representatives presented the findings of the monitoring of the 2021 SIGMA PAR in the Western Balkans region as well as the upcoming changes in the principles of public administration, Director General Peter Pogačar spoke about the evaluation of the current EUPAN strategy document and the proposal for the EUPAN eNews initiative as a regular activity of the EUPAN network, and Barbara Zupanc presented the EUPAN eNews initiative as a regular activity of the EUPAN network, the EUPAN eNews initiative as a regular activity of the EUPAN network, Daniel Gerson, Senior Policy Analyst at the OECD, spoke about the project to strengthen the resilience of public administration through CAF, and Daniele Dotto, Deputy Director at DG REFORM at the European Commission, summarised information on the Commission's initiative to set up a group of experts on public administration and governance. The individual presentations were concluded by Florian Blazy, Director General for Administration and Public Services at the French Ministry for Public Sector Transformation and Public Administration, who presented the programme and priorities of the French Presidency.