On May 16, 2025, a conference "Bureaucracy and Society" was held at the University of Latvia, which the University of Latvia organised in cooperation with the association "Latvian Formula 2050". The event aimed to draw attention to the role of bureaucracy in modern society, its historical context and current opportunities for reform. The conference brought together politicians, civil servants, academics, and industry professionals to explore and discuss solutions for making public administration more efficient and people-centric.
Senior researcher Talis Tisenkopfs was a speaker at the session titled "Reducing bureaucracy: Quo vadis?". In it, he stressed that bureaucracy should neither be assessed unequivocally negatively nor reduced to numerical indicators alone. In his opinion, the important question is what the public understands by the term "bureaucracy" and whether it refers to the number of civil servants or, more broadly, to the entire functioning of the public sector. In the discussion, T. Tisenkopfs highlighted that the public sector delivers vital services to society every day – healthcare, education, safety and governance. Therefore, when it comes to cutting red tape, it is important to define exactly what is being reduced – human resources, regulatory requirements or unnecessary control. "Bureaucracy is like butter on bread – it ought to be spread evenly to ensure a good playing field for everyone," he said, calling for the application of reasonable norms to be seen as one of the keys to good governance. T. Tisenkopfs also stressed that when applying European Union regulations, additional procedures are often added in Latvia, which were not initially provided for and often make achieving goals more difficult. With 30 years of scientific experience, Tisenkopfs notes that EU-level scientific projects have a simple and transparent reporting process. However, in Latvia, additional bureaucratic rules sometimes make reporting more complicated.
This system in Latvia should not be supplemented with unnecessary control mechanisms – they are not necessary and only complicate the work. "
The conference highlighted several contradictions and opportunities in public administration, from excessive regulatory burdens to ill-considered public sector contributions. At the same time, the participants in the discussion agreed: the quality of public administration is not just an indicator in the budget tables, but a matter of society, trust, participation and shared responsibility.
More about the conference "Bureaucracy and society":
Event record – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6s71GRFqds
Tālis's speech timestamp – https://www.youtube.com/live/S6s71GRFqds?si=HCSheiLIPbuIbWVt&t=13725
Article on the website of the University of Latvia – https://www.lu.lv/par-mums/lu-mediji/zinas/zina/t/103618/