Chief Country Officer for Quality of Life and Relations with Public Service Users pays courtesy visit

On Wednesday 6 February 2019, Anne Eastwood was delighted to host a visit by Mr Albert Croesi to the Office of the High Commissioner, following his recent appointment as Chief Country Officer for Quality of Life and Relations with Public Service Users.

“This is a role which the Sovereign Prince was keen to introduce and it is in line with the Government’s determination to be more responsive to Monegasques and residents. The aim is to bring improvements to people’s daily lives and create a better relationship between the State and citizens. It offers a new way of taking reality into account and, in keeping with the work of the Administration, of finding solutions by bringing to bear a little more soul,” H.E. the Minister of State said in his press release announcing the appointment on 17 January 2019.

The visit provided an opportunity for Anne Eastwood and Albert Croesi to discuss the inherent synergies between their respective mandates. The creation of the High Commissioner post in late 2013 had already shown H.S.H. Prince Albert II’s strong determination to close the gap between his Government and citizens by entrusting an external, independent entity with the task of reviewing complaints, drafting recommendations and acting as a bridge, a facilitator of dialogue and a source of solutions in conflict situations.

The High Commissioner welcomed the fact that Albert Croesi, in his new role within the executive, will be able to contribute from the inside to strengthening this dialogue and making it more human. She was also pleased to note that the position is entirely in keeping with a recommendation that she issued in late 2015, when she called for the introduction of a “front-line complaints office” for government services, to which users could be directed in the first instance, enabling any grievances they had to be handled flexibly and directly. In hailing the complementary nature of their respective missions to help resolve the difficulties experienced by citizens, Anne Eastwood nonetheless expressed her conviction that people should still be given broad latitude to decide to turn to the High Commissioner first, in order to receive genuinely impartial consideration of their circumstances and a guarantee that the solutions recommended would always fully respect their rights. Finally, the High Commissioner reiterated her determination to promote, through her actions, the principles of good governance. She was delighted to have now found, in the Chief Country Officer for Quality of Life and Relations with Public Service Users, a new partner and link to the Government to support her general recommendations and encourage the introduction of best practices in public service.

For his part, Albert Croesi presented his vision of his new role and the pragmatic and constructive way in which he intended to make himself available to users, with a view to improving the Government’s responsiveness to their daily concerns.

Aware that they are both constituent parts of single initiative to return citizens to the heart of government operations, Anne Eastwood and Albert Croesi said that they were looking forward to working together in future in order to continually enhance the quality of public service delivered to users in the Principality.