On 13 March 2000, International IDEA organised a workshop on public administration reform, which is one of the key issues for the consolidation of democracy in Slovakia. The convening of the workshop was timely not just with regard to the developments in Slovakia but also with regard to persistent and continuous efforts in other parts of the world to advance democracy through local self-government. The objective of the workshop was to provide information about reforms in other European countries and a forum to discuss different views on the proposed reform in Slovakia. This report is a summary of the workshop discussions and experiences of other European countries: Denmark, France, Poland and Spain.