On Tuesday, 6 February, the monitoring report of the SIGMA Programme (the joint Programme for Improving Governance and Management of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Union) on compliance with the Principles of Public Administration was released.
The First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Oleksandr Korniienko, representatives of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the European Union, NGOs and the media took part in the discussion of priorities for further development of good governance for victory, recovery and membership in the European Union.
First of all, during the press meeting “Priorities of Public Administration Transformation in Ukraine for Victory, Recovery and European Integration”, the First Deputy Speaker Oleksandr Korniienko emphasised the importance of an effective state apparatus and a capable civil service for Ukraine's recovery and integration into the EU.
“Public administration reform is an important component of the Ukraine Plan, which is necessary for the launch of the Ukraine Facility programme. After all, without capable well-coordinated institutions, strong and motivated civil servants, clear and understandable procedures, the implementation of this plan will be impossible and will remain on paper,” said Oleksandr Korniienko, adding that Ukraine is now entering a new phase of the European integration process: “And it requires a strong public service. But what is even more important, our membership in the European Union will also require capable civil servants.”
During the event, the priorities for further preparation of the state apparatus for the ambitious tasks facing Ukraine included the continued digitalisation of services and processes to ensure transparency and accountability for taxpayers and international partners; implementation of the Law of Ukraine “On Administrative Procedure”, which is in force in almost all EU and OECD member states and should provide new rights and opportunities for citizens and businesses; continuation of the civil servants' remuneration reform to increase the competitiveness of the state as a robust economy.
The SIGMA programme specialises in assisting Central and Eastern European countries to modernise their public administration systems and plays a key role in preparing candidate countries for accession to the European Union. The SIGMA report is a guide for further improvement of the public administration system and assesses both the preconditions for effective public administration (quality of laws, policies, institutional capacity and procedures) and how governance works in practice. The last such assessment was conducted in 2018.
For reference. The event was supported by the European Union project “Continuation of Support to Comprehensive Public Administration Reform in Ukraine” (EU4PAR 2).
