Meetings of the Working Group (Panel) “Public Administration Reform”

•  On March 16-17, 2017 in Ukraine the Twelfth meeting of the Working Group (Panel) “Public Administration Reform” of the Thematic Platform № 1 “Democracy, Good Governance and Stability” of the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership” was held.

The event was organized by the European External Action Service, in conjunction with the NAUCS, as Coordinator of the Area  4 "Effective Technical Assistance Management" of the Working Group (Panel), in which Ukraine has been the –leading country since 2012, and the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on State Building, Regional Policy and Local Self-Government.

During the meeting the main results of implementation of the of the Panel Working Programme for 2016 were discussed, the priorities for further cooperation in 2017 were identified in the context of preparation for the Eastern Partnership Summit, that will be held in Brussels (Belgium) on 24 November, 2017 and will develop cooperation frameworks of the Eastern Partnership for the next reporting period. In addition, during the event, the experience of the EU Member States and the EU Eastern Partnership Initiative aimed at implementation of public administration was presented, in particular, the Ukrainian side identified the priorities and tasks of public administration reform for 2016-2020, a new version of the Law of Ukraine "On Service in Local Self-Government bodies" and the main achievements in the implementation of the Law of Ukraine "On Civil Service" were presented. Representatives of the European External Action Service, government institutions of the EU Member States and the countries of the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership”, SIGMA program experts,  Embassies of the EU Member States in Ukraine, Civil Society Platform in the countries of the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership” and others took part in the event.

• On October 03-04, 2017 delegation of Ukraine participated in the Thirteenth meeting of the Working Group (Panel) “Public Administration Reform” of the Thematic Platform № 1 “Democracy, Good Governance and Stability” of the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership” (Tallinn, Estonia).

During the first day of the event, representatives of the leading countries of four existing Areas of the Panel considered the main achievements within the framework of the implementation of the Work Programme, as well as the main activities for the end of 2017 were planned in the context of preparation for the Fifth Eastern Partnership Summit. On October 04, 2017 representatives of the Ukrainian delegation took part in a conference “E-Partnership”.

In addition, during 2017 the following communicative events were conducted abroad:

•  Seminar “Development and Management of Databases in Civil Service System” (21 April, 2017, Baku, Azerbaijan).

The event was organized in order to provide experience exchange on public administration reform and innovative approaches in human resource management, as well as to consider the practices of the countries of the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership” on the implementation of state-owned electronic services and databases on human resources management in the civil service.

• International seminar “Certification of Civil Servants: Challenges and Prospects” (October 20, 2017, Baku, Azerbaijan).

The event was organized within the framework of the Working Group (Panel) "Public Administration Reform" in order to discuss the main reforms in the field of public administration, experience exchange in introducing innovations in the civil service system.

• International seminar “Building Capacity to Enforce Civil Service Legislation” (November 16-17, 2017, Yerevan, Armenia).

The event was organized in order to discuss the best practices for the proper implementation of civil service law and the creation of human resources, as well as a number of other key issues related to civil service reform.

At the same time, in 2017, within the framework of cooperation with the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership” with the support of the Working Group (Panel) “Public Administration Reform”, four communication activities were organized in Ukraine:

• On June 01-02, 2017, a two-day training “Building of Professional, Sustainable and Politically Impartial Civil Service: the Role of Transformational Leadership and Organizational Culture” was held.

The event was organized with the aim of providing experience exchange and development of managerial potential of the senior civil service and their leadership competencies in the area of management of innovations and changes for reforming the personnel management system in government authorities, as well as for implementation of administrative leadership and management functions.

The Heads and Deputy Heads of the central executive authorities, Heads (Chiefs) of Local State Administration, representatives of higher educational establishments of Ukraine, who are preparing masters in the area of expertise “Public Management and Administration”, as well as representatives of government authorities and educational establishments of the EU Member States and the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership” took part in the event.

• On September 07-08, 2017 a two-day seminar “Professionalization of Service in Local Self-Government Authorities in the Context of Public Administration Reform and Decentralization of Power” was held.

The event was organized with the aim of providing experience exchange and discussion of modern tasks and challenges, related to the reform of the service in local self-government authorities, increasing the role of local self-government authorities of the EU Member States and the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership”.

Representatives of the central Executive Authorities, Association of Ukrainian Cities, Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils, Ukrainian Association of Rural and Village Councils, Heads of Rural, Village, City Councils and United Territorial Communities of Ukraine, representatives of the EU Member States and the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership”, international projects and organizations took part in the event.

• On September 21-22, 2017 in Odessa IX Annual Richelieu academic readings “Professional Development and Training of Civil Servants and Local Self-Government Officials: Challenges, Objectives, Perspectives” was held.

The main goal of the Richelieu Academic Readings was to discuss current issues and practices of reforming and modernization of the system of professional development and training of civil servants and local self-government officials in the EU Member States and Eastern Partnership countries in accordance with the recent requirements for public administration and civil service reform.

Representatives of central government authorities and higher educational establishments of  Eastern Partnership countries, representatives of the EU Member States and international organizations, Presidential Administration officials, Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, the Secretariat of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Heads of Personnel Services, representatives of other central executive authorities, representatives of higher educational establishments of Ukraine, who are preparing masters in the area of expertise "Public Management and Administration", as well as representatives of local government authorities, state enterprises, agencies and organizations, Civil Society Institute, international and national experts took part in the event.

• On December 07-08, 2017 Annual Regional Conference on Institution Building was held.

National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service and Twinning Programme Administration Office in Ukraine organized the event  in order to provide experience exchange on effective implementation of institution building instruments Twinning, TAIEX and SIGMA Programme, to discuss innovative approaches and legal background of Twinning projects realization as well as to share best practices on implementation of strategic reforms in the area of public administration through involvement of international technical assistance in the countries of the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership” and the EU Member States.

Representatives of the European Commission, Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, Embassies of the EU Member States in Ukraine, representatives of government authorities and coordinators of Twinning and TAIEX instruments implementation in the countries of the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership”, Resident Twinning Advisors of ongoing projects in Ukraine, Project Leaders from Ukraine and the EU Member States as well as representatives of civil society institutes, international organizations and projects took part in the conference.

For reference:

within the framework of cooperation with the EU initiative “Eastern Partnership”, the NAUCS developed a series of information-analytical and methodological materials on the civil service reform and its adaptation to the EU standards, in particular:

• Brochure “Local Self-Government in Eastern Partnership Countries”;
• Textbook “Professional Development of Civil Servants in the Eastern Partnership Countries: Results of a Comparative Study on Civil Service Reform”;
• Textbook “Civil Service of the Eastern Partnership Countries”;
• Workbook of the participant of the training “Building a Professional, Stable and Politically Unbiased Civil Service: The Role of Transformational Leadership and Organizational Culture”.