EU gives Ukraine EUR 15.5 mln to improve public administration

The European Union has decided to increase its assistance to Ukraine based on the progress achieved by the country in public administration reform (PAR) in 2017, the press information section of the EU Delegation to Ukraine has told Ukrinform. 

"[EUR] 15.5 million was authorized for disbursement to Ukraine's 2018 state budget out of a total of EUR 90 million committed by EU to support the reform. This allocation follows the first tranche of EUR 10 million which was made available in May 2017," the EU Delegation said.

Thomas Frellesen, Charge d'Affaires a.i. of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, said that the decision to transfer EUR 15.5 million of EU funds to Ukraine's state budget of Ukraine for 2018 is the recognition of tangible progress made by Ukraine in implementation of the public administration reform.

"This particularly concerns establishment of a well-performing PAR coordination framework at political and senior civil service levels, transparent and merit-based recruitment to reform staff positions, launch of a pilot phase of reorganization in 10 ministries, as well as conceptual work initiated in the areas of policy making and general administrative procedure," Frellesen said.

Ukraine has committed itself to a comprehensive public administration reform (PAR) process. In 2016, a new law on civil service entered into force and the 2016-2020 PAR Strategy was adopted. They laid the foundation for a sustainable reform process aimed at bringing more effectiveness, efficiency and accountability into Ukraine's public administration. 

For the implementation of this crucial reform, the EU provides EUR 104 million in assistance within a special program, including EUR 90 million for budget support which is transferred directly to state budget and EUR 14 million for technical assistance which is used to provide advisory services to government institutions involved in PAR.

Following the assessment of Ukraine's 2017 progress report on PAR, the EU decided to disburse further EUR 15.5 million of budget support. This assistance is linked to Ukraine's performance in a number of indicators, including coordination in public administration reform, introduction of Reform Staff Positions, improvement of human resources management and reorganization of public administration.

op