The Europeanisation of Public Administration in Ukraine. The Visegrad Group’s Best Practices (original) (raw)

On September 1, 2017, the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement entered into force after a long period of ratification. Despite the number of political problems, Ukraine still continues to seek integration with the EU that could be used for promoting further democratisation.In 2004, in the Kromeriz Declaration, the V4 countries expressed readiness to share their knowledge gained within the consistent processes of transition, shaping and implementing the European Union's policies. By analysis of the current status of local self-government reform, the national and V4 countries' 'best practices, ' the paper argues that strengthening public administration and making it more responsive, transparent, and democratic is the result of decentralization which is therefore considered an important component of the public administration reform.The paper approaches the problem from political-administrative perspective and identifies the patterns of mutual collaboration and the fact whether the partnership between the Visegrad Group and Ukraine materialised beyond the political declarations.The findings of the study will add a new dimension to the existing knowledge on decentralization in Ukraine. The reform will only succeed when local communities become involved, participate in public administration and civil service reforms in cities, towns and villages across the country. A democratic Ukraine, fulfilling its commitments and pursuing fundamental reforms, should be offered a long-term European perspective.The study uses primary sources from the V4 ranging from statements to joint documents with third parties, and a number of secondary sources of analytical character, extracting and linking the key findings from existing research and practice.