The Head of the National Agency of Ukraine on Civil Service (NAUCS), Nataliia Aliushyna, has presented to the European Commission (EC) revised proposals to the draft Plan of Ukraine for the implementation of public administration reform. 

The revisions were made within the NAUCS's mandate in line with the EC's recommendations and comments. They relate to two key areas - civil service remuneration reform and administrative procedure. The NAUCS proposes to include these two components in the Plan of Ukraine.

The Head of the NAUCS noted that the civil service remuneration reform will be implemented by the classification of civil service positions on a functional basis and modelling of the grading system based on the results of comparing the functionality and remuneration of typical civil service positions and those in the private sector of Ukraine. This refers to the government draft law No. 8222, which is being prepared for the second reading (the Working Group on revision and preparation for the second reading of the relevant draft law is currently holding regular meetings). This will introduce new remuneration conditions for civil servants based on the classification of positions (fixed part - at least 70%, variable part - no more than 30%).

According to Nataliia Aliushyna, the reform will result in a transparent and fair system of remuneration in the civil service, ensure stability and predictability of salaries, reduce the discretion of managers to determine the amount of salaries of civil servants, and increase their competitiveness in the labour market.

In addition, the Head of the NAUCS explained how the draft law No. 8222 on the introduction of unified approaches to civil servants' remuneration based on the classification of positions and the draft law No. 10000 "On the State Budget of Ukraine for 2024" will be correlated.

"Draft law No. 8222 is aimed at developing a completely new model of civil servants' remuneration for Ukraine based on the classification of civil service positions and the introduction of a grading system. Draft Law No. 10000, among other things, regulates the issue of civil servants' remuneration only in 2024, based on the approaches to the classification of positions previously tested by the National Agency on Civil Service. At the same time, Draft Law No. 10000 provides for variability in the implementation of the civil servants' remuneration model in 2024, providing for several possible options: based on the classification or on the conditions established for 2023 with determining the maximum amount of incentive payments (up to 50%). Thus, draft law No. 10000 provides the basis for further comprehensive reform of the civil servants' remuneration system. And the unified approaches in this area will be provided by the draft law No. 8222, which is the basis of the reform," the Head of the National Agency noted. 

The meeting also discussed the administrative procedure. In 2022, the Verkhovna Rada adopted the relevant Law on Administrative Procedure, which is a key element of good governance. The law regulates the relationship between the state, on the one hand, and a private person or business, on the other. 

According to the Head of the NAUCS, the implementation of the Law of Ukraine "On Administrative Procedure" will provide effective and high-quality regulatory and legal regulation of external management procedures of state and local government bodies, their officials and other persons authorised by law to exercise administrative functions, as well as help protect the rights and legitimate interests of individuals and legal persons in their relations with the state.

"The introduction of a transparent, unified procedure for the provision of administrative services will reduce corruption risks and provide the simplest and most efficient process of service delivery with the least amount of time, money and resources," said Nataliia Aliushyna.

For their part, representatives of the European Commission, in particular, the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR), among others, were interested in the monitoring of the quantitative and qualitative composition of civil servants, which is regularly conducted by the NAUCS. Gabriel Blanc, Head of the E1 Recovery and Reconstruction Group (DG NEAR), expressed concern over the problem of staff turnover in the Ukrainian civil service, which has become particularly relevant in the context of the war.

In their turn, Anna Jarosz-Friis, Head of the Ukraine Service at DG NEAR, and Marlene Rosemarie Madsen, Deputy Director and Head of Economic and Sectoral Policy at DG NEAR, focused on the need to use a meritocratic approach to civil service recruitment. According to them, this is the principle that should be used to assess the competencies of candidates for civil service positions. 

In addition, the EU representatives noted the importance of evaluating the performance of civil servants and taking these conclusions and assessments into account when paying remuneration.

According to the Head of the NAUCS, all these proposals are in line with the strategic plans of the NAUCS.