Constitutional principles of reforming public administration of Ukraine in the context of European integration

Abstract

The article examines the constitutional principles of reforming public administration of Ukraine in the context of European integration. It is substantiated that the Constitution of Ukraine defines the principles of organization and functioning of public authority, including the rule of law, democracy, legality, separation of state powers, priority of human rights and freedoms, openness, accountability and responsibility. The significance of these principles for making managerial decisions and ensuring the functioning of executive authorities and local self-government bodies is revealed. The impact of Ukraine’s European integration course on the transformation of public administration and the approximation of national legislation to the law of the European Union is analyzed. The focus is on the role of the principles of good governance, in particular efficiency, transparency, accountability, citizen participation, public ethics, protection of human rights and openness to change and innovation. The significance of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU and the OECD/SIGMA Principles of Public Administration as guidelines for improving public administration is determined. The impact of decentralization, civil service reform, digitalization and the development of administrative procedures on increasing the efficiency of public administration and the quality of public services is studied. The main problems of implementing constitutional principles are identified, including the incompleteness and instability of legislation, the presence of gaps, conflicts and duplication of regulatory provisions, insufficient delimitation of the competence of state authorities and local self-government bodies, as well as the problems of ensuring transparency, protection of personal data and cybersecurity. The priority areas for further reform are substantiated: harmonization of legislation with EU law, improvement of legislation on civil service and administrative procedure, completion of decentralization, strengthening of institutional capacity of state authorities, professionalization of civil service, development of digital governance and strengthening of guarantees of human rights and freedoms. It is concluded that improvement of constitutional and administrative-legal mechanisms is a necessary condition for formation of modern effective, open, accountable and human rights-oriented system of public administration, capable of meeting European standards of good governance.