Olga Ivasechko* THE CONDITIONALITY POLICY OF THE EU IN THE TERMS OF REFORMING THE PUBLIC SERVICE IN THE CEE COUNTRIES: THE EXPERIENCE OF UKRAINE Abstract: With the  aim of  creating in  Ukraine a  civil service that is  based on  European values and principles, the priority must always be the rule of law; patriotism and the service for Ukrainian pe- ople; legality; equal access to public service; professionalism; virtue; political impartiality; transparency of activities; personal responsibility of a civil servant. Only respecting the above-mentioned European principles for the process of adaptation of civil service of Ukraine to EU standards will be held smo- othly and successfully. Keywords: policy conditionality in  the  EU; the  public service; Europeanization; administrative re- form; the EU standards. 1. INTRODUCTION Today, when the  borders of  the  European Union (EU) expand, the  question of  «Europeanization» becomes relevant not only for the  countries of  the  applicants, but also for all European member states. As  the  political realities evidenced today, the  EU countries-candidates for membership puts high requirements, with the  aim of  selection of the Community «family» of the future «ideal members» (Shimmelfennih & Zedelmaier, 2010) Eastern and Central European countries have to overcome the difficulty of restruc- Torun International Studies 2015, No. 1 (8), pp. 27-35 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/TIS.2015.003 * Associate professor of  Department of  political science and international relations of  Lviv Polytechnic National University, Lviv, Ukraine, e-mail – ivasechko.2011@ mail.ru http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/TIS.2015.003 28 Olga Ivasechko turing administrative decisions, principles and legal norms to prepare to enter EU finally. Ukraine would have to follow their example to joiun EU. In May 2004, these difficulties were overcome, and at the same time the preparation of these States to join the European Union was completed and the separate and integral aspect of Europeanization was the re- form of public service. For Ukraine the process of interaction with the EU provides a number of requirements. First of all that is a cornerstone of European integration course of our country, a creation of a consistent and stable legislative ground according to the Copenhagen criteria for member- ship in each of the spheres of public life, and particularly the adaptation of public service to the EU standards. The necessity of  reforming the  state service of  Ukraine in  terms of  processes of Europeanization and what is especially important for out country is taking into account the future prospects of integration of the EU, and considering the need to reduce bureau- cratic tendencies and overcoming corruption in the system of state power. The key problem is the adaptation of the Ukrainian legislation of public service, which is nowadays so funda- mentally different from the standards of the developed European countries. To find the ways to solve this urgent problem, one must implement a comprehensive and structural analysis of  normative legal conditionality organization of  the  state service of the States of Europe to develop the foundations for further reform in the governmental sphere and implementation of positive European experience in Ukraine. 2. METHODOLOGY These issues were addressed in  the writings of both local and foreign scientists. However, the lack of a comprehensive study of this problem only aggravates it, and also makes impos- sible the implementation of reforms in management sphere of Ukraine at the proper level. It  is  expedient to  consider the  modern research of  Russian scientists in  this field. For ex- ample M.M.Vojtsechovskyy (Voitsekhovskyi, 2014, May 17) raises the problem of the mod- ern state and the  main directions of  reforming the  state service of  Ukraine. In particular, it draws on existing laws of Ukraine, namely: the Law of Ukraine «About state service» from 17.11.2011, and «On state target program of  development of  public service in  Ukraine» dated 27.06.2012 № 411-p. Such scientists as K. Zajachkovskyy, I. Todorov (Zaiachkovski &Todorov, 2014, May 16) cover the issues of state service in Ukraine and in accordance with the standards of leading European States. The most valuable in our opinion is the research done by A. L. Dimitrova (Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010), having considered the reform of public service in the countries of CEE in the context of Europeanization. In addition, M.A. Vakhudova (Vachudova, 2014, May 20) explored how the EU’s leverage facilitated the convergence of the likely future EU mem- bers from CEE on the grounds of liberal democracy. At the same time there is also the con- tribution of  the  Franco Shimelfening (Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010) in  the  study of the process of Europeanization of States as a whole. What should be noted is the absence of the complex research on the use of Ukraine’s most valuable specific experience of  CEE countries for the  implementation of  successful and effective reforms in the public service of our state in terms of its civilization choice that validates the study of the issues that have been discussed. 29The conditionality policy of the eu in the terms of reforming... Therefore, in our opinion, the focus should be on such States of Central and Eastern Europe, which can be an  example for Ukraine and that have implemented reforms in  the  management sphere. These are the  following: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Slovakia and others. All the above-mentioned States agreed with the proposed EU rules and have conducted its own estimates of the ad- vantages and disadvantages of EU membership. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The basic standards of  civil service of  European countries was mostly recorded in  the  Constitutions as  well as  in  specially adopted specific legal acts. The  experience of the EU in relation with the regulatory management sphere is based on certain principles, and some of them have the highest priority: the rule of law, legality, political neutrality and loyalty, stability, transparency, responsibility. The reform of  the  apparatus of  the  state service was assumed with the  help of  inte- gration strategies of the States of the applicants. Therefore, a dominant role in the success of the administrative reform in a particular state has played in fact the probability of its ac- cession to the EU. In addition, an integral component of the «Europeanization» in the solu- tion of some questions had the agreement, loyalty, unanimity in domestic forces, in particu- lar, a relatively significant range of issues in the governmental sphere, among them it should be allocated to the stability of democratic institutions, to overcome obstacles to democratic processes, avoiding war, human rights, etc. First of  all, the  EU required from States ap- plicants implementation of  requirements in  the  sphere of  human rights and democratic principles. More specifically, it tells you, in particular, Agreements on trade and cooperation with the Baltic States and the Association Treaty with Bulgaria and Romania (1992-1993) (Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010). The attention needs to be focused on the fact that; firstly, in the EU practice there were no criteria in  the  implementation of  reforms in  the  management area. So, we mean that the  specific conditions concerning the  administrative reform of  EU officials have formed much later, namely in  the  process of  expanding and complementing with then existent Copenhagen criteria. Therefore, the  criteria regarding the  implementation of  the  reform of public service has appeared not at once, and went through several stages(Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010). During the first period (1989 – 1993) the Consolidation was based on the experience of international organizations. The main requirement of that time from the EU side, first of all, was the observance of democratic principles by the membership ap- plicants and basic human rights. A key achievement of the first period should be considered as the Copenhagen membership criteria fixed by the Copenhagen European Council sum- mit in 1993. EU policy in the second stage (1993 – 1997) was focused not so much on dem- ocratic reforms and human rights, but rather on the criteria regarding the common market and its potential implementation of  the  post-Communist States. Consequently, the  eco- nomic acquis of the EU were outlined at the Essen European Council in 1994. The most outstanding point of this strategy was that the candidate countries had to go through train- ing before they participate in the training before becoming an actor on the market. This fact was recorded in the White book of the European Commission on the General market, approved at the Cannes European Council summit. And last, the third period (1997-2002) 30 Olga Ivasechko for states of the applicants was difficult. The main emphasis in monitoring the reform was put on the European Commission, which assessed the progress of the candidates in the an- nual Regular reports. However, the  Commission has determined for countries-candidates goals in  Partnership in  preparation for EU accession. The  priority place in  the  annual re- ports of  the  European Commission was given to  administrative and judicial reforms. So, the criteria in the sphere of state management as an integral component of the policy of EU enlargement for the  first time appeared in  the  1995 in  Madrid summit of  the  European Council, but were not implemented. It starts in 1997 and since that time its influence was spread(Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010). In the sphere of reforming of public service, the European Commission has requested SIGMA (Yevropeiskioriientyry u rozbudoviderzhavnoisluzhby. SIGMA, 2014) group to de- velop separate criteria of the States-candidates. We need to bear in mind that the SIGMA program is one of the most prestigious analytical companies of EU hat was created on the initiative of  the  Organization for economic cooperation and development (OECD) and the European Union. The purpose of the program was the need to assist States in Central and Eastern Europe to  modernize their systems of  public administration. This program plays a  key role in  the  preparation of  candidate countries for EU accession. In particular, the program SIGMA has contributed to the implementation of the program «the best» pub- lic administration, which would allow to  increase efficiency of  administration and would stimulate the  observance by the  government of  the  democratic values, ethics and respect for the rule of law; helped in strengthening States‘ capacity at the Central level of control that should help the  solution of  the  problems of  globalization and to  support integration plans of States; have supported initiatives of the EU in the reform of public administration (Yevropeiski oriientyry u rozbudovi derzhavnoi sluzhby. SIGMA, 2014). The candidate countries during the implementation of internal reforms, in particular in the sphere of improvement and changes in their institutional structure, were confronted with the choice of the way of their implementation. Taking into consideration some peculiar- ities of the reform, all States meet the requirements and rules of the European Commission. Of course, through the  importance and complexity of  implementing reforms of the public service, which was demanded by the EU, they do not always find a commit- ment in  member candidates, namely in  the  management bodies of  a state. However, all of them at the final stage of integration successfully completed the reform of the adminis- trative sphere. So, in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe researchers trace certain characteristic features of  such reform. In particular, we are talking about a  small number of reforms, the lack of implementation of adopted laws in the initial stages (exceptions may include Estonia, Hungary and Poland). Therefore, while the EU insisted on speeding up ad- ministrative reform, however, the practical application is not found, and was not supported by concrete actions. Such pressure from the EU influenced the further implementation of re- forms, the creation of States contenders own management structures practically «from zero» (Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010). The principles of  Europeanization for each state had its peculiarities. Yes, reforms in Hungary, by its nature, have an internal origin with significant external influences. A dif- ferent situation was observed in the Czech Republic, where significant resistance to reform was accompanied by delays in the reception of EU rules. However, this state, choosing its own way of reforming of the administrative sphere, held them, which is consistent with EU requirements. In Slovenia, the EU intensified influence on the elite of the state, thereby ac- 31The conditionality policy of the eu in the terms of reforming... celerating the reform. Therefore, an important condition for European integration became the hardness and determination of the elites of the States-candidates because the weakness in implementing reforms was not perceived by the EU and was the main threat to European integration. In general, characterizing the situation in the candidate countries of Central and Eastern Europe, changes in the public service were held for a short period. Candidate countries sup- ported terms of reform although there was disagreement, even the resistance to the policy of conditionality in the EU. The influence from the  EU side was observed at the  internal structure of  the  States- candidates. Only joint efforts, progress and reform were the key factors to their EU acces- sion. The reforms of public service defined the requirements of the legislation, which must enter the public service in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe as an independent professional education and to protect civil servants against dismissal and political pressure. So, the most important factor which caused the successful impact of the EU’s leverage on the progress of reforms in individual member candidates was the performance of their governments. The reform of the state and economy is impossible without a dedicated politi- cians and skilled officials, and without pressure and assistance from these groups. The EU encouraged the reform of the state apparatus and the economy in all member candidates. The most important among the mechanisms stimulating reforms were conditionality, strong commitment and influence on  these groups and elites. The  government had to  carry out reforms, with the  aim of  moving forward in  the  integration process. Additionally, this promotion has strengthened positions of  the  groups that benefited most from integration with the EU. Together, these mechanisms have contributed to the emergence of agreement among all leading political forces concerning the continuation that was focused on EU re- forms in the state (Vachudova, 2014, May 20). The civil service reform in  the  mentioned States should be considered as  a  whole in the context of the existence in these post-Communist administrations. The idea is that the state, which was integrated into the EU, having inherited this government, faced a num- ber of problems of different nature. First, there was not «feeling» of the public service, because the difference between the «state service» and other employees of the government (including enterprises) was unclear. Secondly, the bureaucracy was rather not answerable to the citizens and parties. Third, workers were sensitive to  political pressure and individually affected. And, the last, is that the public administration in general lacked the skills and information needed to participate in policy-making in the new world market democracy(Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010). Therefore, the  public administration as it funcioned in  the  previous system of  state management was at best « the  implementation machines» for making decisions, initiated by the Communist party, and at worst, a tool for repressing citizens of the state. Therefore, the concept of a professional civil service was operative in most states. So, in member can- didates from CEE there was a whole range of problems in the sphere of public administra- tions. Among them, the researchers highlight the dominance of the Communist party, its penetration in  the  bureaucratic structures in  CEE countries and dual subordination ad- ministrations, corruption and practical lack of responsibility. The administration was com- prised of management structures and political ones, the latter of which was reflected in the value of HR policy. And actually the fact that the use of administration with the purpose of  implementation of  repression against the  people questioned the  legitimacy of  any gov- 32 Olga Ivasechko ernment agencies. You should therefore fully agree with the  view that «the administrative reform in  the  CEE countries do not require anything other than defining a  new concept of the state» (Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010). We should not overlook one more important moment in  the  context of  reform of  the  public service of  the  member of  the  applicants, namely: the  lack of  legislation (ex- cept Poland) on  the role of  civil servants or public service during the  Communist period (Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010). Resorting to the analysis of the general picture on re- forms in member of CEE, it is necessary to note the fact that the example of the states the reform of public administration was completed then included Hungary, Poland and Estonia. But other countries have adopted legislation on partial reform, but in these cases it was not about the  effectiveness of  implemented reforms, and their consistency with EU require- ments (Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010). In particular, certain laws of the state (public) service were adopted in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, etc. For example, in France there are the law «On the rights and duties of civil servants», «On constitutional provisions regarding the  public service of  the  state» and the  Decree about the features of some service of state employees state and some forms of final cessation of per- formance of official duties. Likewise in Germany, there was adopted the Federal law about the status of officials, and in the Czech Republic – the law «On service of public servants in  administrative institutions, and on  remuneration of  civil servants and other employees in administrative institutions (Shimmelfennih &Zedelmaier, 2010). Despite the  differences in  the  titles of  the  above documents, their content is  almost identical. They contain goals, tasks and principles of state service, the procedure for its com- pletion, they define the status, rights and duties of civil servants, guaranteeing their legal and social protection. The main problem of the civil service reform was the choice of the institutions responsi- ble for this process. The experience of Slovakia and the Czech Republic offers two options. In the first case it is a separate agency. This institution, as a rule, was the core of future reforms in the public service, but it is difficult to establish the proper balance between the authority and accountability. They are strong and influential enough without any accountability or become too weak politically and financially. The latter is manifested in the Ministry of labor. In the mentioned states in particular, the attention is focused on the labor and social aspects of civil service reform at the expense of other reforms and far less than of the Ministry of in- ternal Affairs, the Ministry of Labour was in  contact with the  lower levels of  government (Voitsekhovskyi, 2014, May 17). Indisputable is  the fact that attempts at normative provision of  the  state service, to- day are being made in  Ukraine. It  is  advisable to  focus on  the resolution of  the  Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine «On approval of the State target program of civil service develop- ment for the period till 2016». In order to clarify the real situation in the sphere of public service it should be considered the main tasks of the State target program of development of civil service of Ukraine, among which were outlined the three key ones. First, it is improv- ing the institutional framework of public services that is based on the competence approach, stipulated in the new edition of the law of Ukraine «About state service». Secondly, the in- troduction of a new system of human resources management in public service in the me- dium term. And, the last, in our opinion, the most relevant to the present day, is the forma- tion of highly skilled personnel of the state service (Zaiachkovski &Todorov, 2014, May 16). Implementation of  the  State target program of  development of  civil service requires dra- 33The conditionality policy of the eu in the terms of reforming... matic changes in connection with the application of a competence approach to all processes of HR management in civil service. This approach is present in the personnel policy of such powerful States in  the  international arena as  the  UK, Austria, Canada, USA, Germany, Netherlands, Australia. At the  same time, in  the  process of  developing this program one takes into consideration the achievements of  the  Ukrainian-Canadian project «Reform of personnel management in public service». In particular, we are talking about developed by the Canadian Bureau of education a «Strategic» frame relative to the system of personnel management in public service. In addition, during the development of the State target pro- gram of development of civil service also takes into account the recommendations of the ex- perts of  the  Twinning project «support to  the  development of  public service in  Ukraine» (Zaiachkovski &Todorov, 2014, May 16). An important aspect of adaptation of civil service to European standards in the context of Europeanization is the process of forcing in Ukraine of such instruments of institutional development of the EU as Twinning and Taiex, in par- ticular at the  regional level. The  main purpose of  these instruments is  practical assistance in  solving specific problems of  development and European integration. The  effective use of the above mentioned tools provide operation of successful partnership on the one hand, and on another – will become a «bridge» exchange of experience between public authorities of Ukraine and the EU. The effectiveness of the reform of the state service of Ukraine will be determined by the method of assessment of the state service in Ukraine on the dominant figures of the software in a certain number of areas, the methodology of assessment which is characteristic for the administrative areas of the countries-EU applicants. Interesting and integral aspect of the implementation of the reform of the state service of Ukraine is a pre- dictable amount of  financial resources. According to  official sources the  funds aimed at reforming the administrative areas is 35 868, 4 thousand of UAH, due to means of the state budget – 927 23, 9 thousand of UAH in 2013-2016. In addition to financing, the imple- mentation of the State target program envisages the involvement of international technical assistance projects in the sphere of public service, international partners, which will contrib- ute to reforming in Ukraine. With the aim of creating in Ukraine a civil service that is based on European values and principles, the priority must always be the rule of law; patriotism and service to the Ukrainian people; legality; equal access to public service; professionalism; virtue; political impartiality; transparency; personal responsibility of the state the employee. Only if and respecting the above-mentioned European principles for the process of adapta- tion of civil service of Ukraine to EU standards it will be held smoothly and successfully. So, it is safe to say that if the introduction of the main priorities provided by the State target program of development of state service will be reformed by civil service of Ukraine in specific terms, the conditions will be created for further improvement of state control with regard to democratic values and principles of management. At the same time, the implemen- tation of the state policy in the sphere of civil service will provide an opportunity to intro- duce modern technologies of  human resources management in  public service with regard to  the  competence approach. In addition, the  involvement of  the  scientific point of  view in  the  process of  reforming the  civil service of  Ukraine will ensure the  implementation of state policy using the best international experience. And, last, monitoring the effectiveness and efficiency of the civil service reform will contribute to the creation of a professional and politically independent state service of Ukraine (Zaiachkovski &Todorov, 2014, May 16). In the light of current events, it is necessary to point out the fact that the Europeanization of public service in Ukraine is permanently stalled. The factors of this negative trends in- 34 Olga Ivasechko Ukraine, first of  all, are the  lack of  political will, corruption, a  kind of  political system «reforms», which gives rise to the growing influence of the Soviet system. At the same time there’s a systematic violation of human rights, which causes negative reviews about the po- litical situation in Ukraine on the part of European institutions and official persons. Hence, we notice a clear gap between the weight of the value of the block in the eyes of leaders and EU officials, members of  the  European Parliament, on  the one hand, and the  authorities in Ukraine on the other (Zaiachkovski &Todorov, 2014, May 16). Today it  is expedient to  briefly dwell on  the forecasts of  the  experts concerning each state in CEE in the management area, which are presented in the Ukrainian edition of  «The Economist»  – «the World in  2014» (Svit u tsyfrakh, 2014). The  first in  the  field of  view gets Bulgaria, which predicts early elections in  2014, because the  ruling Alliance of the Bulgarian socialist party and the Movement for rights and freedoms loses legitimacy both at home and abroad. For example, in the Czech Republic in 2013 has been the dis- solution of  the  Parliament, in  October 2013 the  elections was held. The  political turmoil of the state was associated with scandals related to corruption and wiretapping, but in 2014 they predict the end of recession. Similar situation is observed in Estonia, in which popular discontent has caused the  loss of  trust to  politicians of  different political spectrum after allegations of  corruption. But before the  election 2015 the government is unlikely to be changed. It will be Croatia that will celebrate the first. However, improving government in- stitutions and the  weakening role of  the  state is  not held by the  «magic» (Svit u tsyfrakh, 2014). Therefore, according to forecasts, the current ruling coalition under the leadership of S. Milanovich will continue to fight corruption among officials. Stable situation is pre- dicted for Hungary, Romania, Latvia and Poland (due to the political and personal aptitude of  D. Tusk). But the  internal political arena of  Lithuania was unstable for alleged fraud in 2013, several leaders of the Party of labor, however, paradoxical as it seems, did not pre- vent the growth of the state’s economy by 3%. And at the end forecasts for Slovenia are fuzzy because the state is still in the process of finding a «devoted politicians and skilled officials», without them the reform of domestic sphere of the state of the public service is impossible. In March 2014, they scheduled the vote on taking confidence, which can cause extraordi- nary elections (Svit u tsyfrakh, 2014). Therefore, for Ukraine to achieve and implement successful reforms of the public ser- vice, it is necessary to take into account the experience of member states of the EU, first of all, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which warns against the structuring of civil service reform as a series of structural reforms. On the other hand, this experience serves as a viable option to create the foundations of a civil service rules and directives, and then its gradual expansion. 4. CONCLUSION To sum up, the process of gaining EU membership included the implementation of a consid- erable number of reforms in the candidate countries. It is worth to mention that the reform of public service in the EU member States, which is useful for Ukraine, especially for reasons of expediency and of improving the standard of living standards and economic well-being of the state in general. For Ukraine, it would be important to follow the implementation of 35The conditionality policy of the eu in the terms of reforming... the reform of the public service as was done by Czech Republic and Slovakia- despite the fact that these States have a  complex, unequal and demanding way of  agreeing with the  rules of the club of European States», whose members they wanted to be since 1989. Therefore, further studies may demand the detailed typology of the Central-Eastern Europe, taking into account the criterion of reforming the public service in the context of Europeanization. REFERENCES Shimmelfennih, F., &Zedelmaier, U. (2010).YevropeizatsiiaTsentralnoi ta SkhidnoiYevropy. Kyiv. Svit u tsyfrakh. Svit u 2014 rotsi. (2014, January 15). “The Economist”. Vachudova, M.A. (2014, May 20). Democratization in  Postcommunist Europe: Illiberal Regimes and the Leverage of International Actors. Retrieved April 26, 2014, from- http://cddrl.stanford.edu/publications/democratization_in_postcommunist_eu- rope_illiberal_regimes_and_the_leverage_of_international_actors Voitsekhovskyi, M. (2014, May 17). Suchasnyi stan ta osnovni napriamy reformuvannia derzhavnoi sluzhbyUkrainy. Retrieved May 26, 2014, from http://siver.uct.ua/bib- lioteka/rozum_zbirnuk.pdf#page=18 http://siver.uct.ua/biblioteka/rozum_zbirnuk.pdf#page=18 http://siver.uct.ua/biblioteka/rozum_zbirnuk.pdf#page=18