“The Decade of Transformation, Towards a Future of Integrity”: the EU gathered partners to mark 10 years of its support to rule of law and anti-corruption reforms in Ukraine

On April 16, 2024 the event “The Decade of Transformation, Towards a Future of Integrity: EU-supported Anti-Corruption & Rule of Law Reforms in Ukraine” took place at the Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex. The event was co-organised by the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative and the EU Project Pravo-Justice under the auspices of the European Union.

Ukraine, with EU support, has made significant progress in anti-corruption and Rule of Law reforms since the Revolution of Dignity.Overall, Ukraine improved its ranking in the Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index from 144 to 104 since 2013, and various surveys attest the growing intolerance among citizens for corruption, although much remains to be done to re-establish citizens’ trust in the justice system.

This event was organised to emphasize the EU’s pivotal role in reforming Ukraine’s governance and to highlight the evolving dynamics of this cooperation, especially as Ukraine embarks on its towards EU accession.

Noteworthy achievements in fighting corruption include the implementation of the State Anti-Corruption Programme (2023-2025), and the establishment of independent capable anti-corruption institutions (namely NABU, SAPO, NACP and HACC), which have started delivering promising results. Judicial and institutional reforms include the updating of the Civil, Economic and Administrative Procedure Codes, the establishment of independent self-governing judicial bodies, and new rules for selecting and appointing judges according to integrity and professional competence criteria.

Those changes are demanded by Ukrainian society, and also correspond to Ukraine’s foreign policy goals of joining the EU and NATO, as its strategic course enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine since 2019. At the end of 2023, the European Council approved a historical decision to open negotiations on the country’s accession to the European Union. This brings new challenges for Ukraine as it needs to harmonize its national norms and rules with EU legislation within clearly specified negotiation deadline. The purpose remains the same: to rule out corruption and to unconditionally adhere to the Rule of Law, which are considered crucial for Ukraine’s social resilience and prosperous economic development.

Katarína Mathernová, Ambassador of the European Union to Ukraine:

“In the ten years since the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine has proven its determination to defend its European choice and commitment to European values and principles. Despite the war, especially after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, the country has been fighting heroically against the Russian aggressor while changing the country from within, achieving critical institutional reforms. Ensuring the rule of law and overcoming corruption are some of the key areas. Along with the security issues, it is corruption that raises the greatest concern among Ukrainians. The European Union has supported Ukraine and Ukrainians in this work for the past decade and will continue to do so on its path to the membership in the European Union. The European Union is interested in a Ukraine with strong values and effective institutions”.

Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine:

“Ukraine has consistently shown its commitment to democratic values on its path to membership in the European Union. Since submitting the application for EU membership at the most difficult moment in our history, and despite the challenges no other candidate state has faced, we have maintained a high pace of reforms. All the recommendations of the European Commission for the start of accession negotiations to the EU have been fulfilled. Specifically, key bodies of the judicial system have been rebooted, and anti-corruption institutions have been strengthened. For the first time in the history of Ukraine, judges of the Constitutional Court are selected in an open and transparent competition. Mandatory asset declaration for officials has been restored and a risk-oriented approach to financial monitoring of politically exposed persons (PEPs) has been introduced. The law on lobbying has been adopted. And this is only a small part of the achievements of our state in a short time and under the pressure of Russian aggression, achieved on our path towards European integration. We will not stop or slow down. We have proven that we will not let our partners down and we believe that together we can make the dream of millions of Ukrainians about a free future in the European family come true.”

During presentations and panel discussions, key experts from the EU Anti-Corruption Initiative and the EU Project Pravo-Justice presented the results of the two previous phases and a review and tasks of phase III of both projects, which have been launched in Ukraine. They noted that the context of their activities has changed radically since the start of Russia’s full-scale war, but along with new goals, work on key tasks continues.

The key efforts of EUACI at the new stage will be directed at:

• ensuring adherence to the principles of integrity, transparency, and accountability in the processes of reconstruction;
• supporting EU integration in the area of the fight against corruption, including steps that will bring Ukraine closer to the EU;
• promoting the sustainability of anti-corruption infrastructure and guarantees that EUACI partners can continue to work during the war and after Ukraine’s victory.

Representatives of the EU Project Pravo-Justice in Ukraine shared information about the support provided for the implementation of reforms in the justice sector on Ukraine’s path to the EU, and emphasized that after the start of the full-scale invasion, the team also changed the priorities of its activities and added new areas, such as the investigation of war crimes. The project allocated €1 million to effectively and quickly respond to the requests of beneficiaries ad hoc. Since February 2022, about 30 requests have been considered – from issues of material and technical support to the IT audit of the Unified Judicial Information and Telecommunication System (UJITS).

At the beginning of 2024, phase III of the EU Project Pravo-Justice started, and it will also be adapted to the context. It is about promoting accountability for international and war crimes,further judicial transformations including enforcement, and supporting the EU integration process of justice sector institutions . It is planned to expand cooperation with public organizations and continue to develop the EU Project Pravo-Justice as a coordination platform for bodies and institutions of the justice system of Ukraine.

The electronic version of the media kit can be downloaded here.

For media inquiries:

Tetiana Voronina, media expert, EU project “Communicating the European Union for Ukrainians” (CEU4U), implemented by Ecorys, tvoronina9@gmail.com, +38 067 501 11 83