Civil society has developed a detailed plan on how to fulfill EU requirements in the field of law enforcement: why this is important

Law enforcement reform is one of the key requirements for Ukraine’s accession to the EU. At the same time, the official criteria of the European Commission are formulated in a generalized way; therefore, civil society has developed a more detailed plan of necessary measures. A debate on target indicators for law enforcement bodies in the context of EU accession, organized by the Ukrainian Center for European Policy, was held on April 23, ZMINA reported.

During the event, an implementation plan was presented, containing measures to fulfill EU requirements for reforming law enforcement agencies under negotiation Chapter 24, “Justice, Freedom, and Security.” The plan was developed by experts from the Ukrainian Centre for European Policy (UCEP) and the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform (CPLR).

As Liubov Akulenko, executive director of UCEP, explained, by developing these proposals, civil society can join the negotiation process and, where possible, assist the government.

“The second reason we are doing this is that the negotiation process consists of two parts: technical and political. On the technical side of the process, in other countries, the tasks were formulated very generally, and at some point, this created problems for the candidate country in fulfilling them. In the past, this was a major issue for the Western Balkan countries,” she noted.

Akulenko explained that after providing the interim target benchmarksі , Ukraine will have to receive the Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR).

“Based on this report, it will be determined whether we can move toward the final indicators in this field. It is crucial to understand what specifically will be considered sufficient for the European Union in a particular field for them to provide us with this report. IBAR will be issued for all sectors,” she elaborated.

The expert added that, given the statements of EU countries, there will be no accelerated accession for Ukraine. To gain membership, Ukraine must demonstrate the fulfillment of the Copenhagen criteria, which include the stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and respect for and protection of minorities. In particular, this also applies to the reform of law enforcement agencies.

“Within the Copenhagen criteria, there is a point stating that the institutions responsible for these areas must have sufficient capacity to perform the functions assigned to them,” Akulenko noted.

According to Akulenko, since the benchmarksі are formulated generally, the study’s authors decided to develop a more detailed plan to clearly understand progress or lags in fulfilling the requirements. In their work, analysts relied on the roadmap for EU accession, the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Law Enforcement Reform, the State Anti-Corruption Program, and the Strategy for Reforming the Penitentiary System.

Later, the benchmarks that the European Commission informally shared with Ukraine were published by the news outlet European Pravda. The experts’ vision coincided with the European Commission’s position almost 100%. The developed plan is currently a draft that may be useful in the negotiation process.

The study’s authors explained that they focused on the institutional aspect. In point 24.7 of the criteria, “Institutional Framework,” the task is formulated as follows: “Strengthen the institutional framework, in particular through a clearer definition of the powers of law enforcement agencies, strengthening their independence and integrity, operational, analytical, and IT capabilities, inter-agency cooperation, and staff training.”

“The issue of law enforcement agencies is key and important for European partners in the process of our accession. Law enforcement agencies will bear many obligations and tasks for implementation both during the negotiations and after Ukraine’s accession to the European Union,” noted Viktoriia Melnyk, Coordinator of the European Integration direction at the Centre of Policy and Legal Reform.

The document presented by the experts is created as a table with implementation measures and indicators for their fulfillment. The introductory part emphasizes that the European Commission, in its expansion reports, regularly states that Ukraine’s law enforcement system continues to face deep structural problems. Among the key challenges are incomplete institutional transformation of certain bodies, weak mechanisms for internal and external accountability, problems with guarantees of institutional independence, unstable and opaque personnel procedures, and limited managerial and analytical capacity.

The implementation plan developed by the experts covers measures regarding the State Bureau of Investigation, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), the National Police, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU), the Bureau of Economic Security, the Asset Recovery and Management Agency, the Penitentiary Service, the Probation Service, and legal education. Among the measures are amendments to legislation, updating the composition of the bodies, appointing employees to positions in accordance with updated procedures, and conducting audits.

“For civil society and the public, such indicators create a basis for effective monitoring of the reform progress, early detection of problems and risks, as well as the formation of a reasoned response to cases of slowdown, imitation, or deviation from the declared goals,” the document states.

Negotiations for the accession of new states to the European Union are divided into 35 chapters. 33 of them are grouped into six thematic clusters, which open sequentially. Cluster 1, “Fundamentals of the EU Accession Process,” opens first and closes last. It covers the following areas:

• judiciary and fundamental rights;
• justice, freedom, and security;
• economic criteria;
• functioning of democratic institutions;
• public administration reform;
• public procurement;
• statistics;
• financial control.

By way of background, the European Union has provided Ukraine with an official list of accession criteria for three negotiation clusters and has begun monitoring their implementation. The toughest requirements apply to the “Fundamentals” cluster, which encompasses the rule of law, anti-corruption, and human rights. Ukraine must fully meet these conditions even before achieving membership.

Previously, ZMINA reported that NGOs are officially involved in European integration processes, particularly in working groups on reforms planned within the negotiation clusters. However, experts point to the often formal nature of this involvement and the lack of proper interaction from the Ukrainian authorities.

Additionally, the public has developed a detailed plan of what needs to be done in the field of human rights for EU accession.