In what ways do public consultations in Ukraine differ from European

standards?

Vitaliy BigdaiICPS

December 12, 2012

Contents

Requirements for holding consultations

Document quality

Stages of consultation

Identifying who should participate

Analysis and the use of proposals

Conclusions

Requirements for holding consultations

The European Union has developed the principles and standards for consultations with stakeholders and interest groups:– White Book on European government and– Communication of the EC on the general principles and basic

standards for consultation.

Ukraine has instituted a regulatory base for holding consultations with stakeholders that is based on EU standards. But the requirements and the procedures are either only paid lip service or are ignored altogether.

Document quality

EU standards require that consultations start only after a document has been prepared that clearly and understandably presents: – What exactly is the purpose of the proposed initiatives, reforms or regulations;– Arguments in support of it, information about existing legislation and the

reasons it needs to be changed; – Who is likely to feel the impact of the policy; – Who will be involved in the consultation process; – What kinds of issues will be raised and what is the timeframe for responses.

In Ukraine, such public documents either do not meet EU standards or they do not properly meet the requirements for such a document, such as: having a clear list of stakeholders, who stands to lose or gain, an evaluation of the impact.

Stages of consultation

The EU approach is based on holding consultations at that stage of the process when holding consultations can actually influence the making of policy.– At the public hearings, Green Papers are presented, draft concepts,

strategies, analytical justifications, and documents that are in the process of being drafted.

– At this stage, interested parties can still influence the formulation of the main goals, approaches and indicators for such a state policy to be carried out.

In Ukraine, more often than not, final drafts of policies are brought out for “discussion.”

Identifying who should participate

EU standards state that the subjects of such consultations are target groups. – The agency holding the consultations identifies all the necessary target

groups prior to the consultations and actively disseminates the document being discussed among them, along with some questions, then collects their comments and propositions.

– For instance, target groups for consultations regarding a revision of VAT rates are: transnational companies, major corporations, SMEs, national associations, all-European associations, NGOs, tax specialists, voters, scholars, and others.

– The society knows who is involved in these consultations and how they are acting.

In Ukraine, such consultations generally involve a vaguely defined “public.”

Analysis and the use of proposals

EU standards require that the results of the consultations be analyzed and described. – An analysis of the results of the public discussion is published, along with a

list of participants and their propositions.– Summaries of responses are analyzed as received from various target

groups, explanations are provided as to which propositions were ultimately used, which ones were rejected and why, and what decisions were made as a result of the consultations.

– The results of the consultations are the basis for clarifying and reworking the document that was presented for public discussion.

In Ukraine, proposals are collected but are impossible to analyze by target group. Proposals are often rejected without a proper explanation.

Conclusions

The fundamental differences lie in the approaches to:

– Document quality for the consultations;

– Stages of consultation;

– Identifying who should participate;

– Analysis and the use of proposals.