The RPR experts took part in the preparation of a package of comprehensive reports with the recommendations of the Ukrainian and European parties on the progress of Ukraine in the sphere of reforms as of December 2016, in line with the commitments of Ukraine under the EU- Ukraine Association Agreement.

These policy briefs were prepared within the framework of the International Renaissance Foundation (IRF) European programme initiative’s in-house project ‘Implementation of select reform commitments under Association Agreement’. The project is implemented within the Open Society Foundations’ network effort to assess and report on the progress made by Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine in the implementation of political commitments of Association with the EU.

Although success of the Ukrainian reforms is obvious, they cannot be called irreversible. There is an ongoing confrontation between the supporters of changes and the defenders of status quo. Our partners in the European Union acknowledge real achievements of Ukraine:

– improvements in the anti-discrimination laws;

– launch of the instrument of e-declaration;

– establishment of independent National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine;

– moving public procurement into an online mode through ProZorro system;

– launch of the judicial reform through the constitutional amendments;

– reboot of the Supreme Court and resignation of 2,000 judges of 7,000 ones representing the old system.

Ukraine succeeded in these aspects of reforms owing to its cooperation with the European Union, the International Monetary Foundation, and other international partners.

The package of reports consists of 5 policy briefs:

• “Anti-corruption policy of Ukraine: first successes and growing resistance“, author: Andrii Marusov, Head of the Board, Transparency International Ukraine.
• “Independent anti-corruption courts in Ukraine: the missing link in anti-corruption chain“, authors: Mykhailo Zhernakov, Director at “DeJuRe Foundation”, leading expert on judicial reform of the “Reanimation Package of Reforms” civil coalition; Iryna Shyba, Expert at “DeJuRe Foundation”.
• “Judicial reform in Ukraine: mission possible?“, author: Mykhailo Zhernakov, Director at “DeJuRe Foundation”, leading expert on judicial reform of the “Reanimation Package of Reforms” civil coalition.
• “Anti-discrimination legislation in Ukraine – box ticking for the EU or real reforms to ensure equality for Ukraine’s citizens?“, author: Iryna Fedorovych Deputy Head of the Social Action Centre (NGO), expert of the Ukrainian Coalition against discrimination and national informational campaign “Stop discrimination! Act now!”.
• “Equal employment opportunities in Ukraine–is there still discrimination and how should we tackle it?“, author: Iryna Fedorovych Deputy Head of the Social Action Centre (NGO), expert of the Ukrainian Coalition against discrimination and national informational campaign “Stop discrimination! Act now!”.

These reports were presented in Brussels to the European Parliament representatives, the Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia (COEST), members of the Support Group for Ukraine at the European Commission, advisors of EU Commissioners, employees of the European External Action Service, and representatives of other organizations by the following experts:

– Olena Halushka, International department of the Reanimation Package of Reforms (Anticorruption and judicial reforms).

– Taras Shevchenko, Center for Democracy and Rule of Law, Co-Chairman of the RPR Board (Judicial reform).

– Anastasia Krasnosilska, Anti-Corruption Action Center (ANTAC) (Anticorruption reform).

– Iryna Fedorovych, Social Action Centre, Coalition against discrimination in Ukraine (Anti-discrimination).

For any additional comments on the European Program Initiative and the presentation of reports in Brussels, please contact Dmytro Shulha, director of the European Program Initiative, at pr@irf.ua