Ukraine’s EU accession – positive news
On May 8 the interagency working group on EU accession approved the draft roadmap, including the section of rule of law. The areas tied to anti-corruption reform were developed by the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) and the approval allows Ukraine to move one step closer to accession.
What is significant is how far Ukraine has come since 2014, when the anti-corruption agencies were being created and coming into effect after a few years. “The National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) coordinated the preparation of the Rule of Law Roadmap in the section on Combating Corruption, which envisages the implementation of measures in five areas: anti-corruption policy, prevention of corruption, prosecution of corruption, audits of specialised anti-corruption bodies, and anti-corruption mainstreaming.” The work described in the roadmap continues to be aspirational and over the next few years Ukraine must continue to move forward. As anti-corruption experts and Ukrainian civil society know, there is much that needs to be done, as well as continuing education within government. So much of prevention is education and clear actions. In the case of Ukraine, the education must not simply be superficial but needs to provide the information that corruption truly has consequences and provides clear guidance both regulatory and digital support. In the past few years there have been many cases of blatant corruption and this also needs to be addressed, so that this will become less common.
What should be done to support NACP as it helps move the country towards accession? As mentioned, it is important to ensure that government employees understand the consequences of corruption. Civil society must continue to shine the light on corruption actions and the EU partners should hold the Ukrainian government responsible and support the positive actions moving forward. Good news is rare in Ukraine, and this is a good step forward.
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