Whenever a country chooses to transform itself, and rid itself of old, bad traditions, civil service reform isn’t usually something that at the top of the “urgent to do” list.
However, boring as the topic is to the average Andriy, in my experience it is the key to successful reforms. No country that has successfully morphed from a post-Soviet state into a modern economy and stable democracy has managed it without carrying out civil service reform.

It often starts with trimming the enormous number of civil servants – who are poorly paid, making them search for other, illegal sources of income. Then comes procedural and structural reform – one cannot design bold, effective reform plans, but then pretend that the administration that has been in place for the past 30 years will be able to carry them out using the same old ways and procedures.

In summary, a combination of “badly paid” and “let’s do as we’ve always done” in the public sector is a sure-fire recipe for disaster.

This is why I have always regarded public administration reform, together with judicial reform and fighting corruption, as systemic prerequisites for all reform in Ukraine.
Not dealing with this properly will block the entire reform process. While this has perhaps not been obvious while reformers were busy getting their strategy right, now that large-scale implementation of these strategies is necessary, problems and obstacles are piling up.

What needs to be done?

Clearly, a modern framework of rules and conditions for officials is essential – rules on merit-based recruitment, performance measurement and ethical behavior. Last but not least, fair pay, allowing officials to lead a decent life, is essential to removing the temptation to take bribes.

But even a professional workforce of officials won’t make much difference if they are stuck in an inefficient environment. Ask any minister in Ukraine what shocked them most when taking office and they usually answer: “The procedures. I can’t believe I need to sign 800 documents a day, most of which should never have reached my desk at all.”

A man walks next to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on April 24, 2014, in Kyiv.

A man walks next to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on April 24, 2014, in Kyiv. (Kostyantyn Chernichkin)

This means public administration reform must go well beyond a new legal framework for civil servants. It must look at the fundamentals – how do we want to work together to get results, what can we do to become efficient, how can we remove redundancies?

And let me be very clear: public administration reform is not about the European Union paying the salaries of Ukrainian officials. Increasing salaries without a profound restructuring and modernization of the civil service will not bring lasting benefits. In our jargon: it will not be sustainable.

So the Ukrainian government will have to clearly show how it will finance a salary increase for officials over the long term, once international support has ended. The EU will be pleased to provide technical support to study ways to achieve this objective, but the concept should be part of Ukraine’s overall, comprehensive civil service reform strategy – and it will be on the basis of this strategy (and not an isolated plan to somehow quickly raise salaries) that the EU will provide financial assistance in support of the overall strategy.

To sum it up: public administration reform must be comprehensive to make sense. It is about reshaping the entire administration and bringing it into the 21st century. It is about modernization, about empowerment and, ultimately, about better serving citizens.

What EU has done

With intensive technical and political support from the EU, in a long, painful process, the law on the civil service was finally adopted at the end of last year. For the first time, all the basics of a modern administration have a legislative basis. Most importantly, merit-based competitions will mean that to become a public servant, it won’t be who you know (or, worse, how much you can pay) but who you are and what you know that is important. We are helping to prepare the regulations and practical steps needed to ensure the law on the civil service enters into force on May 1.

Along with that, for more than a year now, we have been in an intensive dialogue with the government to support the drafting of a comprehensive civil service reform strategy and an implementation plan. We are not trying to invent something new, nor should Ukraine do so. The principles of good public administration exist and are known. Building on them is the only way to keep the reform process on track.

However, progress on that has not been as swift as I would have wished. One of the basic conditions for successful public administration reform is that there is a leading institution, led by a political figure who has the responsibility and capacity to manage the reform, but is also able to generate consensus and, if necessary, impose unpopular decisions. This condition is not yet fully met, but I hope and expect that the appropriate decision will be taken soon.

Ukraine’s modern reformed-minded officials, such as Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pivovarsky and Deputy Minister Max Nefyodov, have complained about the presence of too many uneducated civil servant  who don't even know how to use computers.

Ukraine’s modern reformed-minded officials, such as Infrastructure Minister Andriy Pivovarsky and Deputy Minister Max Nefyodov, have complained about the presence of too many uneducated civil servant who don’t even know how to use computers.

Another issue is that functional reviews have not yet been carried out in all ministries. Such reviews would identify overlaps and superfluous control layers, establishing whether a government service is even necessary, and if so, whether it is efficient. Some ministries, such as the Economy Ministry, have already made good progress in reviewing and streamlining their processes, producing a much leaner, more efficient organization.

As EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said: “you keep reforming, we keep supporting.” The EU is ready to dedicate significant resources to support the preparation and then roll-out and implementation of civil service reform.

These resources will come as soon as Ukraine adopts a comprehensive, sustainable strategy that fixes all identified shortcomings, and starts implementing it. And as implementation continues, so will our support. The ultimate goal is that, once the EU financial support runs out in a few years, the efficiency gains will mean the reform pays for itself, making it sustainable.
Civil service reform is not easy, and it doesn’t happen overnight. However, there are plenty of good examples that show it can be done reasonably quickly and in a way that truly benefits Ukrainian citizens. That is our ultimate common goal.

Ambassador Jan Tombinski has been the head of the European Union’s delegation to Ukraine since Sept. 1, 2012.