The resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of June 4, 2008 # 528 ruled to rename the Center for Support of the Civil Service Institutional Development into Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union, and enhanced its competencies. The purpose of that change was to strengthen institutional reforms in the public sector, first of all, an administrative reform, civil service reform, and personnel management reform in the public sector through the adaptation of the civil service to standards of the European Union.
The Center for Support of the Civil Service Institutional Development was established under the Main Department of the Civil Service of Ukraine by a resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine # 485 of April 14, 2004 with the mission of providing informational, analytical, expert and organizational support to the development of public administration, strengthening of institutional capacity of the civil service of Ukraine and its adaptation to the standards of the European Union.
The main spheres of the Center’s activity included law-making in the sphere of the civil service, functional review of central executive power bodies, introduction of a quality management system to the functioning of state authorities, personnel development and capacity building for personnel units within state authorities, and production of regular analytical and information publications with the aim of spreading news ideas and best practices in the sphere of the civil service and administrative reform.
This resolution endorsed the Statute of the Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union. The Statute entrusted the Center with the following tasks:
contributing to the development of the initiatives related to public policy making and law-making activity in the sphere of public administration, adaptation to the standards of the European Union, and application of institution building instruments in Ukraine;
providing scientific, expert, informational, analytical, methodological, and organizational support to the preparation and implementation of programs and measures in the above noted sphere;
improving professional expertise of officials in local government bodies, above all of those who occupy positions of I-IV categories, and of other experts;
providing advisory support to state authorities and local government bodies, spreading legal, scientific and other information about public administration, adaptation to the standards of the European Union, and application of institution building instruments in Ukraine;
contributing to the cooperation between the EU and Ukraine, providing, within the limits of its competence, consultative and methodological support as well as monitoring of the activity of executive power bodies related to the fulfillment of commitments undertaken by Ukraine before the European Union and international organizations;
assisting the Main Department of the Civil Service of Ukraine in implementing its tasks and functions related to the application of institution building instruments in Ukraine.
Thus, the functions of developing and implementing institution building instruments in Ukraine that before had been entrusted to the Main Department of the Civil Service of Ukraine and had been fulfilled according to its orders, have been singled out into a separate sphere of the Center’s activity.
At present, the activity of the reformed Center focuses on modernizing public administration, harmonizing it with standards of the European Union, improving the mechanism of applying institution building instruments of the European Union: Twinning, TAIEX і SIGMA, in Ukraine, enhancing professional expertise of civil servants, expanding efforts towards informing the society on European integration issues, improving quality and broadening the scope of scientific research that is aimed at the development of the civil service and public administration.
