The Administrative Process and EU Standards: Adaptation of Ukrainian Legislation

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the process of adapting Ukraine’s administrative procedural legislation to the standards of the European Union in the context of the country’s European integration aspirations. Particular attention is paid to the role of acquis communautaire as a dynamic legal system of the EU, which includes founding treaties, secondary legislation, case law, general principles of law, and “soft law”. The supremacy of acquis communautaire over national law, established by the key judgments of the Court of Justice of the EU (Costa v. ENEL, 1964; Internationale Handelsgesellschaft, 1970), is emphasized.
The central focus of the paper is the right to good administration, enshrined in Article 41 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The author examines its content as well as related European standards set out in the European Code of Good Administrative Behaviour, recommendations of the Council of Europe, and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. In particular, the case Öztürk v. Germany (1984) is analyzed, which extended the guarantees of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights to certain categories of administrative sanctions.
The article explores the mechanism of adapting Ukrainian legislation in accordance with the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement of 2014. The purpose, stages, and institutional support of this process are revealed, including the role of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and the Reform Office of the Cabinet of Ministers.
The adoption of the Law of Ukraine “On Administrative Procedure” (2022) is highlighted as a key achievement of the reform. It introduced modern, transparent, and unified rules for administrative proceedings. The novelties of the Law and the amendments to the Code of Administrative Procedure of Ukraine aimed at strengthening judicial control over public administration are examined separately.
At the same time, the paper identifies existing problems: conflicts in sectoral legislation, insufficient training of public officials, incomplete digitalization of services, and overload of administrative courts. The author proposes specific measures to overcome these challenges, including harmonization of the regulatory framework, advanced training of officials, and active implementation of digital technologies.
The article concludes that the successful adaptation of the administrative process to European standards is not only a legal requirement but also a necessary precondition for the modernization of public administration, increasing its efficiency, and strengthening citizens’ trust in the state.