Vsevolod Chentsov: Law enforcement reform Is an important part of Ukraine's EU accession negotiations
On September 29, the Coordination Council for Monitoring the Implementation of the Action Plan for the Comprehensive Strategic Plan for Reforming Law Enforcement Bodies as Part of Ukraine's Security and Defense Sector for 2023–2027 met under the chairmanship of Vsevolod Chentsov, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.
The meeting was attended by, among others, Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Vyhivskyi, Acting Prosecutor General Anton Kovalskyi, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, central executive bodies and law enforcement agencies, as well as international partners.
Participants discussed the state of implementation of the Plan and priorities for further work, in particular the legislative support for the reform and cooperation with the Verkhovna Rada.
Opening the meeting, Vsevolod Chentsov emphasized the inseparable link between law enforcement reform and Ukraine's EU accession process.
"The Comprehensive Strategic Plan for reforming law enforcement bodies is not a declarative document. It is one of the important benchmarks of our EU accession negotiations, in particular under Chapter 24, 'Justice, Freedom and Security.' Real progress in this area is an important marker for the European Commission and member states. It demonstrates that, despite all the challenges, Ukraine is capable of reforming, adopting and implementing important decisions, fulfilling its commitments and strengthening institutional capacity," the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Particular attention was paid to meeting the interim benchmarks within the EU accession negotiations.
"We need to clearly understand the key challenges and work together to overcome them. It is now very important to focus our efforts on meeting the interim benchmarks under Chapters 23 and 24, which will allow the European Commission to record our progress within the first cluster," Vsevolod Chentsov stressed.
During the meeting, the Coordination Council endorsed the Concept of the draft Law of Ukraine "On Law Enforcement Bodies" and the establishment of a working group to draft it. Members of parliament are expected to be involved in work on the draft law, and the prepared text will be consulted with the European Commission before being submitted to the Government for consideration. Fifteen priority draft laws aimed at implementing the reform were also identified. Participants agreed to strengthen oversight of the Plan's implementation.
Vsevolod Chentsov stressed the need for close cooperation between the bodies responsible for implementing the Comprehensive Strategic Plan and the Verkhovna Rada to ensure timely legislative support for the reform.
The event was organized within the project "Reforming the Civilian Security Sector in Ukraine," with the support of the UK Government, provided through the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The project is implemented by Chemonics UK in partnership with Siren Associates. The views expressed during the event do not necessarily reflect the position of the UK Government, Chemonics UK or Siren Associates.