Ukrainian parliament supports increasing National Anti-Corruption Bureau’s staff by 300 people

On November 21, the Ukrainian parliament, Verkhovna Rada, supported in the first reading a draft law proposing to increase the staff of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) from 700 to 1000 people. 

MP Yaroslav Zhelezniak announced that 323 MPs voted "in favor" (#10203-1), Rubryka reports.

According to this published document, Ukraine plans to increase the maximum staff limit of NABU by 300 people, from 700 to 1000 employees.

The draft law also envisions the phased conduct of a competition to fill additional vacant positions:

• In 2024, for 100 positions;
• In 2025, for 100 positions;
• In 2026, for 100 positions.

Zhelezniak emphasized that this is an important draft law and one of the key obligations in Ukraine's European integration.

On November 8, the European Commission officially recommended that EU member states begin negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the European Union. However, Kyiv must implement another part of the reforms.

"Another historic step for the citizens of Ukraine… regarding their European integration aspirations. Today, we have adopted the expansion package for 2023. Despite the war, Ukraine has demonstrated the determination to achieve significant progress in creating a powerful reform momentum. We recommend the Council of the EU to start negotiations on Ukraine's accession," said the European Commission.

Also, the report published by the EC mentioned that the Commission recommends the Council to adopt a negotiating framework after Ukraine:

• Adopts the government-proposed law to increase the staff of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine;
• Excludes from the anti-corruption law provisions that restrict the powers of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP) over the verification of assets that have already undergone the verification process and restrictions on the NACP's powers to check the property acquired by declarants before entering public service, without prejudice to the rules applied to ensure national security during wartime;
• Adopts a law regulating lobbying in line with European standards as part of the anti-oligarchic action plan;
• Adopts a law addressing the remaining recommendations of the Venice Commission from June 2023 and October 2023 related to the law on national minorities, as well as takes into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission related to laws on the state language, media, and education.

As Rubryka previously reported, the EC considers four of the seven criteria that accompanied granting candidate status to Ukraine to join the European Union to be fully fulfilled. The other three criteria are accompanied by recommendations from the European Commission.