Peculiarities of lobbying regulation in Ukraine in the context of European and Euro-Atlantic integration

The article explores the legal nature and specific features of legal regulation of lobbying as a separate legal institution based on a comparative study of the approaches existing in the US, the EU Member States and Ukraine in the context of European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes being a priority area of the foreign policy and legal development of our state. The author analyses the peculiarities of legal regulation of lobbying activities in Ukraine and identifies the key issues of and prospects for the functioning of the practical and theoretical lobbying model in Ukraine in the context of European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes. On the eve of adoption of the Law of Ukraine ‘On Lobbying’, the lack of proper legislative regulation of lobbying in our country was recognized as a problem of state and social development of the country at the EU and NATO levels. Therefore, the issue on legislative regulation of the activities of entities that influence (lobby) the interests of third parties or groups of parties while adopting legal acts by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, executive authorities and local self-government bodies had to be resolved after the beginning of official negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and its rapprochement with the North Atlantic Alliance. On 23 February 2024, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law of Ukraine ‘On Lobbying’ which not only defined the key principles of interaction between officials representing the state authorities and local self-government bodies with the stakeholders and lobbying entities, but also outlined the basic principles, methods and legal framework of lobbying in Ukraine. On 29 November 2023, an adapted Annual National Programme was presented at the meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council. It became the most concise and practical, as it focuses on reforms in the security and defence sector and democratic transformation tasks that Ukraine is implementing within the framework of its Euro-Atlantic integration. However, the establishment of the legal institution of lobbying in our state requires amending the existing legal acts that also regulate the terms and procedures for conducting lobbying activities; introducing responsibility of all parties to this process; imposing effective control over the lobbying process; and the impossibility of limiting the participation of civil society organizations in public policy making that should help overcome corruption and fulfill the criteria being necessary for Ukraine’s accession to the EU and NATO.