An expert working group has been officially established in Ukraine to develop a professional standard for “Lobbyist” — the first systemic document designed to define qualification requirements, ethical principles, and professional frameworks for activities in the field of lobbying. The initiative is aimed at institutionalizing the lobbyist profession in accordance with modern democratic standards, principles of integrity, and requirements of European integration.
The formation of such a standard is an important stage in the development of a transparent and civilized public affairs market in Ukraine, based on openness, accountability, and professional ethics of interaction between the state, business, and civil society.
The working group was established at the initiative of the Ukrainian National Lobbyists Association (UNLA) in cooperation with the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) and the European Business Association. The working group was headed by Serhiy Lysenko, PhD .
The group includes representatives of the NACP, the legal community, specialized experts in the field of public policy, compliance and strategic communications, as well as representatives of business associations and the professional environment. Such an inter-sectoral composition is designed to ensure a comprehensive approach to the formation of a standard that will meet both anti-corruption requirements and the practical needs of the lobbying market.
The group also included Oleksandr Kamenets, President of the European Facilitation Platform (EFP), an expert in public affairs and European integration, who joined the discussion of the issues of harmonizing professional standards with pan-European approaches to regulating lobbying activities. The participation of the international expert community emphasizes the orientation of the process towards compatibility with European and international standards (EU and OECD).
Oleksiy Shevchuk noted: “Today, the National Association of Lobbyists of Ukraine, together with the National Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (NAPC) and the European Business Association, officially began work on the formation of the professional standard “Lobbyist”. This is the first systematic step towards institutionalizing the lobbyist profession in Ukraine in accordance with the European principles of transparency, ethics and professional responsibility.”
According to him, the development of the standard involves defining clear qualification requirements for the profession, forming uniform ethical and professional rules of activity, creating a transparent model of interaction between business, the state and society, as well as implementing the best practices of the European Union and the OECD.
Oleksandr Kamenets emphasized the strategic need to adapt the future professional standard to the European-wide norms of regulating interest representation: “Adapting the professional standard “Lobbyist” to the European-wide principles of transparency, ethics and professional accountability is a key condition for integrating the Ukrainian public affairs market into a single European professional space. It is about harmonizing approaches to ethical norms, transparency of interaction with stakeholders and implementation of standards compatible with European Union practices.”
According to the EFP, harmonizing professional standards with the pan-European framework for regulating lobbying activities will contribute to strengthening institutional trust, developing a transparent market for representing interests and improving the quality of public policy in Ukraine. The creation of the professional standard “Lobbyist” is considered as a long-term institutional step towards the formation of an open, professional and ethically regulated system of lobbying, compatible with European democratic practices.
