The dissertation is devoted to the theoretical substantiation and development of scientific and practical recommendations regarding the improvement of organizational and legal mechanisms for the introduction of lobbying in the activities of public authorities in Ukraine.
The research reveals the understanding of lobbying as a professional mediation between these bodies and interested groups and individuals, which is carried out on a clear legal basis by legal methods and provides an opportunity to reflect the interaction of various private interests in public policy and administrative decisions of government institutions.
The classification of lobbying in public authorities has been supplemented due to the detailed disclosure of its varieties according to the criteria of advancing interests (industry, corporate, regional, local, ethnic, etc.), forms of influence (direct, indirect), lobbying subjects (legislation, government policy, regulatory decisions, etc.), direction of influence (positive, negative), tools of influence (economic, informational, socio-political, etc.).
Conceptual approaches to improving organizational and legal mechanisms for the introduction of legislatively legalized lobbying in public authorities in Ukraine are proposed, in particular:
- forming a positive image of lobbying as a civilized technology of interaction between the government, business and the public, first of all, overcoming the established negative perception of lobbying in public consciousness as corruption, protectionism, shadow politics, clannishness, etc.;
- transformation of current legislation, aimed at creating favorable conditions for legal lobbying, in particular, by making changes to the Regulations of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, laws of Ukraine "On Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine", "On Law-making Activities", "On Prevention of Corruption", "On Information ", "On access to public information", "On personal data protection", "On public associations", economic and fiscal legislation;
- ensuring the legal responsibility of lobbyists for illegal actions by making changes to the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses and the Criminal Code of Ukraine;
- creation of a clear mechanism for consideration of citizens' complaints and proposals by public authorities, which will significantly supplement the practical tools of lobbying, since appeals in the appropriate forms are a fairly widespread means of public-authority communication;
- establishment of ethical standards for the interaction of lobbyists and officials of public authorities through the practical introduction of rules of ethical behavior of lobbying subjects, which should ensure the transparency and integrity of interaction between lobbyists and objects of lobbying.
Based on the analysis of the provisions of the Law of Ukraine "On Lobbying", a set of needs for improving the new legislative regulation of lobbying in Ukraine has been identified, which include: clarification of the meaning of the term "lobbying" to take into account the recommendations of the Council of Europe and the OECD, in particular, in the aspect of understanding the purpose of lobbying; a clearer distinction between professional lobbying and other types of participation of public entities in the decision-making of public authorities, so that normative legal acts on lobbying do not interfere with the legitimate activities of civil society; detailed regulation of lobbyists' communications with government institutions, including regulation of their participation in meetings of committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, as well as procedures for implementing the obligation of government institutions to contact lobbyists; addition of special requirements for acquiring the status of a subject of lobbying activity regarding the natural person reaching a certain age, having the appropriate education, legal capacity, having work experience in state bodies, etc.
The toolkit for regulating the ethical behavior of lobbying subjects has been improved based on the implementation of the principle of conflict of interest prevention, which provides for the prohibition of representation of conflicting interests of different clients, the duty of lobbyists to inform clients about any potential conflicts of interest and their consequences, to take measures to eliminate them, etc.
Keywords: lobbying activity, public authorities, organizational and legal mechanisms for the introduction of lobbying, legislative regulation of lobbying, Anglo-Saxon model of lobbying, continental model of lobbying, adaptation of foreign experience.
