Why transposing EU regulations into national law is not the best solution

Instead of transposing EU regulations into Ukrainian law, it would be better to start looking for mechanisms to incorporate them into national law. Once Ukraine joins the EU, all these documents will automatically become part of its legislation, so it is important to learn how to work with them now.

This opinion was expressed by the Committee of the Ukrainian National Bar Association on agrarian, land and environmental law in connection with draft law No. 13204-1 «On state regulation of organic production, circulation and labeling of organic products».

The authors justified the need for this document by the need to harmonize national legislation with the new organic legislation of the European Union, as well as Ukraine's obligations under the Association Agreement with the EU.

It is interesting that the current law was adopted in the year of entry into force of the relevant Regulation (EU) No. 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council. The law, of course, does not take into account the latest amendments to the Regulation. However, the UNBA notes that they were not taken into account in the proposed draft either.

Therefore, advocates question whether it is advisable to spend resources on rewriting the provisions of EU regulations into Ukrainian legislation. Businesses that are export-oriented for work in the EU are forced to use the regulations in force there, rather than Ukrainian laws, which are not fully implemented in Ukrainian regulations.

Moreover, it is difficult to implement the provisions of regulations. These are directly applicable documents, and their content is complex, combining normative provisions on rights and obligations (in Ukraine, this is the level of laws) with clear instructions for implementation (subordinate acts).

Therefore, it seems appropriate to adopt a law that would allow regulations to be recognized as part of national legislation. This will be more effective for the formation of proper practice, advocates believe, as it will allow working with the original provisions of regulations rather than their interpretation.

As for the substance of the changes proposed in the draft, on the one hand, they are rather technical in nature and can be corrected by the practice of applying the law. On the other hand, the draft does not take into account some important changes mentioned in the explanatory note.

The full text of comments and proposals on draft law No. 13204-1 is available at link.