Civil servants to be obliged to take advanced training The constant attention of the President and the government to the

state staffing policy helps upgrade the institute of public service and improve professional c ompetence of civil servants. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has reviewed the draft order "On amending a ction plan for the period until 2014 to implement the concept of advanced traini ng for civil servants, local government officials and members of local councils. " The document notes that the professional public management is the key to an effi cient local government in any democratic state. To date, the main prerequisite improving local self-governmence in Ukraine has b een the ability of local authorities to successfully manage increasing amounts o f authority, which is vested in them in order to provide better services to the public. A state target program for civil services development has been established to up grade public service and align it with the EU standards, government analysts say . This reform is largely based on the European experience. In order to adapt the c ivil service to the EU standards in the framework of European integration, insti tutional development tools are used in order to facilitate reform of individual sectors of public administration, as well as to build links between correspondin g EU agencies. One of the tools is is named Twinning (exchange of experience between civil serv ants), which the European Commission believes to be efficient, experts say.52 Twin ning projects have been implemented across Ukraine. Also, language training is given the top priority.In particular, all of the presid ential service staffing candidates should speak at least one European language. Experts point out that Ukraine should introduce a system of continuous retrainin g for local government officials and deputies of local councils. For example, much attention is paid in Europe to improving skills, motivation to learning and re-training of municipal employees.The Congress of Local and Regiona l Authorities of the Council of Europe has the European Network of training for local and regional authorities, government analysts say. Experts note that the introduction of European education technologies, methods a nd principles will help create appropriate incentives for public authorities and local self-government in our country. Offset:Ukraine has implemented 52 Twinning projects in various sectors