On May 23-24, 2024, the International Scientific Conference “Juridical Days in Olomouc” took place in Olomouc, Czech Republic. Now in its seventeenth year, the conference was hosted by the Faculty of Law at Palacký University. It gathered participants from various European countries, including Ukraine. Six Ukrainian experts attended the event with the support of the Council of Europe project "Enhanced social protection in Ukraine."
Experts discussed the evolution of EU social and labour policy, the impact of geopolitical crises, and assessed the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine on EU social and labour law. They also examined the influence of EU social and labour standards on international social and labour frameworks, including interactions with the Council of Europe, particularly focusing on the role of the European Social Charter in aligning Ukraine's social and labour legislation with the EU acquis.
Particular attention at the conference was given to presentations by Ukrainian experts who shared their research and experiences on adapting Ukrainian social and labour legislation to EU standards. Among them were: Alla Fedorova, a researcher at the Faculty of Law at Palacký University in Olomouc and Associate Professor of the Department of Comparative and European Law at the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv; Yana Simutina, a visiting professor at the University of Bristol and Senior Researcher at the Koretsky Institute of State and Law of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Ivan Yatskevych, Professor of the Department of Civil Law at NaUKMA; Svitlana Zapara, First Deputy Head of the National Mediation and Reconciliation Service; Olena Shompol, Associate Professor of the Department of Environmental Law at the Law Institute of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv; Kateryna Ihnatenko, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Work at the Luhansk National University named after Taras Shevchenko and Research Fellow at the Research Center of Ilia State University, Georgia; Vadym Roshkanyuk, Head of the Department of Economic Law at Uzhhorod National University.
“In 2024, we mark the 20th anniversary of the accession of ten states to the European Union, including the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary, which underwent a complex process of reforming national legislation to meet EU standards. For Ukraine, understanding the experiences of other EU countries in implementing these reforms, changing social models, and mechanisms in regulating labour and social relations, and fulfilling commitments under the European Social Charter is extremely important for our country's further integration into the European Union,” noted Alla Fedorova.
This year's “Juridical Days in Olomouc” conference became an important platform for exchanging knowledge and experiences among scholars from different countries. As a result of the meeting, recommendations were formulated regarding the adaptation of Ukrainian legislation to EU standards and the European Social Charter.
The Council of Europe project “Enhanced social protection in Ukraine” is being implemented as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery, and Reconstruction” for 2023-2026. The project aims to ensure that vulnerable groups, including those affected by the war, enjoy enhanced social rights and social protection.
