Decentralization of Power in European Countries: the Experience of Polish and French Reforms as a Conceptual Basis for the Organizational Structure of Ukraine's Governing Bodies

The reform of the state power, both at the level of local self-government and at the level of the state executive authorities, cannot be carried out without reviewing the basic legislative framework, Amendments to the current legislation and the development and adoption of completely new regulations, which will be the legislative basis for the quality implementation of the public administration reform. The work analyzes the current stage of reforming the administrative and territorial structure of our state, which provides for a significant expansion of the sphere of influence and competence in certain areas of local self-government bodies. The reform of local self-government must be carried out on the basis of the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and respect for the basic European principles of democracy. That is why the best example for the implementation of reforms in Ukraine can be the experience of European countries on the implementation of the reform of the new distribution of powers among the authorities. The most practical way for Ukraine will be to apply the experience of reforming the governing bodies of France and Poland. This article contains my developed comparative table of the duties of a newly established body, such as a prefect in Ukraine, as well as the corresponding duties of officials of this type in European countries (Poland and France). The work also investigated the impact of the newly established body on local self-government. The current draft of the Law of Ukraine “About Prefect” is analyzed and the appropriate conclusions are made.