Government bills may be withdrawn from the Verkhovna Rada: which initiatives are under threat

In the event of termination of the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers, government bills that the Verkhovna Rada has not yet had time to adopt in the first reading will be considered withdrawn and will be removed from parliamentary consideration.

In accordance with the established legislative procedure, a bill introduced by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is automatically considered withdrawn if the powers of the government have ceased by the time it is adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in the first reading as a basis.

What will happen to withdrawn bills

After withdrawal, government bills will be returned to their developers – ministries, other central executive bodies and state institutions that participated in the preparation of the documents.

The developers must re-analyze the legislative initiatives and determine whether they remain relevant.

If it is established that the bill has not lost its relevance, it can be re-submitted for consideration by the Cabinet of Ministers within one month.

After approval by the new government, the document may be submitted to the Verkhovna Rada again.

European integration bills under threat

Among the government initiatives that may lose further momentum in parliament, there are a number of bills necessary to fulfill Ukraine’s international obligations.

In particular, these include legislative changes regarding:

international postal items;

Ukraine’s accession to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA);

implementation of the anti-corruption strategy;

fulfillment of other European integration obligations of Ukraine.

Some bills are also related to fulfilling the conditions of international partners and obtaining external financing, in particular from the International Monetary Fund.

Thus, the withdrawal of documents may affect not only internal legislative work, but also the pace of Ukraine’s implementation of international agreements.

The Labor Code may also return to the developers

New procedural consequences may also apply to the draft Labor Code of Ukraine.

Bill No. 14386 is still at the stage of parliamentary discussion and has not been adopted by the Verkhovna Rada in the first reading.

In the event of the termination of the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers, the document may also be considered withdrawn and returned to the developers for re-analysis.

Re-submission of draft laws will delay their consideration

Even if the developers recognize the withdrawn draft laws as relevant, the documents will actually have to go through part of the legislative procedure again.

Before re-submission to the Verkhovna Rada, the draft laws must be considered by the Cabinet of Ministers.

After registration in the parliament, the documents will again be sent for processing to the relevant committees of the Verkhovna Rada and the relevant structural units of the VRU Apparatus.

Thus, re-passing the procedures can significantly increase the terms of consideration of important legislative initiatives.

Which bills will continue to be considered

At the same time, the termination of the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers will not affect government bills that the Verkhovna Rada has already adopted in the first reading as a basis.

Such documents are not considered withdrawn and continue to undergo further legislative procedure – preparation for the second reading and final vote.

Therefore, the stage of consideration of a specific bill will be of key importance. Government initiatives that have not passed the first reading may be automatically withdrawn in the event of the termination of the powers of the Cabinet of Ministers. In contrast, bills already adopted by the parliament as a basis will remain under consideration by the Verkhovna Rada.