FUTURE IMPACT OF DIRECTIVE 94/80/EU ON LOCAL ELECTIONS IN UKRAINE

Background. Due to Ukraine's accession to the European Union, is necessary to harmonize its constitutional, legal and regulatory framework and practice with the EU norms on the right to vote and stand for local elections for EU citizens residing in Ukraine. The study of the provisions of Directive 94/80/EC will make it possible to predict changes to the Electoral Code of Ukraine to harmonize the legislation. Methods. The study is based on the application of the formal logical method to identify the advantages and disadvantages of legal regulation of local elections in the European Union and the comparative legal method to study the provisions of the current national legislation and the legislation of the European Union Member State regulating local elections. Results. The author establishes that Directive 94/80/EC is the main legal act of the European Union which grants every citizen of the European Union the right to vote and stand for election in local elections. The author analyzes the articles of Directive 94/80/EC, their positive and negative impact on the national legislation of the EU Member States, as well as possible amendments to it that may occur before Ukraine joins the European Union. The author gives an example and analyzes the electoral legislation of Bulgaria as a member state of the European Union, which is harmonized with the provisions of Directive 94/80/EC. The author also suggests the changes that should be made to the Electoral Code of Ukraine in order to harmonize the national electoral legislation with the provisions of Directive 94/80/EC. Conclusions. It is determined that the electoral legislation of Ukraine is currently not harmonized with the provisions of Directive 94/80/EC and certain provisions of Directive 94/80/EC are identified which may be the most problematic for implementation in domestic legislation.