FEATURES OF FINANCIAL, LEGAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL PROVISION OF SOCIAL PROTECTION OF CITIZENS IN THE CONDITIONS OF UKRAINIAN EUROPEAN INTEGRATION

The article is devoted to the study of the peculiarities of social protection of citizens in the context of Ukraine's European integration. The components of the social protection mechanism have been identified, covering, in particular, financial, legal and organizational support. It was found out that the essence of financial provision of social protection is the financing of this sphere at the expense of public (state, local) funds with the involvement of non-governmental organizations. Peculiarities and problems of social protection expenditures from the state budget of Ukraine and local budgets are revealed. Emphasis is placed on the need to ensure realistic planning of the budgets of the Social Insurance Fund of Ukraine and the Pension Fund of Ukraine, minimizing their co-financing from the state budget of Ukraine. The factors influencing the different amounts of social protection expenditures in Ukraine and the European Union member states (structure of the social protection system, demographic situation, unemployment rate, etc.) are highlighted. The content of legal provision of social protection as a system of legislation, the norms of which regulate legal relations in this area, is revealed. Emphasis is placed on certain problems of Ukrainian legislation (imbalance between the obligations of the state declared in the legislation to provide a significant number of benefits and payments and its financial capabilities, partial ratification by Ukraine of certain documents of the European Union, etc.). It is proposed to make appropriate changes in the legislation, implementing European standards of social protection. The peculiarities of regulation in the documents of the European Union of issues of social protection and employment, in particular of young people, which should be taken into account when improving the legislation of Ukraine on these issues, are considered. Problems of organizational support of social protection are considered. Taking into account the practice of the Member States of the European Union, it is proposed to expand the powers of local authorities in matters of social protection, to reorient its mechanism to preventive measures, as well as to involve non-governmental organizations in this area. It is determined that taking into account the European integration course of Ukraine, the current trends in improving the social protection of citizens are changing the mechanism for assigning social benefits and benefits, ensuring financial stability of social and pension insurance funds.