Institutional and legal challenges of pension and social security systems for customs officers: a comparative study of Ukraine and the EU member states
Abstract
The article offers a comparative legal analysis of pension and social security regulation for customs officers in Ukraine and the EU Member States. The study aims to identify legislative gaps and opportunities for improving national law based on best European practices. The customs service is regarded as a distinct type of public service that entails a high level of social responsibility and professional risk, thereby justifying the need for special social guarantees. The study applies a comparative legal method, analysis of legal acts, court decisions, and academic sources. The results reveal significant differences in customs officers’ pension systems and highlight the advantages of introducing a multi-level social security model based on the principles of actuarial balance, transparency, and fairness. The conclusion emphasises the need to reform the Ukrainian system by implementing elements of the European approach and ensuring a robust level of social protection for customs personnel.
Keywords:
customs service, pension security, social guarantees, legal regulation, public service, European UnionReferences
Alvarez J.-A., Kallestrup-Lamb M., Kjærgaard S., Linking Retirement Age to Life Expectancy Does Not Lessen the Demographic Implications of Unequal Lifespans, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 2021, vol. 99, DOI: 10.1016/j.insmatheco.2021.04.010.
Andersen T.M., Bhattacharya J., Grodecka-Messi A., Mann K., Pension Reform and Wealth Inequality: Theory and Evidence, European Economic Review 2024, vol. 165, 104746, DOI:10.1016/j.euroecorev.2024.104746.
Araújo Júnior J.G., Vaz de Lima D., The Institutional Logic of the Courts of Auditors and the Social Security Situation of Civil Servants’ Pension Funds, Journal of Public Administration 2025, vol. 59, no. 1, DOI: 10.1590/0034-761220240255x.
Aubert P., Pedrono M., Tô M., Tochev T., Chapitre 4. Retraites des fonctionnaires d’État: faut-il changer la convention comptable?, in: Perspectives budgétaires, Paris 2025, https://www.ipp.eu/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/chapitre_3_CAS_PENSION-_web.pdf [access: 8.09.2025].
Berg M., Olsson J., Managing Public Value Conflicts – Institutional Strategies and the Greening of Public Pension Funds, Scandinavian Journal of Management 2023, vol. 39, no. 4, 101301, DOI: 10.1016/j.scaman.2023.101301
Bravo J.M., Ayuso M., Holzmann R., Palmer E., Intergenerational Actuarial Fairness When Longevity Increases: Amending the Retirement Age, Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 2023, vol. 113, DOI: 10.1016/j.insmatheco.2023.08.007.
Brown A., Fraikin A.-L., The Old-Age Pension Household Replacement Rate in Belgium, The Journal of the Economics of Ageing 2022, vol. 23, 100402, DOI: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2022.100402.
Casas P., Concepción R., Early Retired or Automatized? Evidence from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, The Journal of the Economics of Ageing 2023, vol. 24, 100443, DOI: 10.1016/j.jeoa.2023.100443.
Cherkunov O., The Legal Foundations of Social Security for Customs Officials: Issues and Perspectives, Analitychno-porivnialne pravoznavstvo 2025, no. 1, DOI: 10.24144/2788-6018.2025.01.91.
Cherkunov O., Legal Framework of Pension Provision for Officials of the Customs Authorities of Ukraine: Problems and Review of Judicial Practice, Pravova pozytsiia 2025, no. 1 (46), DOI: 10.32782/2521-6473.2025-1.8.
Ciobanu A., Androniceanu A., Civil Servants Motivation and Work Performance in Romanian Public Institutions, Procedia: Economics and Finance 2015, vol. 30, DOI: 10.1016/S2212-5671(15)01280-0.
De Picker M., Nation’s Compensation for War Wounds and Work Incapacities: The Creation of a New Welfare System for Physically Disabled Veterans and Civilians of the First World War in Interwar Belgium, 1918–1928, ALTER. European Journal of Disability Research 2019, vol. 13 (4), DOI: 10.1016/j.alter.2019.09.001.
Deng Y., Fang H., Hanewald K., Shang W., Delay the Pension Age or Adjust the Pension Benefit? Implications for Labor Supply and Individual Welfare in China, Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 2023, vol. 212, DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.06.025.
Dickson M., Postel-Vinay F., Turon H., The Lifetime Earnings Premium in the Public Sector: The View from Europe, Labour Economics 2014, vol. 31, DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2014.07.015.
Gosse A.A.G., Dellaert B.G.C., Swinkels L., Van der Lecq F.S.G., Individual Pension Risk Preference Elicitation and Collective Asset Allocation with Heterogeneity, Journal of Banking & Finance 2019, vol. 101, DOI: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2019.02.014.
Heinonen N., Koivusalo M., Keskimäki I., Tynkkynen L.-K., Is the EU Steering National Social and Health Policy Making? A Case-Study on Finland’s National Reform, Health Policy 2024, vol. 145, 105078, DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2024.105078.
Irani Z., Abril R.M., Weerakkody V., Omar A., Sivarajah U., The Impact of Legacy Systems on Digital Transformation in European Public Administration: Lessons Learned from a Multi Case Analysis, Government Information Quarterly 2023, vol. 40, no. 1, 101784, DOI: 10.1016/j.giq.2022.101784.
Kozub I., Bilenets D., Fakas I., Labour and Social Guarantees for Customs Officers: Legal Analysis of Ukrainian Legislation, Analitychno-porivnialne pravoznavstvo 2025, vol. 1, no. 3, DOI: 10.24144/2788-6018.2025.03.1.76.
Krasnokutskyi O., Comparative Analysis of Military Servant Pension Systems in India, the United States of America, and Great Britain, Ukrainian Political-Legal Discourse 2025, no. 10, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15310460.
Kuhn U., Grabka M.M., Suter C., Early Retirement as a Privilege for the Rich? A Comparative Analysis of Germany and Switzerland, Advances in Life Course Research 2021, vol. 47, 100392, DOI: 10.1016/j.alcr.2020.100392.
Lee K., Jung K., Exploring Institutional Reform of Korean Civil Service Pension: Advocacy Coalition Framework, Policy Knowledge and Social Innovation, Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity 2018, vol. 4, no. 14, DOI: 10.1186/s40852-018-0089-0.
Li Xu., Murray A.L., Booth T., Mental Health Trajectories Surrounding Retirement: A Longitudinal Perspective, SSM – Mental Health 2025, vol. 8, 100470, DOI: 10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100470.
Marilaure G., Méon P.-G., Leemans D., Crucifix M., Cleve A., Demeuse M., Note sur la réforme des pensions des professeurs d’universités belges, Rapport interuniversitaire, UNIFRA, 2.06.2025, https://orbi.umons.ac.be/bitstream/20.500.12907/52616/1/NOTE%20SUR%20LA%20REFORME%20DES%20PENSIONS.pdf [access: 8.09.2025].
McNaughton K.J., Łukowski M., How Frontline States Tackle Sanctions against Russia: Implementation and Enforcement Dynamics in Poland and the Baltics, Journal of Economic Criminology 2025, vol. 8, 100130, DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconc.2025.100130.
Nikolić S., Novokmet F., Larysz P.P., Income Inequality in Eastern Europe: Bulgaria and Czechoslovakia in the Twentieth Century, Explorations in Economic History 2024, vol. 94, 101594, DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2024.101594.
Pallai N.A., Nyugdíjbiztosítási rendszer Magyarországon a XXI. század elején, Magyar Agrárés Élettudományi Egyetem, Budai Campus, 2024.
Pieters D., Schoukens P., Improving the Social Security of Internationally Mobile Researchers, Procedia: Social and Behavioral Sciences 2011, no. 13 (originally published as LERU Advice Paper no. 1, April 2010), DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.03.004.
Romp W., Beetsma R., Sustainability of Pension Systems with Voluntary Participation, Insurance:
Mathematics and Economics 2020, vol. 93, DOI: 10.1016/j.insmatheco.2020.04.009. Rusín V., Solonko Y., Stratehichni oriientyry reformuvannia derzhavnoho pensiinoho strakhuvannia v Ukraini, Aktualni pytannia finansovoi nauky ta praktyky: zbirnyk naukovykh
prats kafedry finansiv im. S. I. Yuriia Zakhidnoukrainskoho natsionalnoho universytetu 2024, no. 1, https://dspace.wunu.edu.ua/handle/316497/51895 [access: 8.09.2025].
Schmauk S., Pathways to Retirement in West Germany: Does Divorce Matter?, Advances in Life Course Research 2024, vol. 60, 100595, DOI: 10.1016/j.alcr.2024.100595.
Schuetz J., Uebelmesser S., Baginski R., Aprea C., Pension Reform Preferences in Germany: Does Information Matter?, European Journal of Political Economy 2023, vol. 80, 102476, DOI: 10.1016/j.ejpoleco.2023.102476.
Shapovalova K., Mechanism for Implementation of Social Rights of Civil Servants, Juris Europensis Scientia 2024, no. 4, DOI: 10.32782/chern.v4.2024.6.
Shkoda V., Legal Regulation of Social Protection of Customs Officers, PhD thesis manuscript (in Ukrainian), Specialty 081 Law, Kyiv 2023.
Straia Ilies C.-O., Contemporary Career Civil Servant Myths: The Romanian Case?, Procedia: Economics and Finance 2014, vol. 15, DOI: 10.1016/S2212-5671(14)00495-X.
Toussaint S.J., De Vicq A., Moatsos M., van der Valk T., Wealth-income Ratios in a Small, Open Economy: The Netherlands, 1854–2019, European Economic Review 2025, vol. 178, 105099, DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2025.105099.
Uzhhorod National University https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8880-6955
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Author declares that the Work is original and does not infringe any personal or proprietary rights of third parties, and that She/He has unlimited rights to the Work which are the subject of the Agreement signed with the Publisher.
Author of the publication transfers to the Publisher the economic copyrights to the Work (article) submitted for publication, free of charge, without time and territorial restrictions in the following fields of use:
a) production, recording and reproduction of the copies of the Work by a specific technique, including printing, magnetic recording and digital technology;
b) marketing, lending or rental of the original or copies of the Work, and distribution in the form of open access, in accordance with the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (also known as CC BY), available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode.pl;
c) inclusing the Work in the composition of the collective work;
d) publishing on the website of the journal, public performance, exhibition, display, reproduction, broadcasting and rebroadcasting, and making the Work available to the public in such a way that everyone can have access to them in a place and at a time chosen by them;
e) uploading the Work in an electronic form to electronic platforms or other uploading of the Work in an electronic form to the Internet or other network.
The proprietary copyright to the Work is transferred to the Publisher free of charge upon signing the contract wit the Publisher.
