The Role of Financial Literacy in Ukraine European Integration Processes

Abstract

The article defines essence of financial literacy and its role in the Ukraine European integration processes, exposes the European experience and related domestic initiatives in the field of population's financial literacy improvement. It was established that in the process of financial literacy determining, it is important to focus not only on individual financial well-being, but also on positive socio-economic effect for the state. At the same time, the role of financial literacy during the integration processes of the state cannot be underestimated, because financial awareness, financial knowledge, skills, etc. influence people's financial behavior and financial decision-making in new conditions. It was found that the financial literacy issue is very important and critical for Ukraine strategic security. It was proven, based on a comparative analysis of the financial literacy results in Ukraine and foreign countries, that in many European countries financial literacy level needs to be significantly increased, the same as in Ukraine. The experience of implementing initiatives related to the financial literacy problems in the countries that showed the highest indicators according to OECD data (Slovenia, Germany, Austria), as well as Poland and the Czech Republic, was analyzed. It was determined that EU countries pay considerable attention to the initiatives of financial literacy increasing implementation for the population. These issues are dealt with both by the state in the form of ministries of education and regulatory bodies of the financial sphere, and by non-profit organizations, financial and educational institutions. It was argued that with process of Ukraine European integration, the implementation of various financial literacy improvement measures increased, including findings from the successful experience in EU countries. Also, regulators in the financial sphere, adopting the relevant experience from foreign countries, are developing the necessary documents that contribute to level of financial literacy increasing. It was noted, based on the comparison of the Competence Frameworks for the adult population in the EU and Ukraine, that they are quite similar and are based on the original set of basic competencies released by the OECD in 2016, and include digital financial competencies, which have been updated recently. The dynamics of indicators of the level of financial literacy from 2018 to 2021 were positive, and given the fact that the war did not stop the process of creating and implementing new initiatives in this area, there are reasons to expect further growth in the financial awareness of the Ukraine population, which will be an important step on the way integration with the countries of the European Union.