“The Council of Europe Decentralisation project is an exemplary project, first and foremost because it has been successful not only for its achievements but also for the way it has been conducted – in a very close partnership between the Government of Ukraine, Parliament, local government associations and civil society,” underlined Claudia LUCIANI, Director of Human Dignity, Equality and Governance of the Council of Europe, at the Steering Committee of the Council of Europe Programme “Enhancing decentralisation and public administration reform in Ukraine", which met online on 1 April.

Over 50 representatives of the programme’s partners were invited to the meeting: the leadership of the Ministry of Territorial Development, the Parliamentary Committee on Local Self-Government, the National Agency for Civil Service, the Kiyv City State Administration, local government associations, think tanks, experts, diplomats, and donors. They discussed the current state, challenges and priorities of the on-going decentralisation reform in Ukraine, as well as progress and the next steps of the programme.

The Centre of Expertise for Good Governance has been implementing projects to support decentralisation reforms in Ukraine since 2010. These projects are highly appreciated by the national stakeholders:

• “Our Parliamentary Committee has a long-standing and literally exemplary co-operation history with the Council of Europe. We highly appreciate this Organisation’s legal expertise and consultative support.” – Mr KLOCHKO, MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional and Urban Development
• “We appreciate the Council of Europe’s support throughout the decentralisation reform process and also in the period before it was launched… immediately after Ukraine ratified the European Charter of Local Self-Government.” - Mr NEHODA, Deputy Minister for Territorial Development of Ukraine
• “The Council of Europe project offers platforms for co-operation of all the national stakeholders, it enables to consolidate efforts and ideas” – Ms POLTAVETS, Executive Director of the Association of Amalgamated Communities.

As a result of the meeting, the following decisions were taken by the Steering Committee:

1. Reports of the two Council of Europe Programmes were recommended for approval: final report of the Programme “Decentralisation and local government reform in Ukraine” (implemented in March 2018-September 2020) and progress report of the Programme “Enhancing decentralisation and public administration reform in Ukraine” (for the period October-December 2020).
2. The Workplan of the on-going Programme “Enhancing decentralisation and public administration reform in Ukraine” for 2021 was recommended for approval.
3. Revision of the on-going Programme will be launched in view of the new request from the Specialised Parliamentary Committee for extended and comprehensive support on the issues concerning legal personality at local level.