The Steering Committee of the current Programme “Decentralisation and Territorial Consolidation in Ukraine” held its final meeting on 27 February 2018 in Kyiv to discuss achievements in the framework of the ending Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine (2015 – 2017) and prospects of the decentralisation and local self-government reform in Ukraine for the coming years.

Key national partners from the Ministry of Regional Development, line Parliamentary Committee, Secretariat of the Government, National Agency for Civil Service, National Academy of Public Administration, national local government associations pointed out the important input of the Council of Europe into the reform in Ukraine and, in particular, the legal expertise and policy recommendations it provided to bring Ukrainian legislation in line with the European standards in the field. 

The Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe reported about activities of the Project “Promoting Local Democracy in Ukraine”.

The Council of Europe recently adopted a new Action Plan for Ukraine for the period 2018 -2021, where the decentralisation and local government reform remain among the top priorities. In this regard, the Steering Committee was informed about the main trends of a new programme in the decentralisation sphere, which starts in March 2018.