On 6 December 2024, the Council of Europe Congress presented the Council of Europe’s Policy Advice on Ukraine’s 2014 Decentralisation Reform Concept at the annual Decentralisation Forum in Ukraine on “Reforms. Decentralization. European Integration” in Bucha (Kyiv region). Organised by the Specialised Parliamentary Committee on Local Self-Government with the Congress support, the event brought together 150 participants from Ukrainian central and local levels, academia, civil society and international community, including First Vice-Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Oleksandr Kornienko, Vice-Prime Minister on Ukraine’s Recovery and Minister of Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Oleksiy Kuleba and leadership from four associations of local and regional authorities.
The policy advice recognised that the 2014 Concept established a coherent vision for a decentralised, modern territorial organisation of power in Ukraine, and that significant progress had been achieved in the course of the reform (notably, but not limited to, improved public service delivery, territorial consolidation at basic and sub-regional tier and in part financial decentralisation). However, in the light of some remaining key challenges and new challenges that had emerged, the Council of Europe recommended developing a revised Concept through meaningful consultations with key stakeholders, including local authorities and civil society, and incorporating expert input.
“Responding to an invitation from the Ministry, the Council of Europe stands ready to support this essential work. The revised Concept should build on the foundation laid by the 2014 document, while addressing new and present challenges,” emphasised Congress President Marc Cools in his opening address to the Forum. The Ministry of Communities and Territories Development committed to establish a specialised expert group to support the process of updating the Concept, with the goal of completing it by March 2025.
The Policy Advice was prepared within the Programme “Strengthening Good Democratic Governance and Resilience in Ukraine”, implemented by the Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026.
