Congress President Leendert Verbeek advocated for concrete involvement of local and regional authorities in the reconstruction of Ukraine and called on the EU to double the funding for their capacity development under the proposed Ukraine Facility.
Speaking in the debate on “Local and regional authorities' support to Ukraine” during the Plenary Session of the European Committee of the Regions on 11 October 2023 in Brussels, the President called on Ukrainian national authorities to support cities and regions as indispensable actors of Ukraine’s reconstruction. He pointed out that local and regional authorities had to be provided with means for action and with their own exclusive powers rather than only with delegated competences. He noted that this could be ensured through further decentralisation and local government reforms, in line with the European Charter of Local Self-Government.
President Verbeek underlined that the European Alliance of cities and regions for the reconstruction of Ukraine, to which the Congress is an institutional partner, could play a co-ordinating role for the Ukraine Facility, ensuring complementarity with other donors, international organisations and European associations.
“An adaptive multi-level governance system could facilitate the constructive and sustainable dialogue between different levels of government,” stressed the Congress President, adding that such a system would “ensure balanced and co-ordinated contribution of local and regional authorities, and their national associations to the recovery of the country”.
He urged for the return to decentralised governance, as soon as the situation allows for transition from martial law to civilian rule.
