The Centre of Expertise for Multilevel Governance (CEMG) at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe will support the reform of the Ternopil Regional State Administration, helping it to transition to an administrative body close to the prefecture type. Namely, the Centre will assist with piloting a form of supervision over legality of local authorities’ acts which is voluntary and ‘light’ in nature, as well as the introduction of a consultation mechanism at regional level.
This pilot project was announced on 23 September 2024 during the Local Self-Government Forum in Ukraine’s western Ternopil region. The event brought together almost 140 participants, including senior officials from 55 communities, as well as the leadership of the Verkhovna Rada and its Specialised Parliamentary Committee on Local Self-Government, of the Ministry in charge of regional development and of the national associations of local authorities.
“Legality supervision over local authorities’ acts should be proportional to its objectives. This pilot project shall be implemented with engagement of local authorities on a voluntary basis and should in no way create a culture of subordination. On the contrary, it should enable Ukrainian authorities to estimate the implication of the up-coming reform of Local State Administrations and the size of the effort needed to introduce such a mechanism nationwide, as well as to create a culture of co-operation between different levels of government”, underlined Daniel Popescu, Head of the Promoting Local Democracy Department of the Congress Secretariat, addressing the Forum.
This reform falls under Article 8 of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers’ Recommendation on the issue of administrative supervision. It should facilitate the implementation of the Council of Europe’s recommendations laid out in its Opinion on the draft law on the reform of Local State Administrations. Moreover, the project will help to meet the requirements of the Ukraine Facility mechanism launched by the EU to assist Ukraine in its recovery, reconstruction and modernisation efforts, in the face of the Russian Federation’s ongoing war of aggression and on its path towards EU membership.
The pilot project shall be carried out until 31 December 2024 within the Council of Europe Programme “Strengthening Good Democratic Governance and Resilience in Ukraine” under the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery and Reconstruction” 2023-2026.
