The High-Level Multilateral Dialogue “Good Democratic Governance in Ukraine: Achievements, Challenges and Way Forward in the Post-War Period” began in Strasbourg.

The event is held with the participation of the Ukrainian parliamentary-government delegation headed by the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Oleksandr Korniienko.

As a member of the delegation, Viacheslav Nehoda, Deputy Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, highlighted, among the issues on the agenda of the high-level multilateral dialogue, strengthening the effectiveness of local self-government given the challenges that arose in wartime and will be shaped by the process of restoration of Ukraine and Ukraine’s status of a candidate for accession to the European Union.

According to him, the main expectation is to further unite the efforts of the parliament, the government, local self-government, the public and society as a whole in order to complete the final stage of the Reform of Local Self-Government and Territorial Organisation of Power.

Viacheslav Nehoda pointed out that Ukraine finally, after a long and difficult journey, had a socio-political consensus on the development of local self-government.

“This rarely happens, but this is an undeniable fact: a socio-political consensus has been formed in Ukraine regarding the development of local self-government. It was not easy. Indeed, that the biggest obstacle in this process was the post-Soviet atmosphere, which in one way or another influenced people’s perspectives and their perception of the changes proposed by the reform. Only through the joint effort of all actors subject to the reform and with the support of the international community, including the Council of Europe, we managed to ensure its effectiveness. That is why it was not just praised from the outside. It is important to us that the Ukrainian people appreciated it. And last year, social surveys showed support for the reform at a level of 80%. Let me remind you that when we first introduced it, the level of support was only 15%,” Viacheslav Nehoda said.

However, he emphasised that the reform had not yet been completed, and its final stage envisaged many tasks. If successfully completed, they will ensure the full implementation of the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which Ukraine ratified in 1997.

“The achieved results that were highly praised by European institutions are not the reason to get complacent. There is still a lot of work to be done before we conclude the reform of local self-government. Its complexity is that it covers both the change in the administrative system and the change in the system of local government authorities. The powers between the executive power and local self-government must be delineated at all levels, and this requires changing hundreds of laws. We need to ensure the powers of local self-government with financial resources. Finally, we have to enshrine the reformed systems of local self-government and administrative structure in the Constitution of Ukraine and thereby finally implement the provisions of the European Charter of Local Self-Government,” said the Deputy Minister.

He added that the further implementation of the tasks under the reform should also take into account the challenges brought by the aggressive war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

Viacheslav Nehoda stressed the need for consultations with European institutions regarding the harmonisation of Ukrainian legislation, including that regulating local self-government, with the rules and regulations in force in the EU, given that Ukraine has received the status of a candidate for membership EU.

The High-Level Multilateral Dialogue “Good Democratic Governance in Ukraine: Achievements, Challenges and Way Forward in the Post-War Period” is held as part of “Good Democratic Governance in Ukraine: Moving Forward in the Post-War Period”, the joint initiative of the Committee on the Organisation of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning, the Ministry for Community and Territorial Development, the Central Election Commission and the Council of Europe.

The initiative is aimed at improving legislation and practices to restart good democratic governance in Ukraine and is based on the priorities of the War Recovery Plan developed by the National Council under the President of Ukraine.

Photo by Council of Europe’s Programme “Enhancing decentralisation and public administration reform in Ukraine ”