Text by: Marta Suprun, expert of the Swedish-Ukrainian project
Support to Decentralisation in Ukraine" (SALAR International)
on international cooperation of the Cities4cities| United4Ukraine initiative

On 13-15 June, the Brussels Urban Summit hosted one of the largest meetings among the mayors of large European cities. More than 360 mayors and 1000 municipal representatives from all over the world gathered together. The Cities 4 Cities | United 4 Ukraine team, along with the mayors of Lviv and Sindelfingen, worked in Brussels to enhance opportunities and tools for cooperation between Ukrainian and other European cities.

Find out how to establish contacts with Brussels, new programmes awaiting Ukrainian municipalities, and the importance of building partnerships with European cities in the Brussels meeting summary.

A rolling stone gathers no moss

The European Commission remains open and engaged in direct communication with Ukrainian municipalities, as all major government initiatives are implemented at the local level.

Therefore, it is important to be present in Brussels. That is why almost all European local self-government associations from EU countries have their representative offices in Brussels, where they lobby for interests, follow legislative changes and monitor opportunities. By the way, Lviv has recently opened an office in Brussels. Many European cities and regions do this, as well.

Besides, the European Commission has the opportunity to invite Ukrainians to thematic seminars and forums and even cover participation costs if you actively communicate. For example, within the framework of the Swedish-Ukrainian project "Support to Decentralisation in Ukraine" (SALAR International), 5 representatives of Ukrainian municipalities participate in a seminar in Brussels on 21-22 June devoted to the New European Bauhaus.

The Covenant of Mayors also offers many training opportunities. Next week, Lviv Urban Forum will be held in Lviv to promote opportunities of the Covenant of Mayors.

The existing programmes for Ukraine are underutilised

There are already funding possibilities for reconstruction and development projects. In particular, in March, the European Commission allocated €300 million for Ukraine through the European Investment Bank. It is acknowledged that there are problems with the complex procedures for participating in programmes, especially for small municipalities, but it is definitely worth communicating your needs and writing applications.

Requests are also accepted for cross-border cooperation projects, including Poland-Ukraine, Romania-Ukraine, Hungary-Romania-Slovakia-Ukraine, Black Sea Programme, and the Danube Programme. Most of these programmes are available for the regions of Ukraine bordering the EU, although the Danube Programme has recently been extended to cover the whole territory of Ukraine.

In addition, Ukraine is in the process of signing individual agreements on accession to European programmes. Some of them, such as Horizon, Creative Europe, Civil Protection mechanism, Life and others, have already been signed. At the same time, the agreement between Ukraine and the European Commission is to be signed at the stage of contracting, so it is now possible to apply for programmes that are expected to be signed by the end of the year.

In particular, the CERV (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values) programme is interesting for international partnership development. Applications to support partnerships between cities aimed at developing dialogue, understanding and cooperation between citizens at the local level can be submitted until September. The Ukrainian government is expected to sign the agreement in October at the latest, and the European Commission will sign the contracts only in November-December.

When applying, it is important to read the terms of participation in detail and adapt the project application accordingly. Statistically, only 10% of applications are funded, so do not get upset if you fail. The more applications, the better your chances.

A new programme for Ukraine

Starting next year, the European Commission is going to launch a programme to support Ukraine's recovery. The programme is already under active consultation in Brussels and Kyiv. The programme is to be very similar to the structural funds used by EU member states.

The Government of Ukraine will manage the funding, but it is mandatory to allocate 40-60% of it to local recovery projects in municipalities," the European Commission said.

The funding mechanism is not yet clear, but municipalities will definitely need new skills and professional English-speaking staff to implement the projects.

Partnerships open up opportunities

Even if Ukraine does not currently have access to all possible INTERREG capacity building programmes, European partners of Ukrainian municipalities can invite you to participate in any European project as an observer, external expert or partner.

Therefore, if you have an EU partner who is actively involved in European programmes, work together to find out which programmes are interesting to join as partners.

In case you do not have a European partner yet, please contact Cities 4 Cities | United 4 Ukraine.

Cities 4 Cities | United 4 Ukraine are partnership initiatives that joined efforts in September 2022. Cities 4 Cities was founded by the city of Sindelfingen (Germany) under the auspices of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. United 4 Ukraine was launched by SALAR International and the city of Lviv, Ukraine, with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).