The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine discussed in the second reading the Government’s Draft Law No. 6319 on people’s self-organisation bodies. Unfortunately, the draft law did not receive the required number of votes. The Parliament also did not support the proposal to send it back for a second reading.

This decision sends an extremely negative signal to local authorities and community residents. After all, Draft Law No. 6319 was intended to comprehensively update the outdated legislation on people's self-organisation bodies, which no longer reflects the realities of administrative-territorial reform or the challenges of wartime.

As a reminder, experts and MPs had previously expressed their support for the document, as it resulted from the long-term work of the Committee’s expert Working Group, moderated by Tamila Tasheva. The group comprised representatives of the central government, local self-government, civil society, and academia. The adoption of this law was a direct indicator of Ukraine’s fulfilment of its commitments to European integration in terms of democratic institutions.

Why is the failure of the Draft Law bad news for the country?

The failure of Draft Law No. 6319 perpetuates old problems and deprives communities of important tools for development, including:

1. Legal uncertainty. People’s Self-Organisation Bodies are still operating under old regulations that are not aligned with the new administrative-territorial structure. This creates confusion regarding territories and jurisdiction.
2. Complex procedures. The process of establishing people’s self-organisation bodies and reporting has not been simplified for citizens. Bureaucratic hurdles remain a significant barrier to the self-organisation of residents.
3. Lack of transparent mechanisms for cooperation. No clear contractual framework has been established between people’s self-organisation bodies and local authorities. This complicates the transfer of funds and powers for the implementation of community-benefiting projects.
4. Limited opportunities. The draft law proposed granting people’s self-organisation bodies the right to unite to address shared problems. Now this idea remains only on paper.
5. Hampering bottom-up initiatives. It is precisely in wartime that people’s self-organisation bodies could become a reliable pillar of support for communities in matters such as arranging bomb shelters, assisting IDPs or reconstruction. The new law was intended to strengthen their capabilities, but this has not happened.

The refusal to send the draft law for a second reading effectively halts the reform of people’s self-organisation bodies for an indefinite period. In order to return to these changes, the initiators will have to register a new draft law and go through the entire procedure from scratch.

This decision by the Verkhovna Rada represents a missed opportunity to bring Ukraine closer to European standards of democratic governance and to give citizens real influence over the lives of their cities and villages. The issue of modernising the work of people’s self-organisation bodies remains unresolved and will require renewed political efforts.ф