28th Session of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

Decentralisation in Ukraine: new laws to come into force this year

25 March 2015

With support from the Congress, Ukraine has engaged on an ambitious decentralisation programme. Several laws have already been framed to strengthen its local and regional structures, despite the conflict in the east of the country, which hinders progress. A debate held on Wednesday 25 March 2015 in the Chamber of Regions on “the regional dimension of the process of decentralisation in Ukraine” took stock of developments.

Introducing the discussion, the President of the Chamber of Regions, Gudrun Mosler-Törnström, welcomed the progress of decentralisation and local democracy in Ukraine, reflected not only in the development of subsidiarity and financial autonomy, but also in the election of the Mayor of Kyiv and the encouragement given to citizens to participate in local political life. Vyacheslav Nehoda, Vice-Minister for Regional Development of Ukraine, detailed the local government reform programme, stressing that “decentralisation is vital to democracy and the country’s economy”. He welcomed the adoption of the joint Ukraine-Council of Europe action plan 2015-2017. He announced that the Ukrainian parliament had recently passed a law on local self-government in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, whose application was dependent, however, on the “rebels” withdrawing and elections being held in accordance with Ukrainian law.

Ukraine must be ready to hold local elections in October

Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Council of Europe’s European Commission for Democracy through Law, otherwise known as the Venice Commission, pointed out that decentralisation was an alternative to separatism and could prevent the breakup of countries in which it was successfully implemented. He regretted, however, that the processes under way in Ukraine were still too slow, especially where constitutional reform was concerned. It was absolutely essential to complete the reform this year, at the constitutional and legislative levels, in order both to comply with the Minsk 2[1] agreement  and to prepare the way for local elections to be held in October. “This decentralisation must include specific rules for the separatist-controlled areas of the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk”, he stressed.

Oleksii Honcharenko, Vice-Chair of Odessa City Council and member of the Ukrainian parliament, noted that “95% of the population supports democratic change” and outlined the new law on the merger of local authorities, whose number would need to be reduced from 10 000 to 2 000 in order for them to be economically viable.  Ukraine was also putting in place a public regional development fund and embarking on a process of fiscal and budgetary decentralisation. However, he regretted the difficulty of carrying out these reforms because of the current military situation, an aspect also stressed by Gianni Buquicchio, who expressed his admiration for a country at war which was capable of carrying out so many reforms.

Congress post-monitoring bears fruit

Sergiy Chernov, President of the Ukrainian Association of District and Regional Councils and Chair of Kharkiv Regional Council, mentioned the “price paid by Ukraine for its adoption of the European model of development”, emphasising in particular the “catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the war zones. This had not stopped the country from introducing new decentralisation laws, which must now be implemented. “It is also by establishing a new culture of governance that we will make Ukraine a strong and prosperous country”, he stressed. Nataliya Romanova (Ukraine, ILDG), member of Chernigiv District Council and Vice-President of the Congress, mentioned the role played by the Congress under its post-monitoring programme on local democracy launched in October 2013 and welcomed in particular the holding of training seminars for local and regional elected representatives in that context. She called for the continuation of co-operation programmes alongside compliance with the Minsk agreement. Karl-Heinz Lambertz (Belgium, SOC), speaking on behalf of the Monitoring Committee, also welcomed the “exemplary success” of the post-monitoring programme in Ukraine.

Following these statements, several Russian and Ukrainian members of the Congress presented their views on the situation in eastern Ukraine and in the border areas between the two countries. The question of representation for the inhabitants of the districts of Donetsk and Luhansk was raised by various speakers from both countries, who disagreed on how it should be promoted. Two other issues raised by speakers were the promotion of regional languages in Ukraine and the rights of Crimean Tatars since the Russian annexation.

Concluding the debate, the President of the Chamber stressed that the decentralisation process in Ukraine was on the right track and that this was a major step forward for the country. The Congress will continue to co-operate with the Ukrainian authorities at all levels in order to carry on the reforms already begun, in particular with the presentation of the post-monitoring roadmap to the government, bearing in mind that local democracy forms an integral part of the Council of Europe’s new Action Plan for Ukraine (2015-2017).

Speeches:

Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Council of Europe’s European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission)

Natalya Romanova (Ukraine, ILDG), Vice-President of the Congress