Brussels, 02/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 30 September, representatives from the Committee of the Regions (CoR) met five Ukrainian political leaders for the first time to address the issue of constitutional reforms and, in particular, reforms linked to the process of decentralisation.
“At the beginning, I wasn't certain about the content of the meeting, but the Ukrainians were very well prepared”, a CoR source told EUROPE. The members of the CoR were pleased at the success of this meeting, which brought together the taskforce that was created after an agreement between the CoR and the local authorities in Ukraine in October 2014 to bring support to the process of decentralising administrative and financial power. There is provision for two meetings a year.
On 31 August, the Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) supported, in first reading, the decentralisation programme, and it will be called upon to give its final approval by the end of the year, once the local elections on 25 October are over (the CoR is sending five observers to Ukraine for these elections).
In addition to administrative and financial administration, the taskforce focuses on the resources available for the local and regional authorities, as well as on cross-border cooperation, respect for human rights and the fight against corruption, said the CoR's first vice-president, Karl-Heinz Lambertz.
A total of seven CoR members (who have experience in decentralisation and in the constitutional reform process in Central and Eastern Europe) are taking part in this taskforce, as well as a member of the Venice Commission and another support group for Ukraine. The Ukrainian delegation was composed of five members, including Ukrainian parliamentarian Oleksii Honcharenko from the parliamentary committee for regional policy and self-governance, and Vyacheslav Nehoda, the deputy-minister for regional development. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)