Ukraine took further steps towards integration into the EU institutional structures on 4-5 May with the opening of the first Ukrainian city representation office in Brussels and the participation, for the first time, of Ukrainian cities and regions alongside local and regional authorities to discuss the challenges of the accession process.
Lviv, Ukraine’s 7th most populous city, will manage its relations with the EU institutions in offices provided by the European Committee of the Regions.
Speaking at the opening of Lviv’s representation to the EU on Thursday, Deputy Mayor Serhii Kiral said the city was prepared to serve as a ‘reception office’ for other Ukrainian sub-national authorities.
Serhii Kiral attended the ‘Enlargement Day’ conference in Brussels, organised annually by the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). The CoR advocates the importance of involving regions and cities in the enlargement process, noting that local and regional administrations have a role to play in the implementation of around two-thirds of EU laws.
Anna Magyar (ECR, Hungarian), CoR rapporteur on enlargement, said that Enlargement Day comes in the wake of “historic decisions such as granting EU candidate status to Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia-Herzegovina”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)