On 27 February, the Committee on State Building, Local Self-Government, Regional and Urban Development held a roundtable discussion on “Participation of Local Self-Government Bodies in International Territorial Cooperation within the Process of Accession to the European Union” in Chernivtsi.
During the event, the following issues were discussed:
- the state and prospects of international territorial cooperation;
- participation of local governments in projects and programmes of international territorial cooperation within the framework of accession to the European Union.
The participants of the meeting got acquainted with the information:
- on the draft Law of Ukraine “On International Territorial Cooperation”, presented by Oleksandr Aliksiichuk, the Chairman of the Subcommittee on Cooperation of Territorial Communities and Regions of the Committee;
- on the experience and geography of international cooperation of territorial communities of Ukraine, presented by an expert of the NGO Society of Researchers of Ukraine;
- on the experience of building German-Ukrainian municipal partnerships, in particular, cooperation between municipal enterprises of Ukraine and Germany on the example of Poltava region, presented by the coordinator of the project “Municipal Partnerships with Ukraine” of Engagement Global/SKEW in GIZ Ukraine and the manager in Ukraine of the Global Project “Environmental Protection Worldwide” of GIZ;
- about the Cities4Cities United4Ukraine initiative, which aims to create a long-term voluntary international partnership with Ukrainian communities, providing support and assistance to local communities in accordance with European standards and values.
Following the discussion, representatives of the communities noted that legislative regulation of this issue is extremely relevant in view of the opportunities that Ukraine has in the framework of cooperation with the European Union.
The event was attended by Ukrainian MPs, representatives of state authorities, local governments and their leading associations, domestic and international organisations, and experts.
The roundtable was held with the assistance and support of the USAID – US Agency for International Development project “Improving the Operational Effectiveness and Accountability of Local Governments” (HOVERLA / USAID Ukraine) and in cooperation with the All-Ukrainian Associations of Local Governments, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine, the USAID RADA: Next Generation Programme, and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy.