On July 3–4, 2025, the Committee on State Governance, Local Self-Government, Regional Development, and Urban Planning, together with the Council of Europe, held the Fourth High-Level Dialogue in Lviv: “Good Democratic Governance in Ukraine: Achievements, Challenges, and the Way Forward in the Post-War Period.”
The event aimed to discuss the prospects for reforms in good democratic governance in Ukraine and to reach a consensus among key stakeholders on the next steps to improve the legislative framework in the areas of multi-level governance and elections, in light of European standards, best practices, and Ukraine’s status as a candidate country for EU membership.
The discussion topics during the Dialogue included:
- the system of multi-level governance in Ukraine in the wartime and post-war context;
- legal basis and institutional framework for the appointment, organisation and conduct of the first post-war elections.
The participants of the Dialogue discussed the issue in detail:
● proposals of the Ministry of Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine to update the Concept of Reforming Local Self-Government and Territorial Organisation of Power in the Context of Military Challenges and the Process of EU Integration;
● conceptual foundations for the criteria and principles of delimitation of powers of the state and local self-government, preparation of relevant amendments to the legislation;
● the need to improve the legislative framework, criteria for the establishment of military administrations of settlements, transition from military to civilian administration, peculiarities of the transition period and the territorial dimension;
● regulatory and legal aspects of the extension of the powers of local council deputies and village, town and city mayors under martial law through the prism of the principle of continuity of power at the local level: peculiarities, challenges, ways to solve them, communication with civil society;
● constitutional and legal framework for holding elections after the end of martial law. Transition period, sequence of elections, institutional capacity, public trust;
● the relevance and adaptability of Ukraine's electoral legislation to post-war realities. Possible legal mechanisms and practical measures to ensure the integrity, inclusiveness and security of the electoral process.
Members of the Ukrainian Parliament—Committee members O. Shulyak, V. Bezgyn, A. Zahoruyko, V. Rublyov, T. Tasheva, M. Sokolov—along with representatives of the Central Election Commission, executive authorities, local self-government bodies and their leading associations, as well as international and domestic experts, participated in the event.
The event was held with the assistance and support of the Council of Europe through the secretariats of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, the Parliamentary Assembly, and the Venice Commission within the framework of the projects “Strengthening Multi-level Governance and Local Democracy to Support Ukraine’s Recovery” and “Supporting Democratic Post-war Elections in Ukraine – Phase II,” implemented as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine “Resilience, Recovery, and Reconstruction” for 2023–2026.