Project Manager Shane Quinn stressed that the Project aims to strengthen and integrate the principles of the rule of law in the sphere of providing public services by local self-government bodies. According to him, Project stipulates raising citizens’ awareness of their rights to receive services; increasing ability of local authorities to assess their actions from the viewpoint of correspondence with the rule of law; eliminating gaps and shortcomings in institutional organization, etc.
Serhii Vlasenko said that “Swedish experience in organizing and
reforming local self-government might be of great benefit for Ukrainian
law-makers serving an orienting point for implementation of the principle of power
decentralization. He stressed that “the issue of decentralization of public
authority in Ukraine
comes to the fore in the activity of state authorities, however, despite of all
previous attempts, there is no integrated vision of the problem at
present.” Representatives of the Project were informed about the Committee’s standing in regard to main regulations on the mechanism of unification of territorial communities; legislative settlement of the situation in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts; and increase of quality and efficiency of legislation on local elections.
Serhii Vlasenko claimed that the Committee is ready to cooperate with the Project, exchange experience and work on refinement of national legislation on the basis of European Charter of Local Self-Government and best European practices.