Raad van Europa dringt aan op hervorming van ambtenarenapparaat en territoriale structuur Oekraïne (en)
Kyiv, 21.10.2005 - The International Conference on the theme "Reform of Public Administration and Territorial Structure: National and International Experience" was organised in Kyiv on 20 and 21 October to analyse the current state of local and regional government in Ukraine, present experiences of other European countries in implementing the European Charter of Local Self-Government, and discuss possible options for the reform of public administration initiated by the new Ukrainian Government.
Addressing the conference, Giovanni Di Stasi, President of the Council of Europe Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, stressed the importance of accelerating the reform process, pointing out that "the future of Ukraine is decentralisation, the development of local and regional democracy and the rule of law - the values of the Council of Europe of which Ukraine is an active member." He noted that the draft action plan for decentralisation will be discussed at the next meeting of the Task Force on Regionalisation in Ukraine which will be organised by the Congress Chamber of Regions in Kyiv on 5 and 6 December 2005. "Without sound and sustainable democratic structures at local and regional level, economic development in Ukraine could be seriously jeopardized," concluded Mr Di Stasi.
Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Roman Bezsmertny confirmed the readiness of the Ukrainian authorities to cooperate with the Council of Europe in improving the administrative and territorial structure in their country and developing other projects on regional cooperation, in particular the establishment of the Black Sea Euroregion.
Jean-Luc Poget, Director of the EU project "Assistance to regional development in Ukraine", drew the attention of the Ukrainian government to the need of elaborating clear and efficient tools and methods, with a proper sequence for the implementation of the reform.
In the final resolution, the participants requested the Ukrainian authorities to give an appropriate follow-up to the recommendations of the conference, in particular concerning the elaboration of a clear road map for the reform.
The conference was organized by Ukraine's Foundation for Local Self-Government, Cabinet of Ministers, Verkhovna Rada and Secretariat of the President, with the support of the Council of Europe's Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and Directorate of Co-operation for Local and Regional Democracy, the European Union project "Assistance to regional development in Ukraine", the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, and the Indiana University Parliamentary Development Project for Ukraine.
The text of the final resolution will be available on Monday 24 October on the Congress website www.coe.int/cplre.
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