Committee of the Regions' Conference of President's Declaration on Ukraine on 1 September 2015

"CoR i's Conference of Presidents (CoP) welcomes the first reading of the local and regional constitutional reforms in Ukraine held on 31 August 2015.

The Conference of Presidents asks all sides to refrain from escalating violence.

The process of reconciliation in Ukraine will be long but needs courageous decisions to ensure a peaceful and united Ukraine.

The Conference of Presidents calls for all parties to respect the Minsk II agreement.

The Conference of Presidents reiterates the importance of the provisional entry into force of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement foreseen on 1 January 2016.

Lastly, the CoR emphasises the need for local elections to be held on 25 October 2015 to be carried out peacefully and in respect of democratic standards.

"We are ready to contribute further to achieve successful and tangible results in decentralisation reform, notably through the Committee of the Regions' Task Force on Ukraine."

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Committee of the Region’s leaders welcome Ukraine’s decentralisation reform

The European Committee of the Regions' (CoR) Conference of Presidents has offered its support to the decentralisation reform in Ukraine during its meeting in Luxembourg on Wednesday.

On 31 August the Ukrainian Parliament passed the first reading of the constitutional changes giving more power to local and regional governments. The CoR offers its support to Ukraine’s decentralisation process through its dedicated Task Force Ukraine, which will hold its inaugural meeting on September 30th. The Task Force will work with Ukrainian partners with a view to exchange best practices about political, administrative and financial decentralisation, as well as other relevant topics. It aims to provide both political and technical support so that Ukrainian partners can achieve good governance at all levels.

The Conference of Presidents, consisting of President Markku Markkula, First Vice-President Karl-Heinz Lambertz and the Presidents of all the CoR's political groups also expressed their strong wish that all sides refrain from escalating violence.

The Declaration also calls for all parties to respect the Minsk II agreement and reiterates the importance of the provisional entry into force of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement on 1 January 2016. Lastly, the CoR emphasises the need for the local elections on 25 October to be carried out peacefully and in respect of democratic standards.