What are the challenges to good democratic governance in Ukraine in the context of the Russian invasion and what is the way to solve them? How to restore and improve the results, based on the achievements of recent years and the best European practices?

These topics were discussed at an online meeting between the representatives of the Directorate General of Democracy of the Council of Europe, the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine, the Central Election Commission and MPs of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

In her welcome speech, Claudia Luciani, Director of Human Dignity, Equality and Governance, emphasized that the Council of Europe supports Ukraine and is determined to assist the Ukrainian authorities in preparing for the country’s recovery. Steen Nørlov, Head of Council of Europe Office in Ukraine, noted that building on the achievements of the electoral reform and decentralization reform, in accordance with the European standards and best practices, will be extremely important for Ukraine’s recovery after the war.

During the meeting, the Council of Europe experts presented a draft of the Recommendations of the Council of Europe regarding the formulation of policies on the Plan for the recovery of local self-government from the consequences of the war* and a general overview of the results of the assessment and analysis of needs, which outlines the main challenges in the electoral field in Ukraine in the war and post-war period**

The participants of the meeting also discussed the joint initiative “Good democratic governance in Ukraine: moving forward in the post-war period”, aimed at improving legislation and practice to restart good democratic governance. This initiative is based on the priorities of the War Recovery Plan developed by the National Council under the President of Ukraine. It is also based on the requests addressed to the Council of Europe by its national partners: the specialized Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on Local Self-Government, the Ministry for  Communities and Territories Development  of Ukraine, and the Central Election Commission.

* The recommendations were prepared by Centre of Expertise for Good Governance of the Directorate General of Democracy (DG II) of the Council of Europe within the framework of the programme “Enhancing decentralisation and public administration reform in Ukraine”, in response to the request of the specialized Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the Organization of State Power, Local Self-Government, Regional Development and Urban Planning

** Assessment and analysis of needs in the electoral sphere as a result of Russian aggression in Ukraine was carried out with the support of the Council of Europe project “Supporting the transparency, inclusiveness and integrity of electoral practice in Ukraine”, which is being implemented as part of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine for 2018-2022.