"Decentralisation is one of the most successful reforms being implemented in Ukraine in cooperation with the Council of Europe and the European Union. The new Council of Europe Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2021 on decentralisation, approved in February 2018, envisages continuation of the route map not only regarding consolidation and strengthening of hromadas, but also regarding implementation of sectoral decentralisation. This is a step-by-step guide for hromadas on providing new quality in education, healthcare, administrative and social services, safe and comfortable living of our citizens," said Hennadii Zubko, Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services, at the conference on decentralisation at the headquarters of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

The main points of the Plan include completion of the process of improvement of the legislation on amalgamation and cooperation of hromadas; sectoral decentralisation and improvement of service quality, reform of the administrative-territorial structure and promotion of gender equality.

Claudia Luciani, Director of Democratic Governance and Anti-Discrimination of the Council of Europe, noted that the Action Plan for Ukraine 2018-2021 is aimed at helping Ukraine implement key reforms. She noted that such a round table meeting is being held for the first time, and such formats of communication and discussion will be continued.

The main issue of the round table meeting concerned the discussion and elaboration of the stance on legislative regulation of the issue of observance of lawfulness in the activities of local self-government bodies in Ukraine.

"After transferring resources, powers and opportunities to local authorities, the central government should ensure the observance of the rights and freedoms of citizens in accordance with the Constitution. Therefore, we need to find a tool that can be called differently – administrative supervision, control over compliance – which, based on the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government and European legislation, will be the framework for strengthening the cooperation of central and local authorities. And most importantly – a framework that will provide opportunities for hromada development. After all, the overall goal of both local self-government and central authorities is to improve the living standards of Ukrainians, introduce high-quality services and develop human potential. Thus, we have to find a common and compromise solution," said Hennadii Zubko.

He informed that in 2016 MinRegion elaborated a draft law to strengthen the responsibility of officials and local self-government bodies for making decisions that violate the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, which received a positive conclusion from the Council of Europe.

Georg Milbradt, Special Envoy of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in the area of decentralisation in Ukraine, marked the positive results of the reform in Ukraine, the professionalism and responsibility of MinRegion in its implementation. He noted that the main task of today's discussion is to find a compromise between all the participants of the roundtable meeting so that the reform of decentralisation and local self-governance continues to be effective.

It should be noted that Strasbourg events were organised with the assistance of the Council of Europe Programme "Decentralisation and Territorial Consolidation in Ukraine" in conjunction with the U-LEAD with Europe Programme. The discussion is attended by the representatives of the Council of Europe, Georg Milbradt, Special Envoy of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in the area of decentralisation in Ukraine, MPs of Ukraine, heads of specialised associations of local self-government (Association of Ukrainian Cities, Ukrainian Association of Rayon and Oblast Councils, All-Ukrainian Association of Village and Settlement Councils, and Association of amalgamated hromadas).