Exchange of experience and best practices of local self-government between the Ukrainian and EU hromadas is very important and relevant for our country. This allows Ukraine to more quickly integrate into the European space, said Hennadii Zubko, Vice Prime Minister – Minister of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Communal Services of Ukraine, at the fifth meeting of the EU Committee of the Regions – Ukraine Task Force on Decentralisation.

“We need to provide more and more information to the ground, teach hromadas to prioritise, elaborate development strategy and effectively use the money transferred to the ground. In these issues, the local self-government development experience in the European countries is a key one. European principles such as decentralisation, democracy and new governance system are what Ukraine aspires to. And the key KPI of their implementation is to increase the well-being of Ukrainians,” noted Hennadii Zubko.

It should be mentioned that the “Peer-to-Peer” initiative, developed within the framework of the EU Committee of the Regions – Ukraine Task Force on Decentralisation, with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe Programme, is being currently implemented. It is aimed at developing partnerships between local and regional authorities of the EU and Ukraine, as well as exchange of experience. Five equal partners, representing two regions of Ukraine and two regions of the EU, as well as three municipalities – amalgamated hromadas – from Ukraine and three municipalities from the EU member states, were selected. Areas of cooperation: stimulation of investment activity, development of tourism potential, energy efficiency, strengthening of personnel resource, economy of rural territories.