Draft bill #9450 of July 3, 2023 

Cosponsors: a group of 13 MPs from Servant of the People and Holos factions and Trust group with Oleksandr Aliksiichuk as the first signatory 

Status: adopted in the first reading, awaits amendments before the second reading 

Who is affected: local government bodies (rural, township, and city councils, raion and oblast councils, local and oblast state administrations), local state administrations 

Summary: 

  • rural, township, and city councils will have the power to approve bilateral and multilateral agreements on cross-border cooperation for the creation of a Euroregion 
  • the following issues will be resolved exclusively at plenary meetings of oblast councils: 
    • creation and implementation of agreements on Euroregional cooperation 
    • accession to or withdrawal from the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation 
    • approval and conclusion of agreements on the creation of a Euroregion 
  • the Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development with assistance from parliamentary committees will carry out general coordination of cross-border cooperation 
  • local state administrations will be authorized to implement state regional policy and develop cross-border cooperation 
  • the following new types of cross-border cooperation will be introduced: 
  • interregional cooperation between subjects of cross-border cooperation, exercising executive power in oblasts, cities of Kyiv and Sevastopol, and/or representing common interests of territorial communities of villages, towns, cities, and oblasts with parity subjects of other states within their authority 
  • interterritorial cooperation between a rural, settlement, or city council in Ukraine with parity subjects of other states within their authority 
  • border cooperation between subjects of cross-border cooperation in Ukraine that exercise their powers in the territory directly adjacent to the state border and parity subjects of neighboring states within their authority. 
  • the procedure for the establishment of cross-border cooperation bodies and their statutory activities, including Euroregional cooperation associations and European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation, will be established 
  • the bill envisages financial assistance from the state for competitively selected projects. However, projects and programs that have received funding from international technical assistance programs will be prioritized. 

Why this is important: local self-governance at the community level will be empowered. 

What is right: 

  • harmonization of terminology with international standards 
  • introduction of the procedure for the implementation of cross-border cooperation that takes into account the increased powers of subjects of such cooperation 
  • boost for the economic development of the regions that participate in interterritorial or cross-border cooperation. 

What is wrong:  

  • there is a risk that the bill will facilitate separatism at the community level through deepening economic, social, scientific, technological, environmental, cultural, and other relations between subjects and participants of cooperation 
  • provisions introducing the general coordination of cross-border cooperation by the Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development and assistance from parliamentary committees proposed by MPs violate the Constitution of Ukraine and the European Outline Convention on Cross-Border Cooperation between Territorial Communities or Authorities  
  • the bill does not specify how the subjects of cross-border cooperation in Ukraine can propose changes to the legislation on cross-border cooperation. 

Alternative solution: the bill should be amended: 

  • the Ministry for Communities, Territories, and Infrastructure Development and parliamentary committees should be excluded from the general coordination of cross-border cooperation 
  • the procedure for proposing changes to the legislation on cross-border cooperation by its subjects should be defined. 

How to help the legislator: proposals concerning the draft bill can be sent to the Verkhovna Rada Committee on State Building, Local Governance, Regional, and Urban Development