Academic Preparation Kit | EYP-UA Weekend in Uzhgorod

ACADEMIC PREPARATION KIT

EYP-UA WEEKEEND IN UZHGOROD 22-23 OF NOVEMBER, 2014

THE EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT – UKRAINE

“New Ukraine: Local Agenda” / “Нова Україна: локальний план дій” Committee Topics Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Considering the uncertainty of the natural gas supply from Russia and ever-increasing prices for the fossil fuels, what measures could be taken to cut energy spending, in order to enhance energy efficiency and ensure the energy security of Ukraine?

Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) With Ukraine and Estonia being among the leading countries with HIV infections statistics, what steps should be taken to prevent the spread of the incurable disease?

Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) Bearing in mind that 22,8% of Ukrainian population is represented by different ethnic groups, how can minority languages, culture and traditions be protected along with further promotion of Ukrainian language or national and cultural identity?

Committee on Regional Development (REGI) Ukrainian local communities often have little or less involvement in the development of their native regions, feeling detached from resources and lacking power to decision-making processes. With administrative reform announced by the Cabinet of Ministers, how should the local governance system be modified in order to activate the participation of local communities and make them a real engine of positive change and decision-making?

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Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Considering the uncertainty of the natural gas supply from Russia and everincreasing prices for the fossil fuels, what measures could be taken to cut energy spending, in order to enhance energy efficiency and ensure the energy security of Ukraine?

Key Words with Definitions Energy security is an uninterrupted availability of energy sources at affordable price.

Energy efficiency is the goal to reduce the amount of energy required to provide products and services Energy Community is a community established between the EU and a number of third countries to extend the EU internal energy market.

Alternative energy is energy derived from nontraditional sources, or those, which do not use up natural resources or harm the environment, e.g. solar energy, wind energy, biofuel, geothermal energy etc.

Alternative fuels are any materials or substances that can be used as fuels, other than conventional fuels, i.e. biodiesel, bioalcohol, chemically stored electricity (), hydrogen, nonfossil methane, non-fossil natural gas, vegetable oil etc.

At a Glance/ Executive Summary of the problem and its importance Continuous gas dependence, unstable price market, constant abuses and broken agreements

by Russian Federation have led to serious disputes between Gazprom and Naftogaz.

Moreover, these disagreements have gained hidden political background. For already several months we have been invigilating international commercial activity that is supposed to be based on the principles of legitimacy, transparency, integrity is being held with the breach of all the international law terms and provisions. As a result, Russia has cut off the gas supply to Ukraine. What could be next? Is it better to refrain from Russian gas “benefits� or to pick up a long way to successful and stable energy situation by looking for an alternative energy?

International experience has proved that there are many advantages in alternative energy sources like solar, wind, water power, geothermal energy, nuclear biding energy and others.

However, this alternative energy practice is not very popular in Ukraine neither on the 2

governmental level where the state is the monopolist on the production of such energy nor in private sector (only few citizens of Ukraine have gained the allowance to produce alternative energy at home).

Ukraine has gas reserves, however they are not limited. The USA has suggested transporting liquefied gas to Ukraine. However, do we have spare money for that? Ukraine could try to produce liquefied gas on its own but without technics and highly qualified professions who know how to do it this activity would be impossible.

We already feel the coming of winter; we may already observe social commercials on the television where the government is calling to save the gas reserves by different means that may be accomplished by ordinary citizens, there is no clear plan proposed by the Cabinet of Ministers yet.

The question is still open. What measures could be taken to cut energy spending, in order to enhance energy efficiency and ensure the energy security of Ukraine?

Actors, Interests and Conflicts  Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, especially Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine is the main body that provides realization of a state policy in the Fuel-Energy Complex. 

Energy Community (EC): is a community established between the European Union (EU) and a number of third countries, which aims to implement the relevant EU acquiscommunautaire, to develop an adequate regulatory framework and to liberalise energy markets of the Contracting Parties. It covers the fields of energy, environment, and competition of the EU legislation and has capacity to initiate a formal infringement procedure if any violation has place. E.g. Energy community has initiated changing Naftogaz-Gazprom contract provisions, as they breached EU competition law and negatively affected energy markets of both Ukraine and other EC members.

Current Legislation & Policies  Resolution of Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine “On approval of the State Target Economic Program for energy efficiency and the development of energy production from renewable energy sources and alternative fuels for 2010-2015” The purpose of the Program is to promote the approach of energy intensity of gross domestic product of Ukraine to the level of developed countries and the European 3

Union standards, reducing the energy intensity of gross domestic product over the life of the program, efficiency energy resources and strengthen the competitiveness of the national economy; optimization of the energy mix of the state in which the share of energy derived from renewable energy sources and alternative fuels in 2015 will be not less than 10 percent, by reducing the share of imported fossil energy resources, including natural gas, and their replacement by alternative types of energy including secondary, with adequate financing.

Over the past three years, the main focus of energy sector focuses on reducing energy dependence of the state, creating the conditions for the introduction of energy saving technologies and significant energy savings. Thus, according to the Association of Alternative Fuel and Energy in 2012, Ukraine produced 810 thousand tons of alternative solid fuels.

Ukraine has a strong raw material base for the production of alternative fuels. This encourages a search for alternative sources of supply of fuel and energy resources, and market development of alternative fuels. 

Common Energy Policy of Ukraine and the EU must comply with the European rules - A.Yatseniuk.

Ukraine carries out a common policy in the field of energy with the EU under the European rules for energy security. Ukraine ratified the Energy Charter Treaty and is a member of the Energy Community.

5 key areas of government policy in the energy sector in 2014: 1. The reform of the electricity market, the market for natural gas and coal industry; 2. Modernization and development of modern innovative technologies; 3. Enhancing energy security through diversification of energy supplies and increasing domestic production of energy resources, mainly natural gas, including unconventional and nuclear fuel; 4. Integration into the European energy system (market natural gas and electricity); 5. Improving energy efficiency.

At the period of war it is complicated to speak about the prosperity of energy sphere, it is way more important to insure the security of those energy assets that Ukraine already has.

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A necessary component of proper legal basis for the development of alternative energy is the availability of guarantees for foreign investors on investment protection.

Foreign direct investment is one of the efficient ways of financing energy sector. In Ukraine this is a fairly common form of investment attraction. Thus, in 2009 the economy of Ukraine foreign investors 5.6346 billion dollars direct investment, accounting for 51.6% of revenues in 2008 EU countries were 4.0168 billion dollars (71.3% of total), from CIS countries - 1.0647 billion dollars (18.9%), with other countries - 553.1 million dollars (9.8%). Total foreign direct investments in Ukraine, on 1.01.2010 amounted to 40.0268 billion dollars 12.4% increase in investments at the beginning of 2009, and per capita amounted to USD 872.6. However, foreign investment can be a threat to national security because of the relationship factors: support for economic security it is important to support its significant component energy security. Since energy development can be achieved at this stage in the first place upgrade or replacement of worn-out equipment, which requires massive funding.

This can be achieved mainly through the activation process of foreign investment, which is a direct threat to economic security.

Perspectives Energy security and energy efficiency are of crucial importance for the further development of Ukraine’s economy. However, energy-consuming branches of industry are the dominant ones in Ukrainian economy and thus energy efficiency can be hardly improved in this sphere, unless power-saving technologies will be applied. But another cause for Ukraine’s low energy efficiency is domestic consumption, defined by inefficient and regressive pricing and subsidies policy, run by the government along with lack of energy-saving technologies. However, projects for improving energy efficiency of the buildings, financially supported by European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Eastern Europe Energy Efficiency and Environmental Partnership are supposed to improve the situation, as well as government’s intitative for reviewing energy subsidies policy.

Links European-Ukrainian Energy Agency http://euea-energyagency.org/ Ukraine seeks energy cooperation with EU, US – Yatsenyuk http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://en.itar-tass.com/world/729114

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The information-analytical resource specialized on energy sector http://ua-energy.org/ The International Energy Agency on Ukraine http://www.iea.org/countries/non-membercountries/ukraine/ State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine http://saee.gov.ua/en Expert opinions on ensuring Ukraine’s national security http://enkarta.org/en/experts/

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Committee on Environment, Public Health & Food Safety (ENVI) With Ukraine and Estonia being among the leading countries with HIV infections statistics, what steps should be taken to prevent the spread of the incurable disease?

Key Words with Definitions Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) - virus that weakens the immune system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection. A "deficient" immune system can't protect you.1 HIV can only infect human beings.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)is a disease of the human immune system caused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus.

Antiretroviral therapy (ART) – helps to stop the progress of HIV. Standard antiretroviral therapy (ART) consists of the combination of at least three antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to maximally suppress the HIV virus and stop the progression of HIV disease.2 At a Glance/ Executive Summary of the problem and its importance While Western Europe having a decreasing number of the HIV infected people, in Eastern Europe the disease continues to grow. Estonia has one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in Europe. The epidemic spread at an alarming rate in Estonia in the late 1990s, with single new cases in the 1990s rising to 390 new cases in 2000 and 1,474 in 2001. In 20022003 there were less cases registered due to quick reaction of the government using prevention and harm reduction programs. The Estonian epidemic is believed to be mainly concentrated among Russian-speaking Estonians who inject drugs, in particular in border regions located close to St. Petersburg.

In 2012 number of new HIV cases has dropped for the first time in the history of Ukraine – according to official statistics in 2012, The number of new cases of HIV infection turned out to be lower than in 2011. The positive result was achieved due to number of national programs aimed at the most at risk population and due to massive information campaigns on AIDS prevention in media. However due to low sustainability of the previous measures the number has increased again in 2013-2014.

The main group with HIV/AIDS infections and at the greatest risk of infection in Ukraine is injecting drug users, accounting for 72% of officially registered HIV/AIDS cases. Other 1

What is HIV/AIDS? Use of antiretrovirals for treatment and prevention of HIV infection

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vulnerable groups are: sex workers, homeless children and young people; These groups are more likely to be criminalized and either find it difficult or are unwilling to access public services, which makes them almost impossible to define if they are HIV infected.

Enrolment of the HIV positive people into treatment is not enough. Less than 2/3 of all people diagnosed with HIV are enrolled in HIV care. However, it is not just a result of the high prices of the process. Some people diagnosed with HIV who registered for treatment and care are lost to follow up. At Zhitomir AIDS Center, out of 2179 people registered for care, 1500 were seen for care in 2011, and 600 (27,5%) who did not attend care services, were not followed up by health care workers from the AIDS Center. These patients did not get ART and support for safe behavior, which can contribute to further HIV transmission. The reasons for not enrolling into treatment are various. For instance, it occurs due to lack of education about the cure process and the belief that the medicines used while ART actually kills people.

Actors, Interests and Conflicts The National Program to ensure HIV prevention, care, treatment and support of HIV-positive people and patients with AIDS is the key actor in Ukraine for tackling this problem.

International Charitable Foundation “International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine” (Alliance Ukraine) is a professional organisation fighting against HIV/AIDS epidemic in Ukraine. It cooperates with the key civil society organisations, such as Ministry of Health and other governmental bodies while managing prevention programs, which provide technical assistance and financial support to the local organisations. It has implemented antiretroviral therapy programs, which aim on the prevention among street children and pharmacy-based HIV prevention. Now the Alliance efforts are focused on the vulnerable groups.

Ukraine has accepted The Joint UN Programme of Support on AIDS for 2012-2016.

The programme includes five priority areas of support in combating HIV/AIDS in Ukraine: universal access for people who use drugs and prisoners; reducing sexual transmission; elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV; universal access to treatment enabling laws, policies, practices and systems, reduction of stigma and discrimination, gender equality and protection of human rights.

World Health Organization is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidencebased policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.3 It has developed the European Action Plan for HIV/AIDS 2012–2015, its objective is to ensure zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths in the region.

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About World Health Organization

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Current Legislation & Policies In 2009, the State Program to ensure prevention, treatment, care, and support to HIV-positive people and patients with AIDS known as National AIDS Programme for 2009-2013, was adopted as a law by Verkhovna Rada to strengthen the national response to the HIV epidemic.

The 2011 State Law on AIDS provides state guarantees for the following key areas to ensure the effective national response to the HIV epidemic in Ukraine:  Harm reduction services, including needle and syringe exchange and substitution maintenance therapy, for people who inject drugs  Confidentiality of HIV status for people living with HIV  Lifting entry, stay and residence restrictions for non-nationals living with HIV  Post-exposure prophylaxis for health care providers and victims of sexual violence  Independent access without parental consent to HIV related services for adolescents Currently the 2011 State Law on AIDS is being operationalized and its harmonization with other policies and legislation in Ukraine is in the process.4 Perspectives Before the treatment people need to know that they are infected. This requires not only HIV testing facilities but also widespread knowledge of the importance of testing and where it can be done. People may be more inclined to test if they are aware of the benefits of antiretroviral therapy and know they could be treated if they test positive. Confronting stigma and discrimination are necessary.

With that having said, it is of utmost importance for us to come up with better prevention programs and better ways of informing people about HIV and it’s causes, as when you’re informed - you’re equipped.

Statistics  During the eight months of 2014 - 13 737 new cases of HIV infection were registered (2 485 of them are amongst children under 14 years old).  In total 258 953 new cases of HIV infection were officially registered in Ukraine since 1987 (43 225 were registered among kids).

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Legal Environment to the National Response to HIV/AIDS

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 Since 2008 the main cause of HIV transmission was sexual contacts. In 2005 only 33% of those newly infected got HIV through sexual contacts, and in 2012 the percentage grew up to 51%.  Today most of the newly – registered cases of HIV infection are amongst young people aged from 15 to 30.  According to UNAIDS experts’ assessment about 270,000 people in Ukraine live with HIV/AIDS. Links European Action Plan for HIV/AIDS 2012–2015 http://www.euro.who.int/en/health-topics/communicable-diseases/sexually-transmittedinfections/publications2/2011/european-action-plan-for-hivaids-20122015 Implementation of the EU policies against HIV http://ec.europa.eu/health/sti_prevention/docs/ec_hiv_actionplan_2014_en.pdf National AIDS Program http://www.unaids.org.ua/hiv/response/programm

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Committee on Culture & Education (CULT) Bearing in mind that 22,8% of Ukrainian population is represented by different ethnic groups, how can minority languages, culture and traditions be protected along with further promotion of Ukrainian language or national and cultural identity?

Key Words with Definitions Minority – a group which is numerically inferior to the rest of the population of a state and in a non dominant position, whose members possess ethnic, religious or linguistic characteristics which differ from those of the rest of the population, and who if only implicitly, maintain a sense of solidarity directed towards preserving their culture, traditions, religion or language.

European Charter for Regional or Minority – is the only legally binding instrument in the world for the protection and promotion of traditional regional andnational minority languages.

The Charter was opened for signature in November 1992 and entered into force on 1 March 1998. It has been ratified so far by Armenia, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

Protection of National Minorities – protection of normal individual rights as applied to members of racial, ethnic, class, linguistic minorities; and also the collective rights accorded to minority groups. Minority rights may also apply simply to individual rights of anyone who is not part of a majority decision.

At a Glance/ Executive Summary of the problem and it’s importance The challenges of minority issues have multiple sources and are rooted both in the country‘s pre-independence history and complex post-communist transition. Neither the identity of the majority group nor the acceptance of a new status by the largest minority group has been settled. Debates continue to centre on the very basic principles of state organisation, including issues such as what territorial and administrative structures should be put in place to accommodate very substantial regional differences. Decentralization holds the promise of improving the situation, but the implementation of decentralization plans is still in the early stages. Linguistic issues remain a major source of contention with very significant implications for the national political process. The deepening of the democratization process in the 11

aftermath of the Orange Revolution has heightened the expectations of different segments of society that their multiple and diverse concerns will be addressed and resolved promptly by the new Ukrainian authorities.

All this has a somewhat unsettling effect on efforts to foster interethnic cooperation. At the same time, it also provides an opportunity to advance majority–minority dialogue in order to achieve some shared understanding on what measures should be undertaken to address both the ethnic Ukrainians‘ concerns about the status of their cultural identity and national minorities‘ fears of exclusion and discrimination in areas as diverse as representation in government, education and language use.

An additional complexity in majority–minority relations in Ukraine is introduced by the continued existence of tensions on issues of non-recognition and indigenous status. Here, these terms are used to define two distinct challenges faced by Ukrainian society. The first concerns the problem of recognition of Rusyns, a territorially concentrated group of east Slavic people whose leaders make claims of cultural distinctiveness and oppose the Ukrainian state‘s policy of categorizing them as ethnic Ukrainians. The second refers to the demands of Crimean Tatars and some smaller ethnic groups to secure the passage of laws that will grant them the status of an indigenous people.

Many minorities in different regions wish to address their specific needs in a more satisfactory manner. Given the cautious stance of the international community on the issue of territorial autonomy, these demands did not receive substantial support on the national and international levels and might become less of an issue.

Ukraine can be neither stable nor democratic if it does not give its minorities their dues. And these factors could contribute so much more to the Ukrainian welfare and stability.But while the dispute goes on, the government, with its present political crisis, has reached the stalemate, where only a few actions have yet been taken to resolve the conflict.

Actors, Interests and Conflicts  The European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) - conducts practice and policyoriented research, provides information and documentation, and offers advisory services concerning minority-majority relations in Europe. It serves European governments and regional intergovernmental organizations as well as non-dominant groups throughout. The Centre co-operates with the academic community, the media

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and the general public through the timely provision of information and analysis. Its experience could be priceless for Ukraine.

Institute for Minority Rights (EURAC research) produces world-class research as well as outstanding academic publications. Furthermore, we offer consultancy and education programs that contribute to international dialogue and understanding of multiethnic societies.

Congress of Ethnic Communities of Ukraine (CNCU) is a non-profit nongovernmental organisation established in 2001. There are 17 national communities participating at the CNCU programs of: Monitoring of Law Violation Against National Minorities, Publishing Projects, Law Experts Group, etc. These and other CNCU programs are aimed to unite efforts of the national communities in Ukraine on integration into Ukrainian society and its transformation into democratic and civil one, active advocacy for the tolerance values, equality, mutual respect to the national individualities and values of each representative of the multiethnic Ukrainian people.

Current Legislation & Policies The Declaration of Ukrainian State Sovereignty (July 1990) guaranteed ‘all nationalities that reside on the territory of the republic the right to national-cultural development'. The Law on Citizenship (October 1991) utilized the ‘zero' citizenship principle: granting citizenship to everyone permanently resident in Ukraine at the date the law came into force in Ukraine prior to independence irrespective of ethnicity. The Declaration of the Rights of Nationalities (November 1991) established a broad range of minority rights, while the Law on National Minorities (June 1992) provided state support for the development .

Ukraine continues to meet in full its international obligations in the field of protection of national minorities, including those that fall under the basic documents of the Council of Europe - European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. On a number of occasions, Council of Europe Member States and experts have clearly recognized Ukraine’s progress in implementing these documents.

"Equal Opportunities for National Minorities and Disadvantaged Groups in Realizing Cultural Rights: Richness Through Diversity" – grant project of Eastern Partnership Culture Program funded by the EU. Perspectives 13

To ensure acceptance and equal rights, the EU and Ukraine have to develop some initiatives together in the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML).Other organisations like The Eastern Partnership Minorities Network including Minority Rights Group Europe, Analytical Center for Interethnic Cooperation and Consultations, Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation, ECMI Caucasus and No Borders Project/Social Action Centre are willing to settle this question in partnership with Ukraine.

HCNM suggests that minority participation in advisory or consultative bodies sometimes might be more effective than representation in parliament or other legislative structures. Such bodies can provide minorities with an opportunity to have a direct input into the policy-making process on issues of minority concern, provided that these bodies are representative, adequately funded and regularly consulted by the authorities.

How Ukrainian unifying features (language, culture, history and symbols) can be promoted along with minorities features?How to find a balance between giving enough rights to ethnic minorities and not losing sight of Ukrainian core features? These are the questions that are worth thinking about.

Statistics Ethnic Composition of Ukraine The 2001 census gives the following details on the ethnic composition of Ukraine: 37.5 million Ukrainians (77.8%); and 8.3 million Russians (17.3%). The distribution of other ethnic groups was as follows: Belorussians, Moldovans, Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Romanians, Poles and Jews number between 100,000–300,000 each; Armenians, Greeks, Tatars, Roma, Azerbaijanis, Georgians, Germans and Gagauzians between 30,000–100,000 each; and Estonians, Kurds, Karaims, Komi-Permiars, Kyrgyz and others less than 30,000 each.

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Linguistic Composition of Present Day Ukraine According to the 2001 census13, the linguistic composition of the Ukrainian state is as follows: those whose mother tongue is Ukrainian account for 67.5% of the population of Ukraine, which is 2.8 percentage points more than in 1989. Those whose mother tongue is Russian account for 29.6% of the population. Compared to the results of the previous census this index has decreased by 3.2 percentage points. The percentage of other languages specified as the respondent's mother-tongue has increased by 0.4 percentage points since the last census. These now account for 2.9%.

Links http://www.minelres.lv/NationalLegislation/Ukraine/Ukraine_Minorities_English.htm Legislation of The Supreme Rada of Ukraine about national minorities

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www.osce.org/documents/hcnm/1999/09/2698_en.pdf- The Lund Recommendations on the Effective Participation of National Minorities in Public Life and Explanatory Note‖ http://www.minorityrights.org/5053/ukraine/ukraine-overview.html - a good overview for a deep understanding of how minorities formed on Ukraine’s territory

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http://www.npld.eu/news/latest-news/93/council-of-europe-launches-press-release-onminority-languages-in-ukraine-/- Press release of the council of Europe on minority languages in Ukraine http://www.ucipr.kiev.ua/publications/krim-iakii-mi-maemo-pidtrimati Crimea nowadays

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http://www.mpil.de/files/pdf1/mpunyb_06_kugelmann_11.pdf - Good reading about the problem and its state today https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twokawgljKY Hungarian Minority Rights in Ukraine: PM Orban repeats autonomy calls for Ukrainian Hungarians https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGE9aTIP9jIUkraine`s minority seeks autonomy

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Committee on Regional Development (REGI) Ukrainian local communities often have little or less involvement in the development of their native regions, feeling detached from resources and lacking power to decision-making processes. With administrative reform announced by the Cabinet of Ministers, how should the local governance system be modified in order to activate the participation of local communities and make them a real engine of positive change and decision-making?

Key Terms with Definitions Local government reform – The goal of the concept is to identify directions, mechanisms and terms of formation of efficient local self-government and territorial organization of government to create and maintain full-fledged living environment for the citizens, provide high-quality accessible public services, establish institutions of direct popular rule, meet citizens’ interests in all spheres of life in the relevant territory, coordinate the interests of the state and territorial communes. Was presented by Arseniiy Yatseniuk on April, 1.

The European Charter of Local Self-Government: the convention of the European Council.

It ensures that the local communities can manage their affairs within their territory as they are the closest and most aware of their own problems. It was signed on October 15th in Strasbourg.

At a Glance/ Executive Summary of the problem and it’s importance The purpose of the new administrative reform of Ukraine is to ensure the effective model of governance on all levels. This right is granted by its Basic Law (Constitution of Ukraine, 2006). The first administrative reform of Ukraine was adopted on the 2nd of October, 1997.

However, during the period of 1997-2010 only minor achievements have been attained in the effective formation of the administrative structure and its regulation. This happens due to the fact that there is not enough amplification and categorization about which problems can be defined as the issues of local significance. Moreover, the laws only determine the basic principles of the self-government but do not specify the concrete steps of implementing the idea. According to the Decree of the President of Ukraine on December 9, 2010, 111 central government agencies have been reduced to 74 (among them 16 ministries) and the decentralization process began.

As we know, the local self-government and autonomy are the key principles of a local democracy and an indicator of the territorial development of any country. There is no denying 17

the fact that the inclusiveness and cooperation between the local communities is a way to ensure the decision-making capacity of the whole country. The way the citizens get involved in the processes of administration correlates with the quality of life and services they receive.

However, very often the local governments lack financing, they suffer from the incompetent distribution of powers, the dilution of responsibility because of the constant delegation of the tasks that are eventually not carried out. According to the new provision of the former President in September 9, 2011 the fixed number of the deputies for the local governments as well the limited number of the representatives from the ministries has been established.

However, it is believed that the problem of nepotism unfair assignment of the seats among the deputies and inability to get through the corruption web hinder the work of those representatives.

Current Legislation & Policies The range of legal personality that should be conferred on the local authorities raises a lot of debates among the European countries. The European Charter of Local Self-Government partly regulates it. However it cannot regulate all countries in the same way as the legislative systems are different. Besides, there are other overriding considerations regarding the division of power that can be a real issue in case of overlapping responsibilities, the unequal distribution of financial support between the regions and the corruption on all levels. There is a doctrine of general competence - the principle that local authorities have a power of jurisdiction over the affairs on their territories and inhabitants are subject to the law. However, there are some matters, for instance, the defence and the international relations that can be regulated only by the higher centralized authorities.

Actors, Interests & Conflicts There are many problems regarding the Ukrainian local government. There are inaccessible and poor-quality public services, that is to say many local governments are not doing or simply unable to do their primary function. Things such as school, healthcare, public transit and so on, are woefully underfunded or inaccessible for a great deal of people in local municipalities. Many people are deprived of the right to good quality public services, and the human development gap among regions is large.

The government also tends not to serve the people’s interest but rather the interest of the government. Many state and local administrations’ budget process is of a top down nature and it makes it impossible to take the interests of voters into account. Given that Ukraine is under a proportional election system, there is an increased disconnect between voters and their local political bodies.

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There is a strong need for centralization, but most local governments do not have the ability to plan or develop public financing. Thus local development stagnates, and therefore most resources are consumed covering the day-to-day needs of the region that the local government can manage.

Only a few major cities, such as Kyiv, Odessa, and Lviv can deliver the services demanded by law. Most of the local governances have difficulty meeting a few of these demands let alone all of them. The current mechanisms for executing the local budgets simply provide too little incentive to develop local economies. There is very little public revenue for local governments and therefore the infrastructure such as roads and bridges are either nonexistent or dilapidated. The lack of investment in the public sector leads to slower job growth in the private sector and thus even lower growth in the tax base, which the problem compounds itself again by lowering the public budget.

Perspectives These are just a few of the problems, and there are many proposed solutions, including but not limited to: letting the status quo remain, redistribution of powers, enlargement through voluntary measures of local communities and enlarging communities through mergers (some forced).

Letting the status quo remain is dangerous, there are few pros and many cons. The service infrastructure will remain familiar to most Ukrainians, and local officials will go about business as usual, however all the noted disadvantages, and more, will continue to plague Ukraine’s local governance.

So obviously the status quo is not a very viable option for Ukraine’s future, so how about redistributing the powers? This proposes that the functions of the lowest levels of government especially in rural areas must make sure their performance is transferred, and communities will be distributed funds based demographics rather than the current system.

The pros of this system include offering economies of scale for local municipalities (school, hospitals etc.), guaranteeing a standard of public service, and cities, especially the larger ones will have more power to provide their public services. However, there are many downsides to this plan, such as rural communities losing the ability to choose their own public services, the opposition from village leaders because of the loss of influence and centralization, and disputes between the rayon level cities and governments.

However, Ukraine isn’t the first, nor will it likely be the last, country to make these reforms.

Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and many former Warsaw Pact members have made that 19

arduous journey before, and Ukraine has the advantage of knowing which policies worked for these countries and which did not. Even with this major advantage, it’s not likely that this turnaround would be quick or painless, but it is possible. Ukraine’s focus on reform of its local government will be tantamount to its future. So the questions that you would like to think about while additionally researching for topic would be: 1. Which method do you prefer to fix Ukraine’s local government problems? Why? Do you think another strategy is better?

2. Which issues are affected by the poor local government?

3. Why is local government important?

4. How can the EU and European Charter of Local Self-Government contribute to Ukraine’s solution to this problem?

5. Which measures should be taken in order to improve the whole system and enable the further integration of the local political entities in the decision-making process?

6. In what way and in which spheres should the government limit the range of legal discretion for the local governments?

Links Concept of the Reform of Local Self-Government and Territorial Organization of Government in Ukraine http://mfa.gov.ua/en/news-feeds/foreign-offices-news/21459-koncepcija-reformuvannyamiscevogo-samovryaduvannya-ta-teritorialynoji-organizaciji-vladi-v-ukrajini The Association of Ukrainian Cities http://www.auc.org.ua/en/page/system-ukrainian-local-government Local and regional government in Ukraine and the development of cooperation between Ukraine and the EU http://cor.europa.eu/en/documentation/studies/Documents/local-regional-governmentukraine.pdf Ukraine’s Local Government Encyclopedia Britanica http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612921/Ukraine/275893/Local-government Local Government Functioning and Reform in Ukraine http://www.ks.no/PageFiles/16117/Baseline.pdf Local self-government in Ukraine: Strategic priorities and problems of realization http://academicjournals.org/article/article1380022853_Babinova.pdf 20

Decentralization Reform in Ukraine http://freepolicybriefs.org/2014/10/08/decentralization-reform-in-ukraine/

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INITIATED BY

22