The EU’s Role in Reforming Local Self-Government in Ukraine: From Governance to Conditionality

The Moynihan Institute’s Center for European Studies presents visiting Fulbright scholar Mariana Semenyshyn.

Local self-government (LSG) or “decentralization” reform has been recognized as one of the most impressive structural transformations of Ukraine since the Euromaidan (2013-2014) revolution. It gained a special significance in 2022 when Ukraine became an EU candidate country and LSG reform was made a part of the accession negotiations between the EU and Ukraine.

The reform has been supported by the EU as a part of its broader capacity building efforts aimed at enhancing governance in Ukraine. However, more than ten years since its start, decentralization remains unfinished. While the EU negotiations could accelerate the reform’s progress, the complexity of necessary transformations makes finding consensus on important reform milestones challenging.