Significant legislative barriers hampering further progress of the reform and threatening to stop it in the long run have arisen in the course of implementation of the local self-government reform and decentralization of power.
The procedure of amalgamation of territorial communities has not been simplified at the legislative level yet. Neither has been introduced the mechanism for the new communities to join the already established amalgamated territorial communities. Moreover, the issue of calling elections in the communities centered around the towns of regional significance and the communities belonging to different districts (rayons) is yet to be settled.
Once the Verkhovna Rada adopts the draft laws No. 4772 and No. 4773 on voluntary amalgamation of territorial communities in full, as well as the draft law No. 4676 on changing the boundaries of the districts (rayons) in the course of decentralization, all the barriers slowing down the progress of the decentralization reform will be removed.
The Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine endorses these draft laws. Adoption of these draft laws will allow almost one hundred of the amalgamated communities, where 1 million people live, calling election in December 2016 and getting in 2017 those things for the sake of which they believed in the reform, i.e. financial independence and resources for their development.
This will also regulate the issue concerning calling of the first local election in the communities centered around the towns of regional significance and the communities belonging to different districts (rayons). It concerns 28 amalgamated territorial communities which were denied calling the first local election (the towns of Slavuta, Netishyn, Pomichna, Bakhmut, etc).
Therefore, the Reanimation Package of Reforms calls on the MPs to treat the voting responsibly and to endorse the draft laws No. 4772 and No. 4773 on voluntary amalgamation of territorial communities, as well as the draft law No. 4676 on changing the boundaries of the districts (rayons) in the course of decentralization.