Co-operation beyond Kyiv: extra ?17 million in EU support for local development in Ukraine
09.06.2011 | Publications
The EU has made available an extra ?17 million in support of local development in Ukraine, bringing to ?29 million the amount it has invested in promoting sustainable socio-economic development under the Community Based Approach (CBA) to local development programme.
The Agreement for the second phase of the programme was signed yesterday in Brussels by Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Klyuyev and EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle,
who said the first phase of CBA had been a success, with very concrete outputs, including the funding of over a thousand micro-projects.
“Deepening co-operation with the Ukrainian authorities is a top priority for the EU, but this has to extend beyond Kyiv,” said
the Commissioner, adding it was important to address governance issues
in Ukraine from a bottom-up approach, a perspective too often ignored.
“Good governance is not just about reforms at national level,” he said: “it
is also about involving the people and allowing citizens to have an
impact on critical choices in economic and social development.”
The
additional funds complement the ?12 million already dedicated to the
first phase of the CBA programme. The aim of the second phase is to
promote sustainable socio-economic development at local level by
strengthening participatory governance and community-based initiatives
throughout Ukraine.
CBA
Phase II will also allow for the development of local micro-projects,
notably in the areas of energy efficiency, health, water supply and the
environment. CBA is implemented through joint management with UNDP, but
is based on a bottom-up approach to project design.
Commissioner
Füle added that 2011 was an important year for EU-Ukraine relations,
stressing the final negotiations on the Deep and Comprehensive Free
Trade Area (DCFTA) and the Association Agreement, and progress on
implementation of the Visa Action Plan, issues on which he said there
had been progress.
But Füle also underlined political priorities: “I
would like to stress that the success of the Association Agreement
doesn't only depend on the progress Ukraine makes on its economic
integration track towards the EU. As I have already indicated in the
past, it is crucial for Ukraine to deliver on our common values, and
here I mean: justice, electoral law, constitution, freedom of assembly,
freedom of expression and media.”
-
03.01
-
07.10
-
22.09
-
17.08
-
12.08
-
30.09
