March 10, 2025

The following is a press release:

The European Committee of the Regions and the Ukraine – Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme (U-LEAD with Europe) on 7 March launched a programme to provide Ukrainian local and regional leaders and civil servants with training in managing reconstruction-related projects. The programme will also encourage the forging of partnerships between cities and towns.

The launch of the Training and Internship Programme Support for Ukrainian Municipalities and Inter-Municipal Cooperation (TIPS4UA) was marked by the signing of a partnership agreement in Brussels, by the secretary-general of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR), Petr Blížkovský, and by Bastian Veigel, GIZ programme director responsible for U-LEAD, and Angeliki Mavridou, team leader for U-LEAD.

The CoR is the European Union’s assembly for local and regional authorities and also serves as the secretariat of the European Alliance of Regions and Cities for the Reconstruction of Ukraine, which is strongly encouraging sub-national authorities to establish partnerships. U-LEAD is a Team Europe initiative in partnership with the Ukrainian government, the European Union, Germany, Denmark, France, Poland and Slovenia. U-LEAD, which has been supporting Ukraine’s decentralisation reform since 2016, will be responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the programme.

Part of the funding will come from the EU’s Ukraine Facility. Hosting municipalities will also contribute resources.

The TIPS4UA initiative was announced by Vasco Alves Cordeiro, then-President of the CoR, in his speech on the state of regions and cities in the EU in October 2024.

As well as easing the process of recovery and reconstruction in Ukraine, the TIPS4UA programme is intended to equip municipal leaders and officials with experience and knowledge that will help Ukraine on its path to EU membership, as well as to foster cross-border partnerships between Ukrainian and EU municipalities.

Twenty municipalities across 14 EU member states – with nine directly affiliated with CoR members or alternates – and 44 staff members from Ukrainian municipalities are expected to participate in a six-month pilot phase, starting in April.

The programme will then be implemented in three phases:

· Training in Ukraine: Participants will undergo comprehensive training covering topics such as project preparation and project cycle management.

· Job shadowing in the EU: Mayors or deputy mayors, along with administrative experts, will be placed in host municipalities within the EU for hands-on learning and exchange opportunities.

· Community of practice: Peer-to-peer learning will continue through a community of practice, fostering ongoing collaboration and knowledge sharing.

The CoR has been supporting Ukrainian municipalities and regions in decentralisation reforms since 2015. The CoR's roles in the European Alliance of Cities and Regions for the Reconstruction of Ukraine – as a co-founder and as the Alliance's secretariat – and in the TIPS4UA programme form part of the institution's 10-point support package for Ukraine and align with its commitment to support Ukraine’s recovery, reconstruction, and modernisation efforts and its bid for EU membership.

Quotes:

· Aleksandra Dulkiewicz (PL/EPP), mayor of Gdańsk and chair of the CoR’s Working Group on Ukraine: "As the European Committee of the Regions, we are already actively supporting Ukrainian local government officials and civil servants in the reconstruction process today. Our experience and knowledge in creating friendly cities and good urban services can be very helpful in designing new neighbourhoods and urban spaces. After all, we are also at the beginning of Ukraine's accession path to the European Union, which also requires the support of our colleagues, just as we were supported at the beginning of Poland's path to the Community."

· Bastian Veigel, GIZ programme director for U-LEAD: "The TIPS4UA programme will contribute to the sustainability of already existing municipal partnerships, and we hope it will also help new ones to appear. The programme will contribute to the recovery, reconstruction and modernisation of Ukrainian municipalities by developing the capacity of Ukrainian local governments to prepare and implement projects basing on the experience and cooperation with their EU municipal partners."

Background:

· Website: European Committee of the Regions and its work with Ukraine

· Website: European Alliance of Regions and Cities for the Reconstruction of Ukraine

· Website: Ukraine – Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development Programme (U-LEAD with Europe)

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The European Committee of the Regions

The European Committee of the Regions is the EU's assembly of regional and local representatives from all 27 Member States. Created in 1994 following the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, its mission is to involve regional and local authorities in the EU's decision-making process and to inform them about EU policies. The European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission consult the Committee in policy areas affecting regions and cities. To sit on the European Committee of the Regions, all of its 329 members and 329 alternates must either hold an electoral mandate or be politically accountable to an elected assembly in their home regions and cities. Click here for more details on your national delegation.