The perspectives of the regional dimension of the cooperation of Ukraine and the EU were discussed at the University

On March 21, 2017 the scientific and practical seminar “The regional dimension of the interaction of Ukraine and the EU” took place at the faculty of international relations of the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv within the project named after Jean Monnet Erasmus+ “The subnational dimension of the EU”.

The representatives of public authorities, local government, non-governmental organizations and analytical centers took part in the event. In particular, the director of the Centre of local government development in Lviv region Andriy Bryn, the executive director of the association “Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine” Andriy Kyrchiv, the representative of the Agency of local economic development of Yavoriv district, the advisor to the City Mayor of Yavoriv Iryna Kuropas, the executive director of the Association of local government “Euro region the Carpathians – Ukraine” Halyna Lytvyn, the director of the department of international technical assistance and international cooperation of the Lviv Regional State Administration Polina Li and other participants of the meeting had a discussion about the features of the cooperation of Ukraine and the European Union  in the context of the regional development.

In his opening speech the coordinator of the project program named after Jean Monnet “The subnational dimension of the EU” Roman Kalytchak noted that earlier the cooperation between Ukraine and the European Union mainly had concerned the international level; however, there has been the intensification of the interaction on the regional and local levels for last ten years. In addition, the number of bilateral projects with the EU has constantly been going up that directly affects the lives of the Ukrainians. According to Roman Kalytchak, it is important to consider the effectiveness of these projects more comprehensively and ponder in which way the Ukrainian universities can be involved in their implementation.

The Dean of the faculty of international relations, professor Markiyan Malskyi emphasized on the necessity to respond to market needs and improve the principles of training specialists who would be able to provide properly the cooperation of Ukraine with the EU on the local level.

The chairperson of the department of country studies and international tourism, the director of the Information Centre of the European Union in Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, professor Nataliia Antoniuk expressed the belief that the representatives of the University, public authority, local government, non-governmental organizations should cooperate more closely to intensify Euro integration processes in Ukraine.

The head of the Local Government Development Centre in Lviv region Andriy Bryn stressed on the role of the European Union in support of the decentralization in Ukraine and functioning of consolidated local communities. He, in particular, accentuated that the activity of his institution was the part of the EU project “U-LEAD with Europe: The Program of empowerment on the local level, accountability and development for Ukraine” the budget of which was over one hundred million Euro.

The representative of the Lviv Regional State Administration Polina Li noted that the interaction with the EU on the local level concerned not only trans-border programs but the interregional cooperation as well. As an example, she gave the signing of the trilateral agreement on cooperation between Lviv region, Malopolska province in Poland and German Free State Thuringia that would be held in the coming days.

Andriy Kyrchiv, who deals with the problem of energy efficiency of Ukrainians cities, noted in his speech that the interaction with the EU even in narrow specialized matters made local government representatives optimize their activity as any project supported by the EU required the effective long term strategy of development.

Halyna Lytvyn, who heads the Association “Euro region Carpathians – Ukraine”, considered in details the programs of trans-border cooperation with the EU, noting that the participation in them shouldn’t be a goal in itself but it should help to create the conditions for further development of communities. She also accentuated that it was necessary to rely on the own resources and as a successful example she gave the contest of micro projects of local development implemented by the Lviv Regional Council.

The representative of the Agency of local economic development of Yavoriv district Iryna Kuropas emphasized on the positive aspects of local government participation in the EU programs one of which was the necessity to take into consideration the views of a local community and hold necessary consultations.

All seminar participants accentuated that one of the major challenges for the effective interaction of the EU on the regional and local levels was a personnel problem. The insufficient number of specialists complicates the proper implementation of the projects supported by the EU. This gap, according to experts, should be filled by the educational initiatives of the Ukrainian higher educational establishments, namely the master educational program of the faculty of international relations “European regional and local government”.