By KYIV. Nov 13 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The European Commission (EC) recommends that Ukraine reject bill No.5655 on urban planning reform, as follows from the report on the EU enlargement policy.
“Ukraine should refrain from enacting the law on urban planning in its current form as it creates integrity risks resulting from delegating excessive control powers in urban planning control from public to private entities, and leads to the disempowerment of local authorities in this sphere,” according to the European Commission’s report.
It also notes the need to complete decentralization reform in the country.
“Draft constitutional amendments in particular, aimed at ensuring that decentralisation reform is sustainable and irreversible, have not yet been taken forward due to the ban on constitutional revisions during martial law,” the EC said in the document.
According to the EC, in particular, rules of supervision of local authorities’ activities, in line with the European Charter of Local Self-Government have not yet been set up. Work should continue on granting legal personality to municipalities under public law, based on European practice.
Regarding fiscal decentralization, there is a need to ensure a strong local fiscal base to avoid disproportionate financial vulnerability of municipalities.
“This can be done through a fair distribution of PIT [personal income tax] to municipalities where the taxpayers actually reside and a necessary extension of sources of local taxation,” according to the report.
As reported, on November 8, the European Commission recommended that the European Council begin negotiations with Ukraine on EU membership. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said if the EU Council opens negotiations with Ukraine on accession to the EU, work on the process can start immediately.
