30.12.2022
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
C 498/13
involvement in the reconstruction of Ukraine’ (1) released in September 2022; considers that decentralised reconstruction process is also the best way to give Ukrainian citizens a perspective for staying in their country and thereby moderate further immigration flows.
At the same time, the CoR rejects artificial impediments on the immigration of Ukrainian citizens and asks for a revision of the Council Directive 2001/55/EC (2) on Temporary Protection to be considered soon in order to provide refugees with a residence guarantee of more than three years;
6.
welcomes the European Council’s decision to grant candidate country status to Ukraine.
The candidate status should become the driver for new efforts by the Ukrainian administration for reforms and the reconstruction should be an opportunity for further approximation to EU standards and policies.
Against this background, the CoR stresses that the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU already covers approximatively 70 % of the EU acquis; expects Ukraine to continue its fight against corruption, which was identified in the European Commission opinion on Ukraine’s application for membership of the European Union as one of the seven sectors for urgent reforms (3) and will be assessed by the end of 2022.
The reforms should also provide guarantees for a transparent and equitable distribution of aid funds;
7. points out that the CoR could launch actions, including within the framework of a joint consultative committee, aimed at preparing, in particular, approximation with the EU cohesion policy acquis, and to support capacity-building and good governance through peer learning and the exchange of good practices;
General principles for the process of rebuilding Ukraine 8. welcomes the Lugano Declaration, which recognizes the Ukraine-led draft of the Recovery and Development Plan as an overarching framework guiding the recovery process, allowing for coordinated multi-stakeholder participation and partnerships;
9. calls on the international community, with the EU in the lead, to establish an effective coordination platform between the Government of Ukraine and all its bilateral as well as multilateral partners, organisations and international financial institutions and donors for the preparation and implementation of Ukraine’s Recovery and Development Plan and considers that the European Commission’s plans to establish a Ukraine Reconstruction Platform, coordinating all donor funding for the reconstruction of Ukraine, as pivotal to that effect provided that the Platform fully integrates the partnership principle and involves the Alliance of cities and regions for reconstruction of Ukraine as a fully-fledged partner at all stages of its planning and implementation phases;
10. concurs with the view that the process of rebuilding Ukraine should be differentiated both in terms of timeline, security risk and regional exposure to the war and specific cohesion challenges (4).
The first stage, probably while hostilities still last, should be the emergency response, the second stage dedicated to the restoration of critical infrastructure and services and the third stage to paving the way for long-term sustainable growth.
In all these three phases of reconstruction, it is important to focus on building the capacity of municipalities to empower local authorities in Ukraine so that they can coordinate the reconstruction of their territory themselves;
11. calls on the EU and other international donors, including individual Members States, to provide in the first stage immediate relief funding to help the Ukrainian population to get safely through the next winter.
In the frontline regions this funding should target humanitarian aid (food, fuel, medicine, systems for drinking water and for treating drinking water, etc.), the provision of temporary housing (tents, pre-fabricated housing blocks, heating systems, etc.), mine clearance as well as logistical support for keeping these regions connected, and also be used to provide the necessary means of transport, such as buses, ambulances, fire engines, trucks, excavators, etc.
In relatively safe regions and those fairly distant from combat, technical support should be provided to help with the delivery of services, the housing and integration of internally displace people, relocation of industrial capacity and the securing of transport corridors for humanitarian aid inwards and Ukrainian exports outwards;
(1) (2) (3) (4)
https://cor.europa.eu/en/engage/studies/Pages/default.aspx?from=01/01/2022&to=01/01/2023 Council Directive 2001/55/EC of 20 July 2001 on minimum standards for giving temporary protection in the event of a mass influx of displaced persons and on measures promoting a balance of efforts between Member States in receiving such persons and bearing the consequences thereof (OJ L 212, 7.8.2001, p. 12).
European Commission opinion on Ukraine's application for membership of the European Union, 17 June 2022, COM(2022) 407.
See Blueprint for the Reconstruction of Ukraine: https://cepr.org/publications/books-and-reports/blueprint-reconstruction-ukraine