C 498/14
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
30.12.2022
12.
welcomes in this context that on 16 September the European Commission committed to provide in this first phase EUR 150 million to help internally displaced people in Ukraine and EUR 100 million for the reconstruction of schools destroyed by Russian bombings but considers these amounts to be largely insufficient against the needs for first stage rapid recovery estimated at EUR 17 billion, of which EUR 3,4 billion already in 2022;
13. considers that the second stage of the rebuilding process should be dedicated to the restoration of critical infrastructure and services, including central heating, electricity, water and sewage, schools, hospitals and civilian housing.
Public works schemes would allow people in areas with significant destruction to be employed;
14. suggests that the third stage of the rebuilding process should lay the foundations for long-term sustainable growth based on a strategy of integrated planning at territorial level, capitalising on systemic approaches for sustainable, green, smart and inclusive territories and the OECD’s ‘build back better’ principle.
This stage should in particular focus on reaching the objective set by the Ukrainian government to reduce until 2030 all greenhouse gas emissions by 65 %.
Any investment in the energy sector should contribute to decarbonization and reducing Ukraine's dependence on fossil fuel, considering that 30 % of solar capacity and 90 % of wind energy facilities are destroyed or in territories occupied by Russian forces.
Investments should also focus on rebuilding the central heating systems of many Ukrainian municipalities to be replaced with modern central heating systems not based on burning fossil fuels.
It would also be critical at this stage to rebuild the housing stock, schools, hospitals in order to attract Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons back to their pre-war residences;
15. urges the European Union, Member States and international financial institutions to provide grants rather than loans as Ukraine will unlikely be able to service and repay additional debts in the short run.
Loans would increase the risk of a debt crisis in the future, considering that pre-war Ukraine was already carrying an external debt of approximately EUR 130 billion, corresponding to 80 % of GDP.
Where institutions cannot provide grants, loans should be provided with no or very low interest rates, especially for projects aimed at assisting municipalities;
16. considers that, in view of the launched EU accession process of Ukraine and in order to legitimize a strong coordination role for the EU in the reconstruction strategy, the European Commission should propose a substantial Ukraine Reconstruction Facility, which may be constructed on the same legal basis as the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility with repayment starting from 2027 onwards.
This Facility should enable the EU to pre-finance a significant share (40 %) of the costs of reconstruction and recovery in Ukraine, which were jointly estimated by the Government of Ukraine, the European Commission and the World Bank to amount to EUR 349 billion for the period between 24 February and 1 June 2022, which impacts particularly high in the housing, transport, commerce and industry sectors and destruction concentrated in the Chernihivska, Donetska, Luhanska, Kharkivska, Kyivska, and Zaporizka regions (oblasts);
17.
welcomes against this background the willingness of the group of Ukraine’s six creditor countries, announced on 20 July, to suspend the servicing of the debt that Ukraine has contracted with its members until the end of 2023;
18. encourages the European Union and international financial institutions to prepare the legal grounds for using Russian assets, frozen in the framework of sanctions, for Ukraine’s reconstruction process;
19.
insists that speed is critical for addressing the humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine and demands therefore that conditionalities would be reasonable and adapted to the circumstances and based on measurable, verifiable outcomes;
20. stresses that the reconstruction process should be built on increasing social and environmental standards and to approximate them with the EU acquis and invites therefore the Ukrainian authorities to fully adapt its labour legislation to the standards indicated by the International Labour Organization;
21.
welcomes the Lugano declaration's principle for democratic participation, demanding the recovery process to be a whole-of-society effort, including displaced citizens within Ukraine and abroad, local self-governance and effective decentralization.
The CoR also endorses the declaration’s support for multi-stakeholder engagement and emphasis on integrity, transparency and accountability as essential principles for the successful implementation of the National Recovery and Development Plan;