By working together, it is easier — as well as cheaper and less resource-intensive — to resolve complex issues. Evidence of this can be found in 839 Ukrainian municipalities, which, as of 1 April 2025, had entered into 615 inter-municipal cooperation agreements. This kind of cooperation is becoming increasingly prominent, as it enables more effective responses to the challenges posed by the war.
“Inter-municipal cooperation has proven itself in practice as an effective tool for joining efforts to address common problems of municipalities. In particular, it is a tool that helps ensure sustainable development, balance services that are lacking in a particular municipality, and provides opportunities to exchange experiences and create joint projects,” says Andrii Dyshliuk, a Policy Advisor for Decentralisation and Local Self-Government at the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.
In July, Law 4425 came into force to introduce amendments regarding inter-municipal cooperation between laws such as the Law “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine” and the Law “On Inter-Municipal Cooperation”.
Updates to the procedure, formats and termination of the inter-municipal cooperation (IMC)
- Both granting consent to establish cooperation between municipalities and to the accession to existing municipal cooperation agreements fall within the exclusive competence of municipal councils (amendments to item 33-1 of Article 26(1) of the Law of Ukraine “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine”).
- From now on, an inter-municipal cooperation agreement can combine several municipal cooperation formats. For instance, one agreement can both assign certain functions and set forth the joint implementation of a project.
- A new inter-municipal cooperation format has been defined (Article 4(1) of the Law “On Inter-Municipal Cooperation” was supplemented by item 6), namely the establishment of an agglomeration.
“This is an opportunity for large urban municipalities and suburban areas to cooperate as functional zones. However, the final provisions of Law 4425 stipulate the adoption of a separate law on agglomerations. The new form enables municipalities to band together in larger groups to address a wide range of issues, including transportation, commerce and environmental matters. This is fairly similar to European models of inter-municipal agglomerations,” emphasises Andrii Dyshliuk.
- If a potential participant withdraws before the draft agreement is approved, the commission responsible for drafting the IMC agreement may decide to draft a new one.
“This makes the process more flexible and allows you not to avoid starting from scratch. In the previous version of the law, there was no clear procedure if one of the cooperating entities withdraw. In practice, this meant the breakdown of agreements and the beginning of new negotiations with other partners,” adds the expert.
- In the case of joining the cooperation initiative, all procedures, from negotiations, preparation, public consultations to approval of the draft additional accession agreement, are carried out by the municipality that joins the cooperation agreement.
- One copy of the cooperation agreement and the supplementary accession agreement shall be submitted for entry into the Register of Inter-Municipal Cooperation of the Ministry of Economic Development (the body maintaining the Register) on or before the fifth business day following the date of signing of the agreement by all parties.
- Two new grounds for terminating the inter-municipal cooperation have been provided, namely lack of cooperation for a year and changes in the administrative and territorial structure (merger/accession of all cooperation entities).
Disclosing decisions and public participation
Another development in IMC legislation is the requirement for greater transparency in establishing the inter-municipal cooperation and the involvement of local residents in this process.
- Meetings of the commission for the drafting of a cooperation agreement, as per Article 7(2) of Law 1508, are now subject to video recording, and the recording of the meeting must be stored for at least five years. Decisions are made by a majority vote of the commission members. Furthermore, the video recording of the meeting is an integral part of the minutes of the commission meeting and must be published on the official websites of all cooperation entities within five business days after the meeting.
- Instead of a public discussion of the cooperation proposal, Article 6(2) of Law 1508 now provides for public consultations on the proposal.
“This is not just a change in terminology. First, public consultations provide for certain regulations. Second, the official nature of gathering public opinions is emphasised. The amended article also states that the mayor of the municipality, having received a proposal for cooperation, must review it together with the executive bodies of the council within 60 days and hold public consultations with citizens,” says Andrii Dyshliuk.
The introduction of a mandatory public consultation procedure in the process of granting consent to cooperation with other municipalities gives a voice in this process to the public. However, it also causes certain difficulties at the moment: although adopted, the Law of Ukraine “On Public Consultations” will not come into force until 12 months after martial law is lifted in Ukraine.
According to Tetiana Filatova, Policy Advisor for Decentralisation and Local Self-Government of the Regional Office of U-LEAD with Europe in Kharkiv Oblast, today local self-government bodies, in compliance with the final and transitional provisions of Law 4425, must be guided by their own local regulations (decisions of the council) regarding the procedure for public consultations. This includes Charters of Municipalities. If the Charter of Municipality is yet to be adopted or brought into line with the law on democracy at the local self-government level, the municipality must be guided by the decisions of the councils that were in force as of 8 January 2025 (final and transitional provisions of Law 3703).
“If your municipality is interested in cooperation and wishes to formalise it correctly, ensure compliance with the law regarding public discussions as one of the formats of public consultations,” says Tetiana Filatova.
The role of local residents in inter-municipal cooperation is also significantly strengthened by legal provisions that enshrine their right to initiate it. This right is exercised by the residents of a municipality through local initiatives. Here, too, we have a caveat, as the procedure for submitting a local initiative is determined by the Charter of Municipality. If the Charter is yet to been adopted or brought into line with the law on democracy at the local self-government level, be guided by Article 9 of the Law “On Local Self-Government in Ukraine”, specifically regarding the written format of local initiatives, as well as the procedure for their consideration by the council, which includes the mandatory invitation of the initiators and the adoption of a decision.
“In this case, also refer to the transitional provisions of Law 3703, which state that until the Charter is adopted or brought into line with the law on local self-government, local self-government bodies should be guided by their local decisions that were in effect as of 8 January 2025,” says Tetiana Filatova.
Exceptions to the procedure, financing and martial law
Like every rule, however, there are exceptions to the law. All of the above developments regarding transparency, disclosure of the process of establishing inter-municipal cooperation, and public participation, as provided for in Articles 5–8 of Law 1508, may not apply to certain types of inter-municipal cooperation agreements under martial law and for six months after it is lifted.
These include agreements on supporting the security and defence sector; mitigating the consequences of armed aggression; ensuring the rights and freedoms of internally displaced persons; providing rehabilitation and support to war veterans, defenders of Ukraine, their family members and family members of deceased war veterans.
“Article 8(1) was added to the Law to reflect today’s realities. It establishes special conditions for the applicability of the law under martial law and a state of emergency. This provision ensures flexibility and rapid response in critical periods and allows municipalities to respond quickly to challenges,” says Andrii Dyshliuk.
Moreover, during the state of emergency, the provisions of Articles 5–8 of Law 1508 may not apply to agreements on mitigating the consequences of emergencies at the state, regional and local levels.
In addition, Part 5 of Article 9 of Law No. 1508 provides for the possibility of extending the term of an IMC agreement to achieve cooperation objectives without public consultations, as well as enshrines the right to finance cooperation activities in the current budget year within the budget allocations, without waiting for the next budget period.
Summarising the review of developments in the field of inter-municipal cooperation, experts note clearer legal regulation of many cooperation issues. They also advise municipalities to develop and approve their own charters now in order to comply with the law on public consultations in the process of establishing inter-municipal cooperation.
