The EU’s Role in Reforming Local Self-Government in Ukraine: From Governance to Conditionality

The Moynihan Institute’s Center for European Studies presents visiting Fulbright scholar Mariana Semenyshyn.

Local self-government (LSG) or “decentralization” reform has been recognized as one of the most impressive structural transformations of Ukraine since the Euromaidan (2013-2014) revolution. It gained a special significance in 2022 when Ukraine became an EU candidate country and LSG reform was made a part of the accession negotiations between the EU and Ukraine.

The reform has been supported by the EU as a part of its broader capacity building efforts aimed at enhancing governance in Ukraine. However, more than ten years since its start, decentralization remains unfinished. While the EU negotiations could accelerate the reform’s progress, the complexity of necessary transformations makes finding consensus on important reform milestones challenging. 

In her research, Mariana Semenyshyn explores the EU’s role in supporting LSG reform and how Ukraine and the EU can further build on this reform as part of the negotiations process.

Team Leader, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, GIZ UkraineVisiting Fulbright Scholar, Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs

For more than eight years Mariana has been responsible for designing and implementing capacity development measures for municipal officials from across Ukraine. Mariana holds a double master’s degree from the University of Glasgow and University of Tartu focusing on Central and Eastern Europe. Since October 2024 she is a visiting Fulbright scholar at the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Her research deals with the impact of local self-government reform on Ukraine’s public governance in the context of EU’s integration.