Following the signing of the Programmatic Cooperation Framework Agreement (PCF) between the EU and the Council of Europe, a new project has been launched with the aim of strengthening institutional framework for local governance in the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.

Jointly implemented by the DG II and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, the project has been officially presented to delegates of the six EaP countries. The Project’s steering committee met for the first time on 15 April 2015 to discuss and approve the priorities and operations plan for 2015.

It was agreed that the Project will provide legal assistance to governments in their efforts to reform local authorities and enhance their capacity; support the improvement of financial resources management through the Local Finance Benchamark developed by the Council of Europe and it will foster Inter Municipal Co-operation (IMC) through the implementation of the Council of Europe specific toolkit.

All participating countries proved to be willing to share experiences among themselves and to do the utmost to achieve Project’s rather ambitious goals.