Strategic vision of regional development policy: Short-term and mid-term recommendations for Ukraine’s alignment with Chapter 22 of the EU acquis

The report outlines the stakes and opportunities for Ukraine to achieve EU accession and post-war reconstruction simultaneously, focusing on regional development and territorial cohesion. In short, it lays out a strategic vision for Ukraine’s regional development policy that goes beyond mere administrative reform and addresses core issues of territorial equity, economic recovery, and national security. In doing so, the paper tackles fundamental questions of policy instruments tailored to differentiated territorial realities, capacities of local communities, coordination of policy interventions, and stable financing. It argues that Ukrainian policymakers involved in the design, implementation, and monitoring of an EU-compatible, crisis-resilient regional development policy will have to home in on institutional quality, capacity-building, strong and sustainable financing mechanisms, asymmetric devolution, multi-level coordination, citizen involvement, and evidence-based policymaking.