Belgium, (Brussels Morning Newspaper) The European Commission approved 225 Technical Support Instrument (TSI) reform projects today designed to help EU member states reform their administrations and economies so as to better align with the EC’s main priorities.
The Commission stressed that the reforms “will lead to modern and resilient public administrations, sustainable growth strategies and resilient economies while enhancing their capacity to react to current and future crises.”
Elisa Ferreira, European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, noted that the new crisis in Europe that has broken out because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine comes “while we were still recovering from the pandemic”.
The TSI, she said, would help member states and regions realise reforms intended to make them more resilient and support their growth, while preparing the way for digital and green transitions and ensuring that their public administrations are efficient and flexible.
The EC said the projects are strongly aligned with its “key priorities”, promising that the TSI would continue to help members to implement reforms “towards the green and digital transitions.” It noted that 51% of the projects are focused on the digital transition and 36% on the green push.
The TSI programme for 2022 includes innovative multi-region projects aimed at promoting development of common approaches and mutual learning, the EC stated. One flagship project will help EU member states implement reforms that support the renovation of buildings. Implementation of the European Child Guarantee flagship project, meanwhile, “offers technical support to implement actions and policies which prevent and combat child poverty and social exclusion.”
Roughly 50% of the TSI requests are linked to flagship projects, including “gender mainstreaming, public administration and migrant integration,” while about 30% are multi-region or multi-country projects, according to the EC.
The TSI is the Commission’s main tool for supporting reforms in EU member states and is part of the EU Recovery Plan and of the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework. It follows on the Structural Reform Support Programme which helped implement more than 1,400 projects across the bloc.
