Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A report shows EU Commission backing for Member States to enforce reforms and to support EU competitiveness with 151 Technical Support Instrument projects in 2023.
The European Commission’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI) has stepped up its backing to Member States, to help them deliver on their reform agendas and crack EU political priorities into concrete steps on the ground, with a strong growth in reforms involving several countries and regions. This is the major conclusion of the 2023 Annual Report on the undertaking of the TSI that the Commission adopted.
What are the key findings of the TSI Annual Report?
Multi-country tasks covered 23% of the 151 new TSI projects that were established in 2023, with multi-regional projects accounting for 21%. These projects permitted Member States and regions to address common challenges jointly, in areas such as public administration and management, and the green and digital transitions.
For example, the Public Administration Cooperation Exchange (PACE) multi-country project managed 70 exchanges across 17 Member States for more than 300 attended, to support Member States’ administrative capabilities and exchange best practices.
What impact do TSI projects have on EU competitiveness?
The report also reveals how the EU Commission is boosting competitiveness across the EU. The 2023 TSI-supported projects traversed all nine drivers specified in the Single Market at 30 Communication and the 2024 Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report. These projects helped Member States in enforcing the Communication on long-term competitiveness.
TSI is also helping Member States with implementing the European industrial approach and the Green Deal industrial plan. Two multi-country projects helped Member States’ industrial ecosystems and allowed them to speed up the permitting process for renewable energy projects. The TSI is a demand-driven EU mechanism that provides tailor-made expertise to Member States’ authorities. Member States’ authorities apply for backing through annual calls. The Instrument delivers access to high-quality, tailored expertise and knowledge.
