This Regulation establishes a Technical Support Instrument (the ‘instrument’).
It lays down the general objective and specific objectives of the instrument, the budget of the instrument for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027, the forms of Union funding and the rules for providing such funding.
Article 2 -
Definitions
For the purposes of this Regulation, the following definitions apply:
(1)
‘technical support’ means measures that help national authorities to implement institutional, administrative and structural reforms that are sustainable and resilience-enhancing, strengthen economic, social and territorial cohesion and support the public administration in the preparation of sustainable and resilience-enhancing investments;
(2)
‘national authority’ means one or more public authorities at the level of government, including those at regional and local level, as well as Member State organisations within the meaning of point (42) of Article 2 of the Financial Regulation, cooperating in a spirit of partnership in accordance with the Member States’ institutional and legal framework;
(3)
‘Union funds’ means the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund, the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, the Asylum and Migration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Border Management and Visa Instrument;
(4)
‘international organisation’ means an organisation within the meaning of Article 156 of the Financial Regulation and organisations assimilated to such an organisation pursuant to that Article;
(5)
‘European Semester for economic policy coordination’ or ‘European Semester’ means the process set out in Article 2-a of Council Regulation (EC) No 1466/97 (14);
(6)
‘country-specific recommendations’ means the Council recommendations addressed to each Member State in accordance with Articles 121(2) and 148(4) TFEU in the context of the European Semester.
Article 3 -
General objective
The general objective of the instrument shall be to promote the Union’s economic, social and territorial cohesion by supporting Member States’ efforts to implement reforms. This is necessary to encourage investment, to increase competitiveness and to achieve sustainable economic and social convergence, resilience and recovery. This is also necessary to support Member States’ efforts to strengthen their institutional and administrative capacity, including at regional and local level, to facilitate socially inclusive, green and digital transitions, to effectively address the challenges identified in the country-specific recommendations and to implement Union law.
Article 4 -
Specific objectives
To achieve the general objective set out in Article 3, the instrument shall have the specific objectives of assisting national authorities in improving their capacity to:
(a)
design, develop and implement reforms;
(b)
prepare, amend, implement and revise recovery and resilience plans pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/241.
Those specific objectives shall be pursued in close cooperation with the Member States concerned, including through exchange of good practices, processes and methodologies, stakeholder involvement, where appropriate, and a more effective and efficient human resources management.
Article 5 -
Scope
The specific objectives set out in Article 4 shall refer to policy areas related to cohesion, competitiveness, education, productivity, research and innovation, smart, fair, sustainable and inclusive growth, jobs and investment, with specific emphasis on actions that foster the digital and just green transitions, and in particular focus on one or more of the following:
(a)
public financial and asset management, budget process, including green and gender budgeting, macro-fiscal framework, debt and cash management, expenditure and tax policy, tax compliance, revenue administration and customs union, as well as fighting aggressive tax planning, tax fraud, tax evasion and tax avoidance;
(b)
institutional reform and efficient and service-oriented functioning of public administration and e-government, simplification of rules and procedures, auditing, enhancing capacity to absorb Union funds, promotion of administrative cooperation, effective rule of law, reform of the justice systems, capacity building of competition and antitrust authorities, strengthening of financial supervision and reinforcement of the fight against fraud, corruption and money laundering;
(c)
business environment, including for small and medium-sized enterprises, the self-employed, entrepreneurs and social economy enterprises, the re-industrialisation and relocation of production to the Union, private sector development, product and service markets, public and private investments including into physical and virtual infrastructure, project promoters and nurseries, public participation in enterprises, privatisation processes, trade and foreign direct investment, competition, efficient and transparent public procurement, sustainable sectoral development, and support for research, innovation and digitisation;
(d)
education, life-long learning and training, vocational education and training, youth policies, labour market policies, including social dialogue, for the creation of jobs, increased labour market participation of under-represented groups, up- and re-skilling in particular digital skills, media literacy, active citizenship, active ageing, gender equality, civil protection, border and migration policies, the promotion of social inclusion and the fight against poverty, income inequality and all forms of discrimination;
(e)
accessible, affordable and resilient public healthcare, social security systems, care and welfare, and childcare;
(f)
policies for the mitigation of climate change, the digital and just green transitions, e-government solutions, e-procurement, connectivity, data access and governance, data protection solutions, e-learning, use of Artificial Intelligence based solutions, the environmental pillar of sustainable development and environmental protection, climate action, transport and mobility, promoting the circular economy, energy and resource efficiency and renewable energy sources, achieving energy diversification, tackling energy poverty and ensuring energy security, and for the agricultural sector, soil and biodiversity protection, fisheries and the sustainable development of rural, remote and insular areas;
(g)
financial sector policies and regulation, including financial literacy, financial stability, access to finance and lending to the real economy, in particular for small and medium-sized enterprises, the self-employed and entrepreneurs;
(h)
the production, provision and quality monitoring of data and statistics;
(i)
preparation for membership of the euro area; and
(j)
early detection of and a coordinated response to substantial public health or security risks, as well as ensuring business and service continuity for essential public and private institutions and sectors.
Article 6 -
Budget
1. The financial envelope for the implementation of the instrument for the period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2027 shall be EUR 864 000 000 in current prices.
2. The financial envelope for the instrument may also cover expenses pertaining to preparatory, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities which are required for the management of the instrument and the achievement of its objectives, in particular studies, meetings of experts, information and communication actions, including corporate communication of the political priorities of the Union, in so far as they are related to the objectives of this Regulation, expenses linked to IT networks focusing on information processing and exchange, including corporate information technology tools, and all other technical and administrative assistance expenses incurred by the Commission for the management of the instrument. Expenses may also cover the costs of other supporting activities such as quality control and monitoring of technical support projects on the ground and the costs of peer counselling and experts for the assessment and implementation of structural reforms.
3. In addition to the financial envelope set out in paragraph 1, resources allocated to Member States under shared management may, at their request, and in accordance with the conditions and the procedure set out in a Regulation laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund Plus, the Cohesion Fund, the Just Transition Fund and the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund and financial rules for those and for the Asylum and Migration Fund, the Internal Security Fund and the Border Management and Visa Instrument, be transferred to the instrument for the purpose of financing clearly identified technical support requests, and transferred back if not committed. Those resources shall be used exclusively for the benefit of the Member State that requested the transfer, including at regional and local level.
Article 7 -
Payments for additional technical support
1. In addition to the technical support covered by the budget set out in Article 6, Member States may request additional technical support under the instrument and shall pay for the expenses pertaining to such additional support.
2. The payments made by a Member State on the basis of paragraph 1 of this Article shall constitute external assigned revenue provided by the basic act in accordance with Article 21(5) of the Financial Regulation and shall be used exclusively for the benefit of that Member State.
CHAPTER II - TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Article 8 -
Eligible actions for technical support
To pursue the objectives set out in Articles 3 and 4, the instrument shall finance, in particular, the following types of action:
(a)
the provision of expertise related to policy advice, policy change, formulation of strategies and reform roadmaps, as well as to legislative, institutional, structural and administrative reforms;
(b)
the short-term or long-term provision of experts, including resident experts, to perform tasks in specific domains or to carry out operational activities, where necessary with interpretation, translation and cooperation support, administrative assistance and infrastructure and equipment facilities;
(c)
institutional, administrative or sectoral capacity building and related supporting actions at all governance levels, also contributing to the empowerment of civil society, including social partners, as appropriate, in particular:
(i)
seminars, conferences and workshops, with, where appropriate, stakeholder involvement;
(ii)
exchanges of best practices, including, where appropriate, working visits to relevant Member States or third countries to enable officials to acquire or increase their expertise or knowledge in relevant matters;
(iii)
training actions and the development of online or other training modules to support the necessary professional skills and knowledge relating to the relevant reforms;
(d)
the collection of data and statistics, development of common methodologies, including on gender and climate mainstreaming and tracking, and, where appropriate, indicators or benchmarks;
(e)
the organisation of local operational support in areas such as asylum, migration and border control;
(f)
IT capacity building, including expertise related to development, maintenance, operation and quality control of the IT infrastructure and applications needed to implement the relevant reforms, cybersecurity, open source software and hardware solutions, data protection solutions as well as expertise related to programmes geared towards the digitalisation of public services, in particular in services such as healthcare, education or the judiciary;
(g)
the carrying out of studies, including feasibility studies, research, analyses and surveys, evaluations and impact assessments, including gender impact assessments, and the development and publication of guides, reports and educational material;
(h)
the establishment and execution of communication projects and strategies for learning including e-learning, cooperation, awareness raising, dissemination activities and exchange of good practices, organisation of awareness-raising and information campaigns, media campaigns and events, including corporate communication and, where appropriate, communication through social networks or platforms;
(i)
the compilation and publication of materials to disseminate information and the results of technical support provided under the instrument, including through the development, operation and maintenance of systems and tools using information and communication technologies; and
(j)
any other relevant activity in support of the general objective and specific objectives set out in Articles 3 and 4 respectively.
Article 9 -
Request for technical support
1. Member States wishing to receive technical support under the instrument shall submit a request for technical support to the Commission, identifying the policy areas and the priorities for support within the scope as set out in Article 5. Such requests shall be submitted by 31 October unless otherwise specified in the additional dedicated calls for requests referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article. The Commission may provide guidance on the main elements to be included in the request for technical support.
2. In order for the reforms pursued by Member States to gather wide support and ownership, Member States wishing to receive technical support under the instrument may consult, where appropriate, relevant stakeholders before requesting technical support, in accordance with national law and practices.
3. Members States may submit a request for technical support in circumstances linked to:
(a)
the implementation of reforms by Member States, undertaken on their own initiative and in accordance with the general objective and specific objectives set out in Articles 3 and 4 respectively;
(b)
the implementation of growth-sustaining and resilience-enhancing reforms in the context of economic governance processes, in particular the country-specific recommendations issued in the context of the European Semester or actions related to the implementation of Union law;
(c)
the implementation of economic adjustment programmes for Member States that receive Union financial assistance under existing instruments, in particular in accordance with Regulation (EU) No 472/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council (15) as regards the Member States whose currency is the euro and Council Regulation (EC) No 332/2002 (16) as regards Member States whose currency is not the euro;
(d)
the preparation, amendment and revision of recovery and resilience plans pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/241 and the implementation thereof undertaken by Member States.
4. The Commission shall organise additional dedicated calls for requests in response to specific emerging needs of Member States, such as for the submission of requests linked to the circumstances referred to in point (d) of paragraph 3.
5. Taking into account the principles of transparency, equal treatment and sound financial management and further to a dialogue with the Member States, including in the context of the European Semester, the Commission shall analyse the request for support referred to in paragraph 1 based on the urgency, breadth and depth of the challenges identified, support needs in respect of the policy areas concerned, analysis of socioeconomic indicators and institutional and general administrative capacity of the Member States concerned.
Based on that analysis and taking into account the existing actions and measures financed by Union funds or other Union programmes, the Commission and the Member States concerned shall agree on the priority areas for support, the objectives, an indicative timeline, the scope of the support measures to be provided and the estimated global financial contribution for such technical support, which shall be set out in a cooperation and support plan (the ‘cooperation and support plan’).
6. The cooperation and support plan shall identify, separately from other technical support, the measures linked to the recovery and resilience plans for Member States pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2021/241.
Article 10 -
Information to the European Parliament and to the Council and communication regarding cooperation and support plans
1. The Commission shall transmit, with the consent of the Member State concerned, the cooperation and support plan simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council without undue delay. The Member State concerned may refuse to give such consent in the case of sensitive or confidential information the disclosure of which would jeopardise public interests of the Member State.
2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the Commission shall transmit the cooperation and support plan to the European Parliament and to the Council:
(a)
as soon as the Member State concerned has redacted all sensitive or confidential information, the disclosure of which would jeopardise the public interests of the Member State;
(b)
after a reasonable period, when the disclosure of relevant information would not adversely affect the implementation of the support measures, and in any case no later than two months after the implementation of such measures under the cooperation and support plan.
3. The Commission may engage in communication activities to ensure the visibility of Union funding for support measures envisaged in the cooperation and support plans, including through joint communication activities with the national authorities and the representation offices of the European Parliament and of the Commission in the Member State concerned. The Commission shall publish on its website a list of approved requests for technical support and shall regularly update that list. The Commission shall regularly inform the representation offices of the European Parliament and of the Commission of projects in the Member States concerned.
Article 11 -
Complementary funding
Actions financed under the instrument may receive support from other Union programmes, instruments or funds under the Union budget provided that such support does not cover the same costs.
Article 12 -
Implementation of the instrument
1. The Commission shall implement the instrument in accordance with the Financial Regulation.
2. The measures under the instrument may be implemented either directly by the Commission or, indirectly, by persons or entities in accordance with Article 62(1) of the Financial Regulation. In particular, Union support for actions pursuant to Article 8 of this Regulation shall take the form of:
(a)
grants;
(b)
public procurement contracts;
(c)
reimbursement of costs incurred by external experts, including experts from the national, regional or local authorities of Member States providing or receiving support;
(d)
contributions to trust funds set up by international organisations; and
(e)
actions carried out through indirect management.
3. Grants may be awarded to the national authorities, the European Investment Bank group, international organisations, public or private bodies and entities legally established in:
(a)
Member States;
(b)
European Free Trade Association countries which are party to the European Economic Area Agreement, in accordance with the conditions laid down therein.
The co-financing rate for grants shall be up to 100 % of the eligible costs.
4. Technical support may be provided with the cooperation of other Member State entities and international organisations.
5. Technical support may also be provided by individual experts, who may be invited to contribute to selected activities organised wherever that is necessary for the achievement of the specific objectives set out in Article 4.
6. In order to implement the technical support, the Commission shall adopt work programmes by way of implementing acts and inform the European Parliament and the Council thereof.
Work programmes shall set out:
(a)
the allocation for the instrument;
(b)
the measures referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, in accordance with the general objective and specific objectives referred to in Articles 3 and 4 of this Regulation, respectively, and within the scope referred to in Article 5 and eligible actions set out in Article 8 of this Regulation; and
(c)
the selection and award criteria for grants and all the elements required by the Financial Regulation.
7. To ensure the timely availability of resources, a limited part of the work programme, not exceeding 30 % of the yearly allocation, shall be reserved for special measures in the event of unforeseen and duly justified grounds of urgency requiring an immediate response, including a serious disturbance in the economy or significant circumstances seriously affecting the economic, social or health conditions pertaining in a Member State and going beyond its control.
The Commission may, on request from a Member State wishing to receive technical support, adopt special measures in accordance with the objectives and actions set out in this Regulation to provide technical support to national authorities in addressing urgent needs. Such special measures shall be interim in nature and shall be linked to the circumstances laid down in Article 9(3). Such special measures shall end within six months of their adoption and may be replaced by technical support in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 9.
CHAPTER III - COMPLEMENTARITY, MONITORING AND EVALUATION
Article 13 -
Coordination and complementarity
1. The Commission and the Member States concerned shall, commensurate to their respective responsibilities, foster synergies and ensure effective coordination between the instrument and other Union programmes and instruments, and in particular with measures financed by the Union funds. For that purpose, they shall:
(a)
ensure complementarity, synergy, coherence and consistency among different instruments at Union, national and, where appropriate, regional and local level, in particular in relation to measures financed by Union funds, both in the planning phase and during implementation;
(b)
optimise mechanisms for coordination in order to avoid duplication of effort or overlaps;
(c)
ensure close cooperation between those responsible for implementation at Union, national and, where appropriate, regional and local level to deliver coherent and streamlined support actions under the instrument.
2. The Commission shall endeavour to ensure complementarity and synergies with support provided by other relevant international organisations.
Article 14 -
Monitoring of implementation
1. The Commission shall monitor the implementation of the instrument and measure the achievement of the general objective and specific objectives set out in Articles 3 and 4 respectively, including by making use of the cooperation and support plans. Indicators to be used for reporting on progress and for the purpose of monitoring and evaluation of this Regulation towards the achievement of the general objective and specific objectives are set in the Annex. The monitoring of implementation shall be targeted and proportionate to the activities carried out under the instrument.
2. The performance reporting system shall ensure that data for monitoring the implementation of the instrument and results are collected in an efficient, effective and timely manner and, where relevant and feasible, in a gender-disaggregated form. To that end, proportionate reporting requirements shall be imposed on recipients of Union funding.
Article 15 -
Annual report
1. The Commission shall provide an annual report simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council on the implementation of this Regulation (the ‘annual report’).
2. The annual report shall include information on:
(a)
requests for support submitted by Member States pursuant to Article 9(1);
(b)
the analysis of the application of the criteria referred to in Article 9(3), used to analyse the requests for support submitted by Member States;
(c)
cooperation and support plans as referred to in Article 9(5);
(d)
special measures adopted pursuant to Article 12(7);
(e)
the implementation of support measures, where appropriate also at national and regional level; and
(f)
the communication activities carried out by the Commission.
3. The European Parliament may invite the Commission to participate in an exchange of views with the competent committee of the European Parliament to discuss the annual report and the implementation of the instrument.
Article 16 -
Mid-term evaluation and ex post evaluation
1. By 20 February 2025, the Commission shall provide simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council, as well as to the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, an independent mid-term evaluation report on the implementation of this Regulation. That report shall, in particular, assess the extent to which the general objective and specific objectives referred to in Articles 3 and 4, respectively, have been achieved, the adequacy and the efficiency of the use of resources and the European added value. It shall also consider the continued relevance of all objectives and actions. Where appropriate, the results of the mid-term evaluation report may be used for any relevant legislative proposals.
2. By 31 December 2030, the Commission shall provide simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council, as well as to the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, an independent ex post evaluation report. That report shall consist of a global assessment of the implementation of this Regulation and shall include information on the impact of this Regulation in the long-term.
Article 17 -
Transparency
The Commission shall establish a single online public repository through which it may, subject to applicable rules and on the basis of consultation with the Member States concerned, make available final studies or reports produced as part of eligible actions set out in Article 8. Where justified, the Member States concerned may request that the Commission not disclose such documents without their prior agreement.
CHAPTER IV - TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 18 -
Information, communication and publicity
1. The recipients of Union funding shall acknowledge the origin of those funds and ensure the visibility of the Union funding, in particular when promoting the actions and their results, by providing coherent, effective and proportionate targeted information to multiple audiences, including the media and the public.
2. The Commission shall implement information and communication actions relating to the instrument, to actions taken pursuant to the instrument and to the results obtained, including, where appropriate and with the agreement of the national authorities, through joint communication activities with the national authorities and the representation offices of the European Parliament and of the Commission in the Member State concerned.
Article 19 -
Transitional provisions
1. Technical support actions and activities initiated on or before 31 December 2020 pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/825 shall continue to be governed by that Regulation until their completion.
2. The financial envelope set out in Article 6(1) of this Regulation may also cover technical and administrative assistance expenses, including monitoring, communication and evaluation required pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2017/825 and not completed by 31 December 2020.
3. If necessary, appropriations may be entered in the budget beyond 2020 to cover the expenses provided for in Article 6(2) of this Regulation relating to the management of actions and activities initiated under Regulation (EU) 2017/825 and not completed by 31 December 2020.
Article 20 -
Entry into force
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
