On Tuesday 2 March, the European Commission presented the first 226 reform projects to be supported in all Member States by the European Technical Support Instrument 2021-2027, amounting to €102.6 million for the year 2021 (see EUROPE 12624/4).
“Reform is not a goal in itself, but the means to an end”, said the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira. She argued that the Commission always acts in response to a request from a Member State to help it develop and implement structural reform. Our mission is to help a public administration, the “backbone” of a State, to be better equipped, especially to manage the financial windfall of the Next Generation EU recovery plan, she argued.
According to the Commissioner, 63% of the projects supported through the European instrument will be used to prop up Member States’ efforts in the implementation of their national recovery plans. In addition, 75% of the selected projects aim to promote ecological and digital transitions.
When a project is supported by the EU instrument, the expertise sought comes from Commission officials themselves, international organisations, the private sector, academia or a partnership between Member States, said a senior European official.
In France, four projects are concerned, including the integration of sustainable development in public administration, improving the autonomy of the elderly or improving the management of public property. The French authorities also provide expertise to other Member States.
The Commission has set up a system for assessing the indirect economic impact of the service. The public administration’s digitisation projects have had a strong beneficial impact during the Covid-19 pandemic, the official said.
More information on the European Technical Support Instrument for reforms: https://bit.ly/2ProtBP
See the projects supported in 2021: http://bit.ly/3q9pz1R (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)