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TWINNING IN THE EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD

Suzana LANGEProgramme manager Twinning, TAIEX and SIGMAEuropeAid – Neighbourhood Directorate

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The European Neigbourhood Policy - Countries Morocco

Algeria

Tunisia

Libya*

Egypt

Israel

oPt*

Jordan

Lebanon Syria*

Armenia

Georgia

Azerbaijan Ukraine

Moldova

Belarus*

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- More than 230 twinnings launched in 12 Neighbourhood countries for an overall budget of € 235 million

- focusing on institutional capacity building...

- ... and legal harmonisation/approximation

- mainly in the Finance, Trade and Industry, Justice and Home Affairs sectors (more than 50% of total)

e.g. "Support to the State Labour Inspectorate Service (SLIS) in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) enhancement in the Republic of Azerbaijan"

Since 2004…

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WHAT IS TWINNING?

• It is a cooperation tool between a Public Administration in a Beneficiary Country (BC) and the equivalent institution in an European Union (EU) Member State (MS)

• It aims at upgrading/modernising an administration in a BC though training, reorganisation as well as drafting of laws and regulations modelled after the EU acquis

• It consists in sending to the BC a resident twinning adviser (RTA) (12-24 months) and a number of medium and short-term experts coming from the EU MS administration(s) implementing the twinning...

• ...to achieve the "mandatory results" commonly agreed by the MS and the BC partners and detailed in the contract

• The mobilisation of both administrations is ensured through the designation of their respective project leaders (high civil servants in general)

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Twinning - fundamental principles

• It should relate to the domains of co-operation included in Association Agreements (AA) and Annual Action Plans (AAP) agreed between the EU and the BC

• It is demand-driven

• The capacity development of the targeted public administration in the BC is supported by equivalent institution(s) in EU MS

• It should entail structural reforms and solve a systemic problem; at the end of the project the adapted system must be self-sufficient and functions under the sole responsibility of the BC

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Twinning - fundamental principles

• It includes elements of approximation to the EU acquis whenever possible

• It does NOT aim at replicating a particular MS administrative system but at introducing EU wide best practices

• There is a commitment between both partners to work towards commonly agreed mandatory results - the beneficiary administration is not only the recipient of the assistance but as well the co-actor of changes

• The BC administration should host the RTA inside its premises and designate a RTA counterpart to work hand-in-hand

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Twinning: some recent trends

- Keep the demand-driven approach but enhance it with a more global and coherent strategic approach (founded on the Association Agreements, the Annual Action Plans including the Comprehensive Institution Building's (CIB) priorities for the East)

- Revise and refine the reference to the EU acquis and to relevant fields of co-operation

- Better involve political decision-makers in the twinning process

- Improve twinning feasibility, impact and sustainability through revision of the following selection criteria:

1. Improve compatibility of the needs expressed with twinning eligibility criteria (is twinning the appropriate tool?)

2. Select only focused and realistic mandatory results

3. Ensure that the absorption capacity of beneficiaries is sufficient

4. Ensure that the BAs are fully committed

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Twinning project "support to the State Labour Inspectorate Service (SLIS) in Occupational Health and Safety (OHS)

enhancement in the Republic of Azerbaijan

MS partner: German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social AffairsDuration: 19.4.2011-19.12.2012

Pre-Component: Draft National OHS Policy Framework Component 1: Specification for Occupational Health and Safety

management systems is preparedComponent 2: Indicators to monitor OHS Inspection are set up Component 3: New operational documents and procedures on OHS are

developed and Labour Inspectors are trained to use themComponent 4: Strengthened training capacity on occupational health and

safety through a train-the-trainer approachComponent 5: More efficient communication tools created and technical

needs for a field inspection suitcase defined

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Thank you!

http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/where/neighbourhood/overview/twinning_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/how-does-it-work/technical-assistance/twinning_en.htm

DEVCO F4 – Secretariat +32 2 29 87083