CEUTP experts at the TAIEX forum

CEUTP has been benefiting from the European Commission’s TAIEX technical assistance instrument for many years. It is one of several EU platforms for knowledge transfer between representatives of public administrations in EU countries. What do we, as CEUTP experts, share and learn from at TAIEX? What exactly does it involve and what benefits does it bring?

TAIEX – what is it for and who is it dedicated to?

TAIEX is one of the technical assistance and information exchange instruments of the European Commission (EC). It was created to support public administrations in Member States in the approximation, application and execution of EU legislation. Alongside Twinning or[1] the Regio Peer 2 Peer[2] network, it is one of the most effective platforms for the exchange of good practice, both between officials working in Member States and between public administrations from the European Union (EU) and those representing third countries. TAIEX can be used by civil officials, mainly representing central public administration, judicial and law enforcement authorities, civil officials working in parliaments and legislative councils, as well as representatives of social partners, trade unions and employers’ associations.

The year 2023 coincides with the 25th anniversary of Twinning and TAIEX. Both instruments have undergone numerous changes since their establishment in 1998, expanding their scopes and geographical coverage. As they have developed, however, they have remained true to their core mission, which in the case of both instruments is to support partner countries in their efforts to align with EU standards, and in the case of TAIEX is additionally the exchange of good practices between public sector employees in member countries.

TAIEX is based on a network of contact points at national public institutions implementing or enforcing EU legislation. These contact points help TAIEX identify experts in the relevant ministries or agencies, as requested. Most TAIEX events have publicly accessible programmes and presentations, which are regularly published on the EC’s official TAIEX website. Although all events are tailored to the recipients, the beneficiaries can draw inspiration from similar TAIEX events held previously. This is a good starting point for anyone considering application to a TAIEX event and looking for experts in the field.[3]

TAIEX has been structured by the EC Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) to flexibly respond to the beneficiary’s needs by providing relevant, tailor-made expertise in three available formats:

• workshops: experts from EU Member States present specific areas of EU legislation in workshops with beneficiary officials from other countries, drawing on their experience and knowledge;
• expert missions: experts from EU Member States are sent to the beneficiary administration to provide detailed advice on the transposition, implementation or enforcement of a specific part of EU legislation;
• study visits: a group of several practitioners from the beneficiary’s administration participates in a study visit to the administration of an EU Member State.[4]

As indicated in the DG NEAR publication presenting the annual output of TAIEX and Twinning in 2022,[5] the pan-European TAIEX expert network is growing significantly. More and more public sector employees of EU Member States with expertise in various sectors are registering in the TAIEX database. The number of institutional contact points in individual member states is also increasing. TAIEX experts are available as speakers for seminars, workshops, expert missions or invited for study visits corresponding to their specific profile. A 55% increase in the number of TAIEX events in 2022 compared to 2021, owing to the use of virtual and hybrid practices honed during the pandemic, is reported in the same publication.

(…) More than 150 TAIEX events supported the implementation of EU economic and investment plans in the enlargement regions in 2022. For example, in November 2022, officials from Morocco visited partners in Portugal to exchange policy insights on renewable energy and energy efficiency. In turn, TAIEX experts from France and Italy worked with rail regulators in Kosovo on harmonising certification to promote safe and interoperable rail traffic and improve connectivity in the Western Balkans. Our world-leading technical assistance, combined with EU investment in green and digital transformation, improves the business environment, boosts trade and supports job opportunities (…). – Olivér Várhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.

CEUTP expertise at the TAIEX forum

As stated on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Polish experts participate in around 70-100 different TAIEX activities each year, placing our country among the top ten most active EU countries in this forum.[6]

Each year, the CEUTP and its experts become more and more involved in TAIEX projects both by transferring Polish know-how to representatives of other countries in the form of expert missions or workshops and by acting as beneficiaries of TAIEX events, during which one learns from specialists representing other Member States. Most often, when applying to the EC to host an expert mission, CEUTP uses the knowledge of representatives of Intermediate, Managing and Audit Institutions from other EU countries.

The first activities of CEUTP experts at TAIEX took place in 2019. Since then, CEUTP staff have actively participated in several TAIEX events per year as participants at times CEUTP are hosts and main beneficiaries. The institution also employs several experts who have had the opportunity to share their know-how at TAIEX events in various formats (onsite and online) over the last years to train officials from other Member States.

Selected TAIEX events attended by CEUTP experts

Online workshop on best practice in the application of Article 6(3) of the Habitats Directive

Date: 5-6 May 2022

Mission Host: Cyprus

Topics:

• Current EU legislation on nature conservation directives, including the Habitats Directive 92/43/EEC and accompanying methodological recommendations.
• Discussion on the need to develop robust and appropriate conservation objectives for individual Natura 2000 sites to carry out appropriate qualitative assessments.
• Methodology for transposing the conservation status of habitat types and species at national/biogeographical level to individual Natura 2000 sites.
• Standard data forms, management plans and issues of imposing additional data collection requirements.

Online expert mission on administrative capacity strengthening for the Managing Authorities and the Operational Programme Transport and Transport Infrastructure (OPTTI) organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bulgaria (Part I)

Mission Host: Bulgaria

Date 12-13 September 2022

Topics:

• Provision of knowledge on EU and Polish legislation on the use of alternative fuels and the programme for building charging infrastructure on public roads.
• Discussion on the challenges of implementing the EC proposal for a new regulation on alternative fuels.
• Transfer of experience in evaluating applications for EU funding for the construction of vehicle charging points.
• Presentation of environmental issues in the planning and construction of electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Online expert mission on administrative capacity strengthening for the Managing Authorities (IZ) and the Operational Programme Transport and Transport Infrastructure (OPTTI) organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Bulgaria (Part II)

Mission Host: Bulgaria

Date: 3-5 October 2022

Topics:

• Application of green criteria in public procurement and calculators used by some countries to calculate CO2 emissions in public works contracts, national legal and organisational frameworks, cases of application of such criteria and tools in practice and related challenges, etc.
• Legal requirements for the application of the DNSH principle in projects applying for EU funding.

Workshop on the transition to green road transport infrastructure in Azerbaijan organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport

Date: 3-4 November 2022

Location: Azerbaijan

Topics:

• Exchange of experience on specific aspects related to transport environmentalisation.
• Issues related to the implementation of legislation on the introduction of electric vehicles in cities.
• EU requirements and experiences on the environmental impact assessment procedure for transport projects (road construction) and environmental requirements and good practices for the planning and construction of road infrastructure.
• EU requirements for adaptation to climate change, including ensuring resilience to potential extreme weather events.

TAIEX expert mission on the implementation of a management strategy for the Environment sector in Tunisia

Date: 12-16 December 2022

Location: Tunisia

Topics:

• Environmental management and institutions in Poland and Italy dealing with environmental issues, including the competences breakdown.
• Environmental impact assessment procedure for infrastructure investments.
• Strategic Environmental Impact Assessment procedure for policies, plans and strategies, climate change.
• Air and water protection and climate change issues.

TAIEX-REGIO international workshop on the application of the DNSH principle and the selection of operational measures

Location: Denmark

Date: 22-23 March 2023

Topics:

• Presentation of experiences on the practical application of the DNSH principle when applying for EU funds.
• Presentation of draft documents related to verification and confirmation of compliance with the DNSH principle, including presentation of a Polish example of a model grant application form and examples of evidence of compliance with the principle.
• Discussion of the challenges associated with the practical aspect of project preparation, including the issue of fossil fuel transport and the potential for significant negative impacts on Natura 2000 sites.
• Presentation of a table comparing the approach in Poland and Bulgaria on selected requirements set out in the Commission’s Notice “Technical guidance on the application of the ‘do no significant damage’ principle under the Regulation establishing an Instrument for National Recovery and Resilience” (2021/C 58/01).

Mission: Series of events on anti-fraud administrative capacity strengthening

Host country: Bulgaria

Date: 02-04 May 2023

Topics:

• Fraud prevention, legal framework for the financial perspective 2021 – 2027
• Conflict of interest – prevention and detection, possibly in the area of public procurement
• Risk analysis (examples of specific risk analyses – areas and factors and price indexation, provisions in contracts to mitigate the risk of price increases, especially in the field of works contracts)

Online expert mission on risks associated with the implementation of major transport projects organised in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and Communications in Bulgaria (Managing Authority (MA) OPTTI)

Mission Host: Bulgaria

Date: 12-13 June 2023

Topics:

• Exchanging the knowledge and experience of experts from Poland, Cyprus and Bulgaria in managing the investment process of transport projects.
• Presentation of challenges related to environmental protection in the investment process and possible risks and hazards during project implementation.
• Presentation of challenges related to the implementation of the DNSH principle in the process of assessing applications for EU funding in Poland and Cyprus.

Workshop on auditing: conflict of interest, sustainable procurement and price indexation

Host country: Croatia

Date: 25-27 October 2023

Topics:

• Conflict of interest (avoiding/reducing the risk of conflict of interest from project selection to project implementation).
• Sustainable procurement (examples of good practice, including data collection and analysis to assess whether a project is sustainable).
• Price indexation (formulas and best practices of Member States – indexation calculators).

Selected experiences of the CEUTP in the implementation of the TAIEX mission as a beneficiary host

One of the first expert missions requested by the CEUTP, and therefore the CEUTP and Polish experts were the beneficiaries, was an online expert mission organized on 14-18 June 2021 on the risk management and control process. The aim of the mission was to support the CEUTP on the risk management and control process for transport projects financed by European structural and investment funds. It was attended by speakers from the Central Finance and Procurement Agency in Croatia, the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications in Bulgaria and the Audit Agency for Systems for the Implementation of European Union Programmes (ARPA) in Croatia. Topics focused on issues such as:

• Management and control system for European Structural and Investment Funds at the national level – Transport Strategy for Bulgaria;
• Activities and procedures of the Managing Authority for the Operational Programme Transport and Transport Infrastructure for Bulgaria;
• Establishment and procedures of the Audit Authority for transport projects in Croatia. Presentation of the electronic information system;
• Methods of prevention, detection and correction of irregularities and fraud – anti-fraud policy, self-assessment of fraud risk. National strategy for preventing and combating irregularities and fraud affecting the financial interests of the EU for the period 2021-2027;
• ARACHNE system use by the Managing Authority for the Transport and Transport Infrastructure Operational Programme for Bulgaria and Croatia;
• Statistics on irregularities and fraud;
• Project monitoring and risk management at the level of the Managing/Intermediate Body and Audit Authority – additional methods and tools used in the management and monitoring of projects and risks;
• Common risks for the implementation of major transport projects in Croatia. Ex-ante verifications and controls of public procurements, methodologies for controlling proceedings, analysis of specific violations (prepared by an expert of the Control and Audit Department of CEUTP) of provisions of the Polish Public Procurement Law (in relation to EU normative acts) by experts from Croatia and Bulgaria.

Among the recent events in the category of those in which it was CEUTP staff who drew on the experience of other member states were two three-day online expert missions held in November 2023. The first was on the issue of environmental protection in the implementation of transport projects with a focus on the ‘do no significant harm’ (DNSH) principle, and the second on indexation with inflation clauses and breach detection in contracts for transport investment projects.

The main objective of the first mission was to enable the exchange of good practices in the evaluation of projects applying for EU funding under the Instrument for Reconstruction and Enhanced Resilience implemented in Poland under the National Recovery Plan and the Cohesion Fund. The expert mission focused on two environmental criteria: compliance with the DNSH principle and compliance with environmental legislation. Experts from Bulgaria, Latvia and Croatia were invited to share their knowledge and experience.

The aim of the second mission was to bring the most up-to-date practices and experiences from other EU Member States (also Bulgaria, Croatia and Latvia) on price valorisation, green and social procurement, contract amendments and modifications, and the European risk assessment tool for ARACHNE projects.

TAIEX – reasons to participate

TAIEX missions provide an excellent opportunity to present Polish system solutions and know-how on the international forum. What, in addition to the above-mentioned benefits of participating in TAIEX events, particularly encourages us to continue our activities in this field, is precisely the awareness of building a positive image of Poland and our expertise in many fields.

A positive aspect of our presence at TAIEX is certainly also connected to the possibility of expanding our network of contacts with experts and institutions carrying out the same or similar tasks in other countries, which often translates into long-term professional close relations between them in the future. Sometimes they also result in joint inter-institutional ventures and projects from which not only the experts themselves, but their organisations benefit.

It is also worth mentioning that participation in TAIEX events has a positive impact on the development and professional satisfaction of those taking part. The increase in competence through the opportunity to learn from people in the industry in other countries contributes at the same time to strengthening our institution and equips it with very practical, specialized knowledge.

We will report on further activities of CEUTP and our experts at TAIEX 2024 in future issues of the Bulletin. You can read more about TAIEX events with the participation of CEUTP experts under “International cooperation” bookmark.

[1] Twinning is a programme set up at the initiative of the EC in 1998 to support public institutions and contribute to the development of modern administrations in countries covered by EC-funded programmes, such as: ENI, IPA. Under the IPA programme, recipients of Twinning projects include EU candidate countries, while the ENPI programme is intended for countries covered by the Neighbourhood and Partnership Policy. Twinning is a partnership between public institutions from donor and recipient countries. This cooperation is based on the transfer to the recipient country of the donor country’s experience in implementing EU law. See https://twinning.msz.gov.pl/korzysci.

[2] The piloting Regio Peer 2 Peer programme is run by the EC Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations along with the EC Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy. It is aimed at public institutions involved in the management of the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund. The Peer 2 Peer network supports knowledge sharing between EU Member State public sector experts. See http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/pl/policy/how/improving-investment/taiex-regio-peer-2-peer/.

[3] See https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/funding-and-technical-assistance/taiex_en.

[4] TAIEX’s assistance mandate covers countries such as: Turkey, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo, the Turkish Cypriot community in the northern part of Cyprus, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Moldova, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia and Ukraine; all countries covered by the Partnership Instrument; EU Member States within the framework of administrative cooperation with DG Regional and Urban Policy, DG Environment and DG Structural Reform Support, partner countries and territories covered by the Directorate-General for International Partnerships. See: https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/funding-and-technical-assistance/taiex_en.

[5] See TAIEX and Twinning Highlights 2022 https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-10/TAIEX-AAR-2022.pdf.

[6] The National Contact Point in the Development Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for the coordination of Twinning and TAIEX in Poland. See https://www.gov.pl/web/polskapomoc/twinning-i-taiex.