Technical Support Instrument: EU Commission updates approach with Q&A

What is the Technical Support Instrument?

The Commission’s Technical Support Instrument (TSI) provides technical support to Member States to help them design and implement reforms on the ground.

The TSI is demand-driven, meaning that its support follows requests submitted by the Member States. It does not come in the form of financial support but consists instead of the provision of high-quality and tailored expertise and knowledge.

The TSI is part of the 2021 – 2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). It promotes economic, social, and territorial cohesion across the EU by supporting the necessary reforms in the Member States.

Since 2017, through both the Structural Reform Support Programme and the TSI, the Commission has provided technical support to all 27 Member States with more than 1,800 projects across a wide range of policy areas.

How much funding will each Member State receive?

The TSI has a budget of €864 million for seven years. For 2024, the budget amounts to €120 million.

The Commission does not provide direct financial support to Member States and there are no pre-determined national envelopes. Instead, it provides expertise to support the design and implementation of reforms. The reforms themselves are funded by national means or via other EU funds, such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) and the Cohesion Policy funds.

The expertise delivered by the Commission under the TSI does not require national co-funding. The success of the support relies instead on the commitment and ownership of the Member States’ authorities. In many cases, the support is offered by teams of external and Commission experts (from the European Commission Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support and/or other Commission services) who are specifically asked to work on each project and provide tailor-made support.

What kind of reforms are eligible under the TSI?

The TSI can support a broad range of reform projects related to Member States’ public authorities at the level of government, including those at regional and local level.

Eligible policy areas for reform support include:

• green and digital transitions;
• public financial management, tax policies and revenue administration;
• governance, public administration and rule of law, including the reforms of judicial systems;
• business environment, growth, trade and investments;
• labour market, education and social services, including migration management and integration;
• healthcare, welfare and childcare;
• financial sector and access to finance;
• data and statistics; and
• peparation for membership of the Euro area.

How can a Member State apply for reform support?

Every year, Member States have the opportunity to request support from the TSI through the annual call published by the Commission.

For 2024, 170 reform projects were selected to support all Member States with 307 innovative and ambitious reforms.

How does the Commission choose which reform projects to support among the many requests that it receives from the Member States?

TSI projects are selected on the basis of the quality of the requests and based on the criteria set out in the TSI Regulation. In line with the selection criteria defined in Article 9 of the TSI Regulation, the Commission assesses each request for:

• urgency, breadth and depth of the challenges identified;
• support needs in respect of the policy areas concerned;
• analysis of socioeconomic indicators, as well as the institutional and general administrative capacity of the requesting Member State; and
• the principles of transparency, equal treatment, and sound financial management.

How does the reform support work in practice?

The support may cover all stages of reforms, from their initial design to their implementation and evaluation phase. It can take the form of strategic or technical advice, studies assessing reform needs, training, or in-country missions by experts.

The support delivered through the TSI:

• starts with a request submitted by the Member State. Their commitment and engagement are key for the success of the reforms;
• is tailored to each case and each country. The Commission identifies and analyses the specific needs in each case;
• brings a unique combination of expertise to the country. The Commission matches the best mix of expertise to the needs;
• is hands-on and concrete in delivery. Upon receipt of a request for support, the Commission starts a dialogue with the Member State to understand the reform needs in detail and how to best provide the most relevant support in the swiftest and best possible way;
• strengthens the institutional and administrative capacity of EU Member States to (i) design and implement reforms, (ii) deliver on policy priorities, (iii) address challenges identified in the European Semester, or (iv) apply EU law.

What is a multi-country project?

Multi-country projects deliver support to several Member States to address common challenges. These projects, whilst providing tailored support to each Member State involved, promote the development of common approaches via peer-to-peer learning and the exchange of best practices.

For example, in 2024, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands will join forces to participate in a TSI multi-country project which will focus on biodiversity financing. The objective of the project is to support the four Member States in identifying optimal financing solutions to implement their National Biodiversity Strategies. The expected result is to share experiences and to build evidence-based solutions.

In 2024, a total of 43 multi-country projects will be supported by the TSI.

Topics include, for example:

• helping municipalities improve access to high-quality and inclusive services for children with refugee and migrant backgrounds;
• promoting sustainable aviation;
• making local public finances more sustainable;
• enhancing regional access to EU funds;
• improving citizens’ digital financial literacy and their resilience against fraud;
• improving young people’s mental health by addressing the risks of online gambling and gaming;
• tackling greenwashing risks;
• supporting regional entrepreneurship through innovative technologies and Artificial Intelligence in public services;
• supporting the green hydrogen market at regional level;
• contributing to setting up national biodiversity finance plans;
• promoting gender equality in public policy and budgeting;
• promoting equality and fighting discrimination with the use of Artificial Intelligence by public administrations; and
• implementing the EU Emissions Trading System.

What is a multi-regional project?

Multi-regional projects target regions and territories that are facing similar challenges. They provide tailored support to each region involved, while also promoting the development of common approaches via peer-to-peer learning and the exchange of best practices. In 2024, 38 multi-regional projects will be supported by the TSI.

Projects include, for example:

• empowering educators in the digital transition in Belgium;
• contributing to the national action plan for mental health at regional level in Denmark;
• supporting the digital transformation in municipalities in Finland;
• gender mainstreaming in budgeting and public policy across regions in Greece;
• developing green budgeting practices at regional level in Italy;
• supporting regional development of renewable energy projects in the Netherlands; and
• supporting municipalities in improving access to inclusive services for children with refugee and migrant backgrounds at regional level in Poland.

What is a flagship project?

Flagship projects are proposed yearly by the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support to tackle reforms which are largely needed across different Member States and are in line with the EU’s key political priorities. Their uptake by Member States is entirely voluntary.

In 2024, 13 TSI flagship projects will be supported:

• PACE – Public Administration Cooperation Exchange
• AI-ready public administration
• Digital Financial Literacy
• Supporting the Digital Transformation of Tax and Customs Administrations
• Enhancing the quality of public finances
• Support to the Green Deal Industrial Plan
• Support to the Social Climate Fund and the revised EU Emissions Trading System
• Overcoming barriers to regional development
• Enhancing reception and accommodation capacity for migrants
• Mental health: Fostering well-being and mental health
• Flagship on Skills: Fostering skills development systems better adapted to the labour market
• Reinforce Democracy and the Rule of Law
• Public administration of the future

Can you give an example of a flagship project that will be supported by the TSI in 2024?

One of the 2024 TSI flagship initiatives will support reforms in France and Romania to promote an inclusive approach to the well-being and mental health of young people:

• The TSI will support the French Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports, in implementing a comprehensive approach to promoting mental health and well-being at school. The project aims to bolster the resilience and well-being of all learners, by underlining the importance of socio-emotional skills and by putting the students’ well-being and mental health at the heart of the school environment.
• The TSI will also support the Romanian Ministry of Education to provide guidelines and training opportunities for educational staff to integrate socio-emotional learning into teaching methods and classroom practices and to promote the responsible use of technology and social media within both curricular and extra-curricular activities.

How does the TSI support and strengthen public administrations?

In November 2023, the Commission published the Communication on Enhancing the European Administrative Space (ComPAct), the first-ever comprehensive set of actions to support the modernisation of national administrations and to strengthen their cross-country collaboration so that they can address common challenges together.

To support Member States’ reforms in this area, the Public Administration Cooperation Initiative (PACE) will continue to promote exchanges between civil servants from different EU Member States. Under this initiative, civil servants can spend a short period of time in other Member States to exchange best practices and experiences. So far, more than 200 civil servants from 15 Member States have benefitted from the programme.

These exchanges aim to promote peer-to-peer learning and the exchange of best practices, in an effort to strengthen administrative capacity and policymaking, as well as to improve civil servants’ skills.

Can you give examples of how the TSI in 2024 will support reforms related to the green transition?

The TSI, for example, will help Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Greece and Romania to strengthen the existing EU Emissions Trading System, and to set up a new Emissions Trading System covering buildings, road transport and additional sectors, in line with the European Green Deal.

Regarding the green transition of the transport sector, the TSI will contribute to the speed-up of the construction of the Rail Baltica project, a key initiative to connect Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia to the central EU rail network.

The TSI will help Estonia and Lithuania to decarbonise the aviation sector through the production of sustainable aviation fuel.

The TSI will also continue to support six Member States in implementing their Territorial Just Transition Plans (TJTPs) as part of the Just Transition Fund (JTF). For example, the TSI will support the preparation of calls for projects, outreach and communication strategies, capacity building for local and regional authorities, and the dissemination of good practices.

Can you give examples of how the TSI in 2024 will support reforms related to the digital transition?

Launched in October 2022, the EU Supervisory Digital Finance Academy will continue to support the Member States’ financial supervisors in tackling the risks and making the most of the benefits associated with the digital transformation in the area of finance. In 2024, this TSI flagship initiative will involve 37 supervisory authorities from 26 Member States.

A TSI flagship initiative on digital financial literacy will support Croatia, Finland, France, Latvia and Lithuania to address the challenges arising from the increasing use of digital channels to complete complex financial transactions.

In Sweden, through the TSI, the Commission will support the adoption of measures to accelerate the green and digital transition of SMEs working in the manufacturing industry.

How will the TSI support public administrations in using Artificial Intelligence (AI)?

The TSI will help national, regional, and local public administrations become more AI-savvy.

For example, the TSI will help Member States to explore how AI can help to process data safely and effectively in the areas of social security, welfare, and employment, and how they can ensure that public administrations promote gender equality while availing of the features of AI.

Within the AI-ready public administration flagship project, the TSI will help Belgium, Greece and Spain’s labour markets to use AI to integrate the minimum income scheme into social security benefits.

As part of a multi-country project, the TSI will help the public administrations of Belgium, Finland and Portugal to ensure that when utilising the features of AI, they limit all kinds of discrimination.

How will the TSI help Member States to tackle demographic change?

The TSI, for example, will contribute to increasing financial literacy in Croatia, France, Finland, Greece, Lithuania, Latvia, and Malta, by helping people to develop the skills and knowledge that they need to manage their money well, in view of the longer life expectancy.

The new round of TSI reform projects will also address, for example, the negative demographic trend that Bulgaria is currently experiencing by reviewing the education and healthcare system, labour market and employment, social protection and social services, through a more coordinated lens and approach.

The TSI will support the integration of migrants in Greece, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Slovakia to fill labour market shortages in specific sectors.

The TSI will also contribute to strengthening integrated care systems at local level in Poland and will contribute to developing early childhood education and care services to allow women to return to work in Bulgaria, Germany, and Portugal.

How will the TSI support mental health and well-being?

According to the latest ‘Health at a Glance: Europe’ report, the Covid pandemic has had a deep impact on young people’s lives in Europe: both in 2021 and 2022, 50% of young Europeans reported unmet needs for mental health care.

To help Member States to undertake reforms that can improve young people’s mental health and well-being, the Commission has launched a TSI flagship project on mental health.

This flagship will provide capacity-building to address the fragmentation of health, social, and education services. It will also enhance healthcare professionals’ knowledge, awareness, and capacity, to address mental health care needs in a timely and effective manner.

Within this flagship initiative, for example, in 2024 the TSI will help nine Member States (Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia) to address the risks related to gambling and gaming amongst youngsters.

The Commission is already working with Cyprus, Italy, Slovenia, and the region of Andalusia in Spain to promote the well-being and the prevention of mental health problems for children and young people.

Does the TSI support the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs)?

So far, the TSI has supported all Member States with the preparation and implementation of their RRPs, through more than 300 projects. These projects have helped Member States put in place the necessary structures to manage and monitor the implementation of their RRPs, as well as to implement reforms included in the Plans.

17 Member States received support for identifying reforms and investments to reduce dependencies on fossil fuel imports from Russia and to develop the REPowerEU chapters in their RRPs.

How is the TSI helping Member States to ensure Ukrainian refugees can access work and education? 

So far, the TSI has helped nine Member States (Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia) to welcome and integrate people fleeing Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. For example, in order to help the expansion of the Integration Centres for Foreigners, the TSI provided support to identify the most suitable EU funding opportunities.

Projects have helped to improve refugee’s integration and the tailoring of school curriculum to the needs of displaced pupils from Ukraine. The TSI is also helping with access to the labour market through the recognition of skills and qualifications acquired outside the EU.

More information

Press release on launch of 2024 Technical Support Instrument reforms and projects