TAIEXTechnical Assistance and Information Exchange Instrument of the European

Commission

Institution Building UnitDG Enlargement

Mission Statement

Supports beneficiary countries in understanding, transposing, implementing and applying EU

policies, legislation, rules –the acquis

TAIEX: a success story

• Ownership – demand driven• Gap-filling - Focused on the EU acquis

• Responsiveness - Short-term and flexible instrument

• Peer-to-peer →Expertise from EU MS

Beneficiaries

• Pre-accession assistance (IPA): Candidate countries and Potential Candidates

• Countries covered by the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI) and Russia

• Turkish Cypriot community

Beneficiary groups

• Central Governments, Ministries, Government bodies, Regulators

• National Parliaments

• Judiciary and Law Enforcement Bodies

• Social Partners and Private Sector Associations

Areas covered

• Agriculture and Food Safety

• Internal Market

• Environment, Transport and Telecommunications

• Justice and Home Affairs

Internal market - 2011

Justice and Home Affairs - 2011

Agriculture and Food Safety - 2011

Environment, Transport and Telecommunications - 2011

TAIEX events per beneficiary - 2011

Expertise

• Mobilised experts are almost exclusively Member States’ public-sector officials

• Commission’s and other EU Institutions’ officials often involved

Experts mobilised in TAIEX activities

Participants at TAIEX activities

30337

43214

374813838735129

3768041125

29067

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

40000

45000

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

TAIEX events since 2007

Main forms of assistance

• Seminars/Workshops (single or multi-beneficiary)

• Expert Missions

• Study Visits

Costs covered by TAIEX

Workshops

• Hotel and travel costs for speakers coming from the EU Member States

• Meeting room rental (if in a hotel)• Interpretation (including equipment) • Catering (lunch, coffee)

Costs covered by TAIEX

Expert Missions

• Limited to 10 - 15 participants • Duration of maximum one week • No interpretation in principle • TAIEX covers flight costs, hotel and daily allowances for EU

MS expert• Only experts from national administrations of the EU MSs

Costs covered by TAIEX

Study Visits

• Limited to maximum 3 participants • Duration of maximum one week • Interpretation (only in exceptional cases) • TAIEX covers flight costs, hotel and daily

allowances for participants

Activation

• Requests are primarily generated by the beneficiary countries

• Suggestions from Commission services are also considered

• Suggestions from MS cannot usually be taken into consideration

How long does it take?

• TAIEX can quickly deliver the requested assistance

• From the moment the application is approved, a minimum of 6-8 weeks for the dispatching of an expert and of about 10 weeks for the organisation of a seminar

How are requests processed?

• All applications are submitted for opinion to the National Contact Points, the EU Delegation and the competent Commission services. Applications concerning ENPI countries are sent to the directorate general development and cooperation (devco)

• The Institution Building Unit of DG Enlargement, takes the final decision

• IMPORTANT: Quality of applications (clear, complete and pertinent to the EU acquis)

How to apply?

• Application forms available via the website http://taiex.ec.europa.eu

• Letter, fax, e-mail (under the condition that the basic information requested in the application form is provided) through the National Contact Point

European CommissionEuropean Commission

Directorate General EnlargementDirectorate General Enlargement

Institution Building Unit Institution Building Unit

TAIEX InstrumentTAIEX Instrument

e-mail: e-mail: elarg-taiex@ec.europa.eu

Website:Website: http://taiex.ec.europa.eu