Twinning institutional building tool
Encyclopedia
Twinning is an institutional building tool.
Launched in May 1998, the Twinning programme is one of the principal tools of Institution Building accession assistance. Twinning aims to help beneficiary countries in the development of modern and efficient administrations, with the structures, human resources
and management skills needed to implement the acquis communautaire to the same standards as Member States. Twinning provides the framework for administrations and semi-public organisations in the beneficiary countries to work with their counterparts in Member States. Together they develop and implement a project that targets the transposition, enforcement and implementation of a specific part of the acquis communautaire.
The main distinct feature of the Twinning project is direct exchange
of specific national experience in EU legislation implementation.
Not similar to other technical assistance, a Twinning project is that it sets out to deliver specific and guaranteed results and not to foster general cooperation. The parties agree in advance on a detailed work programme to meet an objective concerning priority areas of the acquis.
The key input from administrations of EU Member States to effect longer-term change is in the core team of long-term seconded EU experts, practitioners in the implementation of the acquis, to administrations of new Member States
, acceding, candidate or potential candidate country. The proposed experts should not be private consultants and not be collected from all EU Member States. Proposals from the EU
member States are selected on quality only.
Each Twinning project has at least one Resident Twinning Adviser (RTA) and a Project Leader
. The RTA is seconded from a Member State public administration
or from another mandated body in a Member State to work full time
for a minimum of 12 months in the corresponding ministry in partner country to implement the project. The Project Leader is responsible for the overall thrust and coordination of the project. They are supplemented by carefully planned and timed missions of other specialists, training events, awareness raising visits, etc. to accompany the reform process towards the targeted results.
Operators of Twinning projects are non-profit organisations
with less experience of contractual relationship than consulting firms, becoming more and more professional with new Twinnings. They face human resources constraints since Twinning projects have no local and medium-term experts (except RTA assistant) but they have counterparts to Project Leader and RTAs from Beneficiary Administrations.
The Twinning project cycle is more demanding in terms of preparation and a specific competitive selection procedure is used for selection and evaluation of the potential MS partners.
Policy Advice (incl. law drafting, advice on organisational issues, awareness raising, etc.), training, study tours and internships are among the activities eligible for Twinning projects. These activities, together with eligible costs for the Twinning project implementation and all relevant procedures are described in the Twinning Reference Manual.
Twinning may be implemented as classic Twinning (up to 24 months) and light Twinning (up to 6 months), with budget up to 2 mln euros.
Mutual benefits of Twinning for counterparts:
1. Exchange of experiences and knowledge based on equal-level communication between twinning partners (civil servant
to civil servant);
2. Implementation of best practice
s of EU member State public administration;
3. Complementarity in the case of a consortium;
4. Alignment with current European legislation;
5. Knowledge of political administrative systems;
6. Long-term and structural working-relationships, professional networking, and, therefore, influencing attitude towards a beneficiary country in the EU;
7. Training and improving professional capacity;
8. Development and implementation of adapted legislation which is necessary for fulfilment of the obligations on joint Agreements and Action Plans, and for integrating into the European markets;
9. Changes in organisational practices and culture, improvements in managerial styles, better communication and co-ordination between and within Beneficiary Administrations are valuable bi-products of the process of MS civil servants working closely alongside BA counterparts.
Center for Adaptation of Civil Service to the Standards of EU
- public institution established by the Decree of Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
to facilitate administrative reform in Ukraine and to enhance the adaptation of the civil service to the standards of the European Union.
Launched in May 1998, the Twinning programme is one of the principal tools of Institution Building accession assistance. Twinning aims to help beneficiary countries in the development of modern and efficient administrations, with the structures, human resources
Human resources
Human resources is a term used to describe the individuals who make up the workforce of an organization, although it is also applied in labor economics to, for example, business sectors or even whole nations...
and management skills needed to implement the acquis communautaire to the same standards as Member States. Twinning provides the framework for administrations and semi-public organisations in the beneficiary countries to work with their counterparts in Member States. Together they develop and implement a project that targets the transposition, enforcement and implementation of a specific part of the acquis communautaire.
The main distinct feature of the Twinning project is direct exchange
Exchange interaction
In physics, the exchange interaction is a quantum mechanical effect without classical analog which increases or decreases the expectation value of the energy or distance between two or more identical particles when their wave functions overlap...
of specific national experience in EU legislation implementation.
Not similar to other technical assistance, a Twinning project is that it sets out to deliver specific and guaranteed results and not to foster general cooperation. The parties agree in advance on a detailed work programme to meet an objective concerning priority areas of the acquis.
The key input from administrations of EU Member States to effect longer-term change is in the core team of long-term seconded EU experts, practitioners in the implementation of the acquis, to administrations of new Member States
History of the European Union
The European Union is a geo-political entity covering a large portion of the European continent. It is founded upon numerous treaties and has undergone expansions that have taken it from 7 member states to 27, a majority of states in Europe....
, acceding, candidate or potential candidate country. The proposed experts should not be private consultants and not be collected from all EU Member States. Proposals from the EU
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
member States are selected on quality only.
Each Twinning project has at least one Resident Twinning Adviser (RTA) and a Project Leader
Leadership
Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task". Other in-depth definitions of leadership have also emerged.-Theories:...
. The RTA is seconded from a Member State public administration
Public administration
Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
or from another mandated body in a Member State to work full time
Full time
Full-time employment is employment in which the employee works the full number of hours defined as such by his/her employer. Full-time employment often comes with benefits that are not typically offered to part-time, temporary, or flexible workers, such as annual leave, sickleave, and health...
for a minimum of 12 months in the corresponding ministry in partner country to implement the project. The Project Leader is responsible for the overall thrust and coordination of the project. They are supplemented by carefully planned and timed missions of other specialists, training events, awareness raising visits, etc. to accompany the reform process towards the targeted results.
Operators of Twinning projects are non-profit organisations
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
with less experience of contractual relationship than consulting firms, becoming more and more professional with new Twinnings. They face human resources constraints since Twinning projects have no local and medium-term experts (except RTA assistant) but they have counterparts to Project Leader and RTAs from Beneficiary Administrations.
The Twinning project cycle is more demanding in terms of preparation and a specific competitive selection procedure is used for selection and evaluation of the potential MS partners.
Policy Advice (incl. law drafting, advice on organisational issues, awareness raising, etc.), training, study tours and internships are among the activities eligible for Twinning projects. These activities, together with eligible costs for the Twinning project implementation and all relevant procedures are described in the Twinning Reference Manual.
Twinning may be implemented as classic Twinning (up to 24 months) and light Twinning (up to 6 months), with budget up to 2 mln euros.
Mutual benefits of Twinning for counterparts:
1. Exchange of experiences and knowledge based on equal-level communication between twinning partners (civil servant
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....
to civil servant);
2. Implementation of best practice
Best practice
A best practice is a method or technique that has consistently shown results superior to those achieved with other means, and that is used as a benchmark...
s of EU member State public administration;
3. Complementarity in the case of a consortium;
4. Alignment with current European legislation;
5. Knowledge of political administrative systems;
6. Long-term and structural working-relationships, professional networking, and, therefore, influencing attitude towards a beneficiary country in the EU;
7. Training and improving professional capacity;
8. Development and implementation of adapted legislation which is necessary for fulfilment of the obligations on joint Agreements and Action Plans, and for integrating into the European markets;
9. Changes in organisational practices and culture, improvements in managerial styles, better communication and co-ordination between and within Beneficiary Administrations are valuable bi-products of the process of MS civil servants working closely alongside BA counterparts.
See also
Portal of Twinning instrument in UkraineCenter for Adaptation of Civil Service to the Standards of EU
Center for Adaptation of Civil Service to the Standards of EU
Center for Adaptation of the Civil Service to the Standards of the European Union was established under by the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine # 485 of 14 April 2004 in order to ensure informational and analytical, expert and organizational support for...
- public institution established by the Decree of Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
The Cabinet of Ukraine is the highest body of state executive power in Ukraine also referred to as the Government of Ukraine...
to facilitate administrative reform in Ukraine and to enhance the adaptation of the civil service to the standards of the European Union.