The Commission has approved a new round of 151 projects under the Technical Support Instrument (TSI), to support all Member States in preparing, designing and implementing up to 326

cutting-edge reforms in 2023.

The supported projects respond to a reform need expressed by Member States while being strongly aligned with the European Union's priorities for modern and efficient public administrations, sustainable growth strategies and resilient economies.

Many reform projects are also linked to the challenges of the Recovery and Resilience Plans and the REPowerEU Plan.

Intensified cooperation between Public Administrations of Member States 

 In this new round of projects for 2023, the TSI will maintain a strong focus on improving the operational capacity and efficiency of Member States' public administrations. In this context, a new

initiative will be launched - the Public Administration Cooperation Exchange (PACE) – to promote peer-learning and best practices among civil servants of different Member States in order to strengthen administrative capacity, as well as policy making and implementation skills.

Throughout this year, the TSI will also strenghten cooperation among Member States through the highest number ever of cross-country projects, with 33 multi-country reform projects and 10 multi-regional projects. The European Commission will support Member States in addressing common challenges, through the promotion of mutual learning and the development of common approaches, while providing tailored support to each Member State or region.

Continued focus on reforms linked to common key priorities 

The TSI 2023 projects will continue supporting Member States in designing and implementing reforms towards achieving the green and digital transitions. 32% of the projects under TSI 2023 are focused on the implementation of the Green Deal objectives and 40% on the digital transition and innovation.

To strengthen solidarity with Ukraine and be more effective in the use of our toolbox, the TSI will support Member States in implementing sanctions against Russia. For example, to improve asset freezing, support will be directed to the identification of the effective ownership or control of a company. TSI support will also help the monitoring of crypto transactions to prevent sanctions' circumvention, as well as the mapping of competencies of national authorities for sanctions' implementation.

In the European Year of Skills, the TSI will also support several Member States in building their national skills strategy to overcome shortages and mismatch.

Strong uptake of TSI flagships

One third of the reforms are linked to flagship projects in the field of energy, public administration, public finance, integration of migrants and healthcare. For example, the integrated care flagship targets Member States wishing to design and implement reforms aimed at improving the interoperability and digitalisation of healthcare systems.

Background

The TSI is the Commission's main instrument to provide technical support to reforms in the EU, following requests by national authorities. It is part of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and builds on the success of its predecessor, the Structural Reform Support Programme. Together, since 2017, the two instruments have helped to implement more than 1,500 technical support projects in all Member States.

The TSI is a demand-driven instrument that provides tailor-made expertise to Member States' authorities who apply for support on an annual basis. These requests are then assessed and selected by the Commission. Since its establishment, this flexible instrument quickly adapted to Member States' emerging needs, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the response to Russia's unprovoked attack against Ukraine. It was also instrumental in helping Member States prepare their Recovery and Resilience Plans and their Territorial Just Transition Plans.

Projects eligible for TSI support include, but are not limited to, public administration, public financial management, migration management, business environment, financial sector, labour market, education systems, social services, support to vulnerable children, health care, green transition and cybersecurity.