TAIEX
Technical Assistance and Information
Exchange Instrument of the European
Commission
Institution Building Unit
DG 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
45000
43214
41125
37680
3748138387
35129
40000
35000
30000 30337
29067
25000
20000
15000
10000
5000
0
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 Commission
Directorate General Enlargement
Institution Building Unit
TAIEX Instrument
e-mail: elarg-taiex@ec.europa.eu
Website: http://taiex.ec.europa.eu