BGI Consulting participated in the study on the ‘Use of Technical Assistance for Administrative Capacity Building during the 2014-2020 Period’
2020 01 30
In 2019, DG REGIO commissioned an international consortium of researchers (The European Policies Research Centre (EPRC)) University of Strathclyde. Technical University of Delft, Red2Red Consultores (Red2Red)) in cooperation with national experts from EU Member States, to conduct a study on "Use of Technical Assistance for Administrative Capacity Building during the 2014-2020 Period”. BGI Consulting team participated in the latter as experts of the Baltic States.
The general objective of the study is to enhance the European Commission’s and other stakeholders’ understanding of the (planned and implemented) use of technical assistance (here and after – TA) at the initiative of Member States during the 2014-20 period. The study is intended to provide a better understanding of the use of technical assistance and present cases of technical assistance-funded sustainable capacity building, particularly in the area of Human Resource Development.
The study is based on a combination of methodologies. This comprises a general quantitative overview of TA budgets across the EU in 2014-2020, in aggregate for the EU28, groups of MS and for categories of TA expenditure; a detailed quantitative and qualitative assessment of TA budgets for selected OPs; and, an exploration of good practice examples of TA use for administrative capacity building.
In terms of the overall allocations, TA funding accounts for a relatively small share of ESIF across the EU28 (less than 2.5 percent) although there are some MS with significantly higher levels. ERDF accounts for almost half of this allocation, with ESF at one third and the Cohesion Fund at around a fifth of TA funding. The majority of TA funding is concentrated in less developed regions, reflecting their larger ESIF allocations. Concerning intervention types, over the vast majority of TA funding is allocated to management interventions (code 121), representing over 80 percent of TA funding across the EU28. Evaluation and studies (code 123) and information and communication interventions (code 122) account for much less.
The lessons learned distilled from the use of TA in 2014-2020 lead to a number of recommendations for specific improvements for the 2021-2027 period. Four groups of recommendation are particularly important for enhancing the future application of TA:
- Develop TA roadmaps for the 2021-27 period including a reorientation of TA from salaries to focus more on other forms of capacity building.
- Support the entire ecosystem for management and implementation
- Develop learning strategies for capacity building
- Ensure coherent management of administrative capacity-building at EU level.