Technical Support Instrument (TSI)

About the TSI

The Technical Support Instrument (TSI) is the EU programme that provides tailor-made technical expertise to EU Member States to design and implement reforms. The support is demand driven and does not require co-financing from Member States. It is an important pillar of the EU’s initiative to help Member States mitigate the economic and social consequences of the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis.

Smart, sustainable and socially responsible reforms help to strengthen the resilience of our economies and societies. The TSI offers Member States a unique service to help them tackle reform challenges. The support can take the form of, for example, strategic and legal advice, studies, training and expert visits on the ground. It can cover any phase in the reform process. From preparation and design to development and implementation of the reforms.

The technical support is provided in a wide range of policy areas, including but not limited to climate action, digital transition and health. Member States can also request support to prepare, amend, implement and revise their national recovery and resilience plans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

By providing on the ground support to overcome reform challenges, the TSI helps Member States to recover from the social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, to improve the quality of public services and to reinforce sustainable and inclusive economic growth. The TSI is the successor programme of the Structural Reform Support Programme (2017-2020) and builds on its experience in building capacity in Member States. The European Commission's Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) manages the TSI.

TSI support for reforms

starts with a request for support from an EU Member State
is tailor-made to address the country's needs
provides a unique combination of expertise from the European Commission, EU Member States’ national administrations, international organisations and/or the private sector
strengthens the capacity of an EU Member State to carry out reforms
requires no co-financing

Budget

€864 million for the period 2021-2027 (in current prices)

Types of support

EU Member States can request technical support under the TSI to:

implement resilience-enhancing reforms in the context of EU economic governance, such as those arising from country-specific recommendations under the European Semester and by virtue of implementing EU law
prepare, amend, implement and revise national recovery and resilience plans under the Recovery and Resilience Facility
implement economic adjustment programmes
implement reforms undertaken at their own initiative

How does it work?

An EU Member State wishing to receive technical support submits a request to the Commission, via a national Coordinating Authority. This request must be submitted by 31 October of each year.

TSI 2024 Call

The Commission analyses the requests received and enters into dialogue with the national Coordinating Authorities to assess the country' specific needs and the options to support the design and implementation of the reforms.

Support may be provided directly through the Commission’s in-house expertise or with other providers of technical support:

experts from EU Member States' national administrations (TAIEX)
international organisations
private firms and consultancies
individual experts from the private sector

TAIEX-TSI Peer 2 Peer is an instrument managed in cooperation with the Directorate General for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) to implement part of the TSI of DG REFORM. The instrument allows experts from national administrations to exchange expertise through expert missions, study visits and workshops. The instrument is only available for projects selected under the TSI.

Reform areas covered

The TSI provides technical support to Member States in a wide range of policy areas. These include:

Green transition (including climate action, circular economy and energy transition)
Digital transition
Health and long-term care
Skills, education and training
Governance and public administration
Competitiveness
Financial sector and access to finance
Revenue administration and public financial management
Labour market, social protection and migration

Events

The 2024 Technical Support Instrument Annual Conference: “Reforms with an impact: together we are stronger!”, hosted by the European Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira and DG REFORM, is around the corner.

On 24 and 25 April 2024 in Brussels, the Conference will bring together high-level inspirational speakers and panelists from the EU Member States, the EU institutions, fellow international organizations and academia to discuss how the EU supports the Member States reform process and how best we could keep supporting them in the future.

Conference webpage

Project in the spotlight

The European Commission supports Department for Public Works of the Ministry for Public Works and Planning - together with Malta’s Tourism Authority to develop a National Coastal Protection for the Maltese Islands.

Throughout the project development that will take 24 months, the engagement of stakeholders and communication activities will take a prominent role to facilitate the need for an holistic and integrative process. It is expected that this action will allow the Maltese Authorities to take up the necessary measures to ensure sustainability of coastal functions and activities in the entire Maltese Islands coastline.

Developing a National Coastal Protection Strategy for the Maltese Islands

Examples of projects

So far, more than 1500 reform projects have been supported in 27 Member States. These include:

improving the operational capacity and efficiency of public administrations
modernising public financial management
reforming tax administrations
developing the digital economy
achieving climate and energy goals
attracting foreign direct investment
reforming education systems
improving financing opportunities under the Capital-Markets-Union initiative
improving the efficiency of dealing with non-performing loans

Reform Support website

Contacts

For more on the TSI:

Directorate General for Structural Reform Support: REFORM-TSIec [dot] europa [dot] eu (REFORM-TSI[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu)

National Coordinating Authorities contacts

Entities implementing EU funds under indirect management:

2023

2022

2021

Documents

Technical Support Instrument: Financing Decisions and Annual Work Programmes

Financing Decisions and Annual Work Programmes setting out measures needed for the implementation of the TSI Programme.

25 SEPTEMBER 2017

DG REFORM brochure - General