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Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a Technical Support Instrument

In “An Economy that Works for People”

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On 28 May 2020, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a regulation on a Technical Support Instrument.

The aim of the proposal is to provide the requesting Member States with technical support to strengthen their institutional and administrative capacity in designing and implementing reforms. In the context of the Recovery Plan, it will support the preparation and implementation of recovery and resilience plans, reforms and investments related to the green and digital transitions.

The Instrument will replace the Structural Reform and Support Programme which has supported over 1000 reform projects in 27 Member States, since 2017. This proposal builds up on the technical support instrument included in the 2018 Commission proposal for a Reform Support Programme. The Commission proposes a budget of €864.4 million for the period 2021-2027, while the current Structural Reform and Support Programme has a budget of €222.8 million for the period 2017-2020.

On 22 July 2020, the Council agreed its position. At the European Parliament, the Committee on Budgets (BUDG) and the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) are working jointly on this file under Rule 58 of Parliament's Rules of Procedure. On 1 October 2020, The Joint-Committee adopted its report and decided to enter into inter-institutional negotiations. The Parliament confirmed the decision in its October I plenary.

In its report, the joint committee includes the goal of gender-equal recovery beyond the Covid-19 crisis as an additional element within the general objective of the instrument. It would also broaden the scope of the instrument to include reforms and investments on the digitalisation of public administration, the relocation of production in the EU, life-long learning, civil protection, asylum, migration and integration, child care, a better business environment and access to finance for SMEs, the self-employed and entrepreneurs.

Furthermore, the report calls for the instrument also to support policies that are relevant to preparations for euro-area membership and policies for increasing capabilities to react in case of substantial risks to public health or security.

Another amendment highlights the need to consult with a broad range of stakeholders, including regional and local administrations, women's organisations and representatives of vulnerable groups and the social partners.

With a view to facilitating absorption capacity specifically in the domain of IT capacity-building, the report adds that emphasis should be laid on interoperable or common solutions among Member States.

To reinforce transparency and accountability, the report proposes that the Commission publish on its website a complete list of the projects supported and the amounts allocated. It furthermore asks that the Commission produce a biannual report on the instrument's implementation, and the possibility for the competent committee of the European Parliament to invite Council and Commission representatives to discuss all measures taken under the proposed regulation.

While the Commission proposed to implement the technical support though the adoption of work programmes by way of implementing acts, the Parliament demands the use of delegated acts.

As regards the budget of the instrument, the joint committee report calls for an increase in the financial envelope to €1.45 billion. It furthermore insists that Member States should be allowed to allocate part of their Recovery and Resilience Facility budget to the instrument as a way to increase the technical support available to them for preparing and improving their recovery and resilience plans. Last but not least, the report recalls that the instrument should be implemented in full compliance with the rules for the protection of the EU budget, considering also respect for the rule of law.

After having entered in negotiations, on 15 December 2020, the Parliament and the Council reached a preliminary agreement on the Technical Support Instrument. The programme will have a budget of €864 million over the period 2021-2027 (in current prices). To ensure timely availability of resources and immediate response in case of urgency or unforeseen events, up to 30% of the yearly allocation should be reserved for special measures. During the negotiations, the Council and the Parliament have increased the complementarity between the instrument and the Recovery and Resilience Facility that will provide large scale financial support for public investments and reforms in order to foster member states' recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. The instrument will now support member states, in particular, in the preparation and implementation of their recovery and resilience plans. The co-legislators have also agreed to provide member states the possibility to finance the instrument through additional contributions. For the purposes of democratic accountability and visibility, Parliament obtained to receive annual implementation reports from the Commission as the Council. A single online public repository will provide information on the actions under the Technical Support Instrument.

On 19 January 2021, the Parliament adopted the regulation in plenary vote.

On 2 February 2021, the Council adopted the act.

On 10 February 2021, the final act has been signed

On 18 February 2021, the final act has been published in the Official Journal.

There is going to be a transitional period for actions initiated before 31 December 2020, which will be governed by the Structural Reform Support Programme (2017-2020) until their completion.

References:

Further reading:

For further information: Stefano Spinaci, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

As of 15/12/2024.