Transcript Ministry of Foreign Affairs Presentation Title Arial 28pt Bold

Practical aspects of Twinning: from project
proposal until implementation phase.
Tallinn, 22 January 2013
Heidi Lempinen,
Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland
Best practises and lessons learned from the Finnish perspective
Statistics of the year 2012
• Finland submitted 16 proposals of which 7 was awarded
to Finland (value 8 000 000 euros)
– One project pending: Capacity Building of the Academy of the
Ministry of Finance of Georgia GE12/ENPPCA/FI/16
18 months / 880 000 eur. dl. 26.11.2012
HAUS Finnish Institute of Public Management, the Ministry of Finance
Junior Partner Estonia: Center for Public Service Training and Development
• Finland has 15 ongoing projects
– One joint project with Estonia: Improved education in the Public Safety
and security sectors KS 09 IB JH 01, 1 500 000/ 24 months
Selected 22.4.2011
The Ministry of the Interior, The National Police College of Finland
Estonian Academy of Security Sciences
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Why institutions should participate in
Twinning?
• To create networks and contacts, especially with future EU
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member states
To enhance the international profile of institutions
To increase productivity, effectiveness and know-how of
personnel
To develop the staff and enhance job rotation
To test own activities and models in a different culture and to
be able to productivise own activities
To create basis for commercial cooperation in a larger sense
To show participation and responsibility in EU work
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Different possibilities for participating in
Twinning
• To implement a project individually with one MS
• To form a consortium as a leading partner and take junior
partners from other MS’s
• To participate in a consortium led by another MS as a
junior partner
• To participate as an individual expert – the institution is
not involved
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Finland’s projects by sector
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Evaluation conducted about the effects of
Twinning in Finnish Public Administration
• Finland has been active since the
beginning in 1998 – over 15 years of
Twinning
• Finland has implemented over 150
projects
• A total of 20 people with experience in
Twinning projects were interviewed and a
survey (111 replies) was carried out with
Finnish actors in Twinning
• To measure the effectiveness of Twinning
in Finnish admistration
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Main results of the evaluation 1
• Twinning projects have turned out to be a useful and effective
tool in implementing the enlargement and neighbourhood
policies.
• Particular strength of Twinning has been its method of EU
member state civil servants working in ‘peer support’ of the
colleagues in the beneficiary
• The connections to colleagues in the beneficiary’s civil service
remained after the end of the project.
• Twinning offers an excellent tool for exporting Finnish
administrative expertise and for sharing best practices.
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Main results of the evaluation 2
• Influencing future EU member states and their legislation has
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been extremely important
An opportunity to create contacts between administrations and
created networks for future co-operation within the EU.
Inspire and activate the participating civil servants.
The civil servants have inspired in institution-building and
gathered new energy and innovations to both their personal
work and for the use of their organisation as a whole.
The most successful projects have brought good reputation for
the organisation, which in turn has brought new projects and
increased their future opportunities.
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Main reason for the experts to participate in
Twinning activities
Financial benefits
8%
Desire to
export Finnish
best practices
16%
9%
30%
Lack of motivation in
current tasks
Personal development
Participation in
international co-operation
37%
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Some ideas for development of Twinning in
Finland
• The level of participation in Twinning amongst Finnish
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ministries and agencies varies greatly.
The most active agencies have absorbed Twinning as a part
of their strategy and programmes for international relations as
well as personal development plans.
The need for a state-level policy on Twinning to increase its
effectiveness and uniformity between sectors (e.g. At the level
of the Cabinet Committee on European Union Affairs).
It is wished that different sectors of administration would
harmonise their practices and that the leadership of the
administration committed to the projects.
To raise awareness so that even more agencies participated
in Twinning
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Best practices 1
• Same rules for players in the field: National Recommendation
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for applying the Twinning Manual with regard to Project
management and implementation (Menettelytapaohje).
Do it together – a strategic partner might be a decisive reason
for to be chosen.
Praise your expertise and be creative!
Training as usual - Train your proposal writers and train your
presenters before they leave for Twinning Selection Meeting.
Flexibility.
Not everything goes as planned – be prepared for and try to
estimate possible challenges and risks beforehand as well as
delays in the implementation of the workplan.
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Best practices 2
• Be aware of cultural differences
• Use check-lists in different phases
• Twinning contract – be careful what you promise and commit
to execute: drafting the contract should be a joint exercise
• Keep a timelog when drafting the contact to secure the
reimbursement of the preparatory costs.
• In a Consortium – it is recommended that a Inter Consortium
Agreement is drafted and agreed on: financial issues,
decision-making and communication
• Use TAIEX to create networks and to identify Twinning
projects
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Best practices 3 (NCP)
• Early warning – follow the pipeline and the National
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Programmes and Action Plans of the beneficiaries.
Be alert of potential RTA candidates
Channel information effectively and raise awareness of
Twinning and TAIEX at the national level.
Feedback – needed to develop the activities. Feedback
discussions are held after every completed Twinning project
by Finland.
Participate in the kick-off and final seminars – brings more
concrete awareness of the projects
The network is wide and advice is always available –
especially the Twinning team in the Commission! Plus
Embassies, EC Delegations, CFCD and PAO and other
NCPs.
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National Recommendation
• Published in 2006 in cooperation with the Budget Department
and Tax Department of the Ministry of Finance, Tax
Administration, Office for the Government as Employer,
Department of Justice and Department of Europe of the MFA
• Includes background information about Twinning in general
and the Twinning principles
• The recommendation is based on the Twinning manual
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Main guidelines for participation
• Twinning Manual and Twinning Contract are the guidelines for the
management and implementation of the projects
– Public bodies must apply their own national regulations
• It is recommeded that Twinning would be included in the strategical plans of
the institutions
• Task as an expert in a project should not affect the terms and conditions of
the employment
– An expert should also have an order for an official journey in order to have a valid
accident insurance during the mission
• A compensation will be paid both to the expert and the Institution according
to the Twinning manual
• Taxation – Income Tax Act, Article 76 § paragraph 4 states that the
reimbursement paid by the European Commission for expert duties
performed regarding EU Enlargement and Neighbourhood policy activities
related to insitutional development is not taxable income
• A consortium of member states – an intra-consortium agreement is
recommended
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Twinning NCP Finland
Counsellor, National Twinning Coordinator Eija-Leena
Linkola
Mobile 040 734 6927
Twinning Expert and TAIEX coordinator Heidi Lempinen
Mobile 040 350 9492
Information Services Tuula Piirainen
Mobile 040 158 5484
[email protected]
www.formin.fi/twinning
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Thank you for your Attention!
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2014 Development Cooperation Instrument
• Central Asian countries available for Twinning from 2014
• Five countries: Turkmenistan, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Uzbekistan, Tajikistan
• Finland has already good relations to Kazakstan
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Embassy in Astana since 2009
The most important Trade Partner in CA
Also the Trade Promotion organisation Finpro is in Almaty
Embassy of Kazakstan also accredited to Kyrgystan
• Other Countries represented by Roving Ambassador from
Helsinki
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