EU instruments for capacity building and technical assistance

In Finland, the coordination of three EU-funded instruments aimed at supporting public administration reform and legislative development is managed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Financed from the EU’s external action budget, the Twinning and TAIEX programmes provide technical, peer-to-peer support to public administrations in EU partner countries, fostering institutional cooperation and alignment with EU standards. These programmes are also a concrete way of promoting Finland’s foreign policy objectives. The Technical Support Instrument (TSI), in turn, is meant to sustain reforms in EU Member States themselves. For Finnish public authorities, the three programmes provide an opportunity to make use of EU funding, share expertise, build international networks, strengthen national expertise and promote reforms.