Practical Aspects of Twinning: Lessons Learned and Best Practices from Finland

1. 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

2. Statistics of the year 2012 • Finland submitted 16 proposals of which 7 wasawarded to Finland (value 8 000 000 euros) • One projectpending: 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 sectorsKS 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

3. Why institutions should participate in Twinning? • To create networks and contacts, especially with future EU 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 Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

4. 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 Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

5. Finland’s projects by sector

6. 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 Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

7. 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. Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

8. Main results of the evaluation 2 • Influencing future EU member states and their legislation has 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. Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

9. Main reason for the experts to participate in Twinning activities Personal development Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

10. Some ideas for development of Twinning in Finland • The level of participation in Twinning amongst Finnish 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 Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

11. Best practices 1 • Same rules for players in the field: National Recommendation 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. Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

12. 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 Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

13. Best practices 3 (NCP) • Early warning – follow the pipeline and the National 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. Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

14. 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 Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

15. 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 Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

16. 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 twinning@formin.fi www.formin.fi/twinning

17. Thank you for your Attention! Esityksen nimi / Tekijä

18. 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 • 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