The Technical Support Instrument (TSI) is an EU programme that provides tailored technical expertise to EU Member States with the general objective "to promote the Union's economic, social and territorial cohesion by supporting Member States' efforts to implement reforms". To achieve this objective, the instrument pursues the specific objectives of assisting national authorities in improving their capacity to design, develop and implement reforms as well as prepare, amend, implement and revise recovery and Resilience Plans.
The PPMI (part of the Verian Group)-led project prepared the supporting study for the mid-term evaluation of the TSI during the period 2021-2023. The scope of the evaluation covers three cycles of the TSI (2021-2022-2023), encompassing 601 projects that support 885 reforms in all EU Member States. With the budget of EUR 356 million allocated to these cycles, TSI support spanned a wide range of policy areas, including, but not limited to, public administration and governance, climate action, and digital transition. The midterm evaluation analyses the entire operational cycle of the work programmes, from the reception and analysis of Member States' technical support requests to the evaluation of implemented technical support projects.
The project built on a solid evaluation methodology and was informed by the results of:
- Open public consultation (51 response from 16 EU Member States and one non-Member State);
- Targeted survey (289 responses from all EU Member States)
- Interviews (114 interviews with respondents from 26 EU Member States)
- Focus group discussions (3 discussions with a total of 37 participants from 20 Member States);
- Cross-case analysis (seven case studies, comprising 21 standalone and five multi-country projects (a total of 98 reforms) funded by the TSI);
- Cost-benefit analysis;
- Monitoring data of the Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM).
Overall, the implementation of the TSI in 2021-2023 was successful across all evaluation criteria. The programme effectively addressed key challenges faced by Member States and remained highly relevant. It assisted beneficiary authorities in improving their capacity to design, develop, and implement reforms and supported the preparation and implementation of national Recovery and Resilience Plans. The TSI demonstrated sustainability, with beneficiary authorities retaining knowledge, implementing recommendations, and adopting good practices. The programme was efficient in terms of process duration and budget execution, with a short time span between application and project start crucial for success.
The TSI aligned well with other EU instruments, though synergies could be further strengthened. It added significant EU value by providing access to international expertise, fostering collaboration, and contributing to the EU's green and digital transitions.
