How to Set Up and Implement a Successful Twinning Project

Project Leaders

Objectives
Among the many cooperation mechanisms developed by the European Union, Twinning has been one of the most extensively and successfully applied institution-building programmes over the past ten years. It has assisted the new Member States and the actual (potential) candidates to prepare for EU accession and for the full adoption of the acquis communautaire. Twinning projects in Beneficiary Countries have contributed to the development of efficient administrations reaching the same standards as the Member States in a multitude of acquis-relevant areas, such as: Agriculture and Fisheries, Environment, Structural Funds, Consensus and Social Policy, Public Finance and Internal Market, Justice and Home Affairs, Transport, Energy and Telecom, and Standardisation.

Since 2005, Twinning has been also broadly applied in the countries of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The changes achieved in Beneficiary Countries are concerning, among others, organisation structures, legislation, management skills and human resources, and are aiming directly at the implementation of a related part of the acquis or good EU practices. The full ownership of the beneficiary institution is a central element of every Twinning project.

This seminar will:

• present the process that a successful Twinning project must undergo, including the drafting of a Twinning proposal, selection of proposals, preparation of a Twinning contract, project implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation;
• Describe and analyse the roles and tasks assigned in the process to the different actors;
• Concentrate on potential risks and pitfalls that can be encountered, and provide practical and effective ways to avoid or deal with these.

The seminar is implemented by experienced Twinning practitioners and will draw real life examples referring to numerous Twinning projects carried out in the past. It will provide the most up-todate information about specific conditions and requirements. The participants will be actively involved, solving practical problems and discussing the seminar issues. They will be encouraged to share their views and professional experience with one another.

The objectives of the seminar are threefold

1. to bring together public officials and/or twinning project managers both from the Member Countries and the Beneficiary Countries so that they can share their knowledge and practical experiences they have gained, identify essential cooperation issues and extend their network;
2. to achieve in-depth understanding of all components of the process of preparation and implementation of a Twinning project;
3. to discuss and analyse from the practical point of view the main opportunities and challenges of the Twinning project as an effective cooperation tool within the context of the EU integration process.

Target Group
The seminar is intended for public officials and current or prospect twinning project managers who have been or expect to be involved in Twinning projects, and would like to enhance their knowledge about this cooperation mechanism and improve the skills required for successful preparation and implementation of projects. It should be of interest to those who are involved in one or more of the following activities: preparing a Twinning proposal, selection procedure, drawing up a Twinning contract, project implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation.

The main target group of the present seminar are civil servants from Member States planning to participate in a Twinnning project. Participation is also open for officials from Beneficiary Countries who want to fully understand the mechanisms of the Twinning instruments on both sides.

Description and Method
This two-day seminar will be run by Paweł P. Mlicki, Ph.D – Dutch/Polish Senior Expert who worked as a Short-Term Expert on several
Twinning projects carried out in a number of Beneficiary Countries (both new Member States and Candidate Countries), and twice as a Resident Twinning Advisor and Mr Wolfgang Koeth, Senior Lecturer EIPA Maastricht, former Twinning Project Manager at the European Commission Delegation to Lithuania and former Deputy Head of the European Commission Liaison Office to Kosovo. The experts will give a thorough introduction into the concept of the Twinning project, provide the status quo regarding specific conditions and requirements set by the European Commission, and will go through all successive components of the process with a focus on potential risks and ways to address these. Each subject will be explained through a short theoretical presentation, illustrated by real life examples, which will be followed by sub-group work. The course will be highly interactive, and delegates will be encouraged to share experiences and ask practical questions as much as possible. Lessons learnt from implementation of the previous projects will be drawn for successful realisation of the new projects.

The language for the seminar will be English.