1 Twinning Review Mission Johan Van Ransbeke

2 Why Twinning ?  Pre-accession assistance  Implement a section of the Acquis  Member State (MS) – Beneficiary Country (BC)  Twinning Covenant  Mandatory results  Transfer of knowledge  Improve working methods  Align to best practices in the Member State  Sustainable results

3 The groundwork of sustainability  Already during Twinning project: Training material : Good quality Practical Easily accessible Train-the-trainer approach as well Final report : sustainability plan Wrapping-up seminar (achieved + outlook) Ways and means to avoid staff turnover after the Twinning

4 What is a Twinning Review Mission ?  In Twinning Manual (ver. 2009)  Relatively new (2nd mission)  “under development”  Twinning can be followed by TRM  Initiated by Commission Headquarters  6 – 12 months after finalization of Project  Report whether sustainable impacts or spin offs have been observed after completion of the Twinning

5 Objectives of a TRM  Assessment : Sustainability of the Twinning’s (mandatory) results Long term impact on the project’s objectives  Lessons learnt (positive or negative).  Dissemination of good practices.

6 Core Group  Main participants : MS Project Leader and RTA BC Project Leader and the RTA’s counterpart Task manager from the EC Delegation in the BC  Leader (Twinning Review Expert : TRE) : Public sector expert Different Member State than Lead or Junior MS partner Not participated in the Twinning project under review. Preferable a former RTA In a similar Twinning project.

7 Documentation & templates  Twinning Manual (briefly)  TAIEX - Guide for Experts on Twinning Review Mission under TAIEX (detailed - convenient Q&A format : remuneration, travel arrangements, changes, …)  Terms of Reference (Aim + Agenda)  Reporting form  Hotel and flight booked by GIZ

8 The TRM  3-5 working days  E.g. : fly in on Sunday – return on Friday  Meeting with Core Group  See other stakeholders  At the end : TRE shares preliminary outcomes with Core Group & listen to their comments  Within two weeks : TRE finalises the report  Database for Twinning Assessment: Comprises TRM reports Accessible to Twinning network : BC partners MS Twinning Commission

9 TRM - SR 06 IB FI 01  Strengthening the capacity of the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development in formulation, negotiation and implementation of trade policy and negotiation of trade agreements  BC : Serbia  MS : Germany  Twinning : till  TRM : till

10 Before the TRM  Contact the former RTA : Discuss (very) preliminary agenda First idea on the Twinning (background) Discuss possible counterparts  Prepare introduction letter to the different counterparts in the BC’s Administration Briefly explain the goal Already give some items for discussion Didn’t send the reporting form

11 My agenda  Monday morning : meeting former RTA  Monday afternoon : RTA + BC project leader  Tuesday morning : Short briefing with RTA on how the day before went Short meeting with Deputy Minister (Courtesy visit)  Tuesday afternoon and other days : meetings with other (more technical) divisions  In between : Report preparation  Thursday evening : present preliminary outcomes – finalised by mail correspondence

12 The Reporting Form (I)  Identification of the Twinning project  General environment : Changes in staff – changes in structure Changes to the project  Project deliveries : Indicators Fully delivered ? Ownership ? Impact still visible ? Training outputs still used ? Impact likely to be sustainable ? Recommendations issued & timetable ?

13 The Reporting Form (II)  Additional Comments  Follow-up of Recommendations  Lessons learned for future Twinnings

14 Observations  Be prepared to “go with the flow” (agenda)  Do not compromise on content (reporting form)  Use the reporting form as a guideline for the discussion.  Adopted the reporting form: different situation according to the sector in the BC’s administration  As a TRE: let the RTA of the Twinning project accompany you: he knows the people  As a TRE: Reporting mission, not an evaluation mission.  people are more willing to comment on things that went not so well  “Systemic risk”, hierarchy, personal initiative

15 Johan Van Ransbeke Belgian Customs and Excises Thank you for your attention