Created at the beginning of the current Commission’s mandate, DG REFORM has emerged as the centrepiece of EU support for the implementation of EU policies and the further integration and convergence of the Member States within the single market. Amid a period of economic and social instability (inter alia due to the COVID crisis, the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine, the related energy issues, the economic slowdown, and the social fallout of the above situations), it has been instrumental to foster the implementation of EU economic and social policies, contributing to the recovery and resilience of the Union.
The Technical Support Instrument (TSI), managed by DG REFORM, has helped Member States to implement EU laws and policies, providing support to strengthen the capacity of public administrations to deliver services to citizens and building their ability to design and implement reforms in specific policy areas. TSI support to Member States has paved the way for mainstreaming a novel approach to the delivery and implementation of EU policies introduced by the von der Leyen Commission, focused on exchange and cooperation with national administrations and on practical help tailored to the needs and capacity of each partner administration.
This has been complemented by the increasing attention paid to the leading role which EU public administrations have in translating EU policy initiatives into action and the recognition of the added value the Commission can bring by providing further instruments and tools to Member States’ public administrations to cope with current and future challenges. Building on the extensive experience acquired thanks to the support provided by the TSI (under which each project includes a capacity building aspect for the national public administrations involved, besides the specific knowledge needed for the advancement of a given reform), DG REFORM has developed a comprehensive policy to help Member States to modernise their public administration. The initiative on Enhancing the European Administrative Space (ComPAct), launched by Commissioner Ferreira in 2023, laid out a comprehensive set of actions to support the modernisation of national administrations and to strengthen the cooperation between them.
