The Technical Support Instrument (TSI) is the EU programme that provides tailor-made technical expertise to EU Member States to design and to implement reforms at the national level, with an emphasis on the green and digital transitions. The TSI also supports the preparation and implementation of Recovery and Resilience Plans.
Initiated in 2021, the TSI is the successor of the Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP). Since 2017, both programmes have helped design, develop and implement over 1800 reform projects in 27 Member States.
COMPLETED AND ONGOING REFORM PROJECTS IN BELGIUM
Reform projects approved under the Technical Support Instrument
The Technical Support Instrument yearly cycle is launched during the dedicated TSI Annual Conference. In April 2024, High-Level representatives from the European Commission, Member States and other Institutions gathered to share their perspectives on how the TSI 2025 could support Member States for the successful design and implementation of resilience-enhancing reforms, and in particular Public Administrations to be fit for the future and adaptable to change.
The conference also started the discussion with Member States on potential multi-country projects - geared at addressing common issues among Member States thereby emphasizing the EU added-value of the instrument - and presented a set of "Flagship" projects - supporting reforms which are largely needed across Member States and are in line with the EU priorities.
For 2024, the Commission approved the following 12 reform support projects for Belgium:
- EU Supervisory Digital Finance Academy: Strengthening Supervisory Capacity in Innovative Digital Finance
- Getting the Flemish government ready for AI
- Identifying subsidies harmful to the environment and biodiversity
- MASS storage of evidence for Justice
Multi-country projects:
- Empowering educators in the digital transition: next generation strategies for teacher professional development
- Enhancing regional access to and performance in EU initiatives and funds
- Identify financial solutions to mobilize resources for the implementation of the GBF, through the preparation of National Biodiversity Finance Plans
- Strengthening Belgium's capacity to model the macroeconomic effects of 'green' policies and investments through the GreenREFORM model
- Strengthening social protection capacity and enhancing the labour market integration of the Minimum Income Scheme (MIS) beneficiaries by the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to the labour market supply and demand matching
- Supporting FDI screening reforms in Europe: Developing solutions to identified and emerging challenges
- Upholding equality and non-discrimination in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) by Equality bodies and Regulators in public administrations
- Social Climate Plan for Belgium and implementation of the EU Emission Trading System
For 2023, the Commission approved the following 16 reform support projects for Belgium:
- Strengthening the strategic approach to public integrity in Belgium, including the integrity of public procurement processes and data-driven approach in procurement risk management
- Tackling labour shortages and skills mismatches in French-speaking Belgium
- Attracting international talents to Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia)
- Towards person-centered integrated care
Multi-country projects:
- Integration of environmental dimensions in public finances - implementing the 'Do No Significant Harm' (DNSH) principle in public funding programme
- Towards improved security at the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg and their embedded industrial clusters through validated and federated identities
- Building Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development (PCSD) in Belgium
- Strengthening tax compliance by implementing behavioural insights for revenue administrations in Belgium, Austria and Portugal
- PACE - Greening the Flemish tax system
- PACE - Civil service mobility
- Strengthening the capacity of Independent Fiscal Institutions (IFIs)
- Cartographie et correspondance des compétences numériques avec les compétences métiers dans la Fonction Publique Map & Match : le numérique au service des métiers des agents publics
- Measuring Citizen’s Satisfaction with Key Government Services for Better Performance and Enhanced Trust
- EU Survey of Central Government Public Servants: Strengthening Evidence-based People Management Policies and Reforms
- Developing in-house capacity for Latvia and other Member States
- Communicating the benefits of the recovery and resilience plans to the general public
In 2022, the Commission approved 13 reform projects for Belgium:
- Evaluation and analytical capacity building of the Federal Planning Bureau
- Enhancing spending efficiency and public investment management at federal and regional (Brussels) level
- Assumer le bon fonctionnement du système judiciaire par une amélioration et une homogénéisation des processus de travail soutenue par des données statistiques fiables
- Recharge and Refuel - Clean, smart and fair urban mobility
- Support to the Renovation Wave - One stop shop in Wallonia
- Implementation of sustainability frameworks for Belgian NPBs
- TSI 2022 Flagship technical Support project on welcoming and “Integration of Third Country Nationals in Member States” – Dedicated in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Multi-country projects:
- Resources Hub for Sustainable Investments in Health – A Joint Initiative for the EU
- Cooperative Compliance Programme in Belgium and Poland – strategies for the full roll outs and attracting the participation of the large taxpayers
- AML risk analysis and supervision in the area of correspondent banking
- Support to REPowerEU
- Building capacity for evidence-informed policymaking in governance and public administration in a post-pandemic Europe
- Development of resilient, innovative, and human-centric digital government services
More information can be found in the 2022 Country Factsheets.
In 2021, the Commission approved the following 14 reform projects for Belgium:
- A Belgian Green Finance Strategy
- Design and implementation of a fiscal rule on expenditure to strengthen the Belgian fiscal framework
- Modernising the statistical infrastructure of the National Bank of Belgium
- Supporting the Walloon Region and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation to build capacity for spending reviews
- Enhanced customs control – new technologies phase 3
- Strengthening the resilience of public administration after the COVID-19 crisis with CAF 2020
- Improving compliance and tax certainty by building on international exchanged information and co-operative compliance
- Tackling long-term unemployment through innovative approach
- Digital transformation in the Flemish education system: reforming ICT-teams at school
- Improving the funding of upskilling partnerships in Wallonia
- Green skills roadmap
- Hydrogen value chain and open-access network for Flanders
- General technical support for the implementation of Belgium's Recovery and Resilience Plan
Multi-country projects:
More information can be found in the 2021 Country Factsheets.
Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) projects (2017-2020)
The TSI expands on the experience of the SRSP programme in building capacity in Member States. You can find the full list of SRSP projects here.
Highlighted projects
The Commission supported Flanders in developing a strategy to develop skills required by the Green deal. The Department of Work and Social Economy was also provided with an implementation roadmap and a governance framework to coordinate the different actors.
The European Commission provided support to the Federal Public Service Finance Belgium and the Polish National Revenue Administration for extending the uptake of the Cooperative Tax Compliance Programmes (CTCP) in Belgium and Poland.
The European Commission is supporting public services in Belgium and the Walloon region for the welcoming and integration of people displaced from Ukraine following Russia’s military invasion.
Want to find out more?
You can easily search projects from all Member States through the interactive map and learn more about reform projects.
Related links
Selected projects for promising results and their potential to be replicated across the EU.