Negotiations with the European Commission: Technical support for reforms and preparations of the Czech EU presidency
On 24 and 25 May 2022 a set of meetings took place with the delegation of the European Commission (EC), headed by Ms Nathalie Berger, Director for Support to Member States Reform in the DG REFORM. During the meetings, options for technical support were presented.
The Commission’s Technical Support Instrument helps Member States in preparing, designing and implementing reforms that will lead to modern and resilient public administrations, sustainable growth strategies and resilient economies, while enhancing their capacity to react to current and future crises. Several reforms projects are also included in the national Recovery and Resilience Plans.
As a part of the set of meetings, the EC delegation met Mr Štěpán Černý, the Director-General for the Section for European Affairs at the Office of the Government and his team. During this meeting, a state of play of the preparations for the forthcoming Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU were discussed.
The EC delegation also met Mr Marek Havrda, Deputy Minister for European Affairs, who presented the political priorities of the Czech EU presidency. At the same time Deputy Minister Havrda appreciated previous support to reform preparation provided by the TSI. In particular, he thanked the EC delegation for the TSI dedicated call in response to Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. In this context, he stated that the Czech Republic is one of the most affected countries by the war conflict in Ukraine. In terms of this TSI dedicated call, the EC selected all project request submitted by the Czech Republic.
Deputy Minister Havrda also emphasized the importance of using evidence-based approach and digitization in public administration. In this respect, the TSI represents an appropriate instrument to assist ministries and other public administration institutions on developing evidence-based approach and supporting digitization processes.
Subsequently, the EC delegation met with the representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, led by the Mr Marian Piecha, Deputy Minister for the EU Funds. The current energy situation in the Czech Republic and REPowerEU initiative were discussed. Further, the TSI support for the implementation of Czech Recovery and Resilience Plan (so-called National Recovery Plan) was addressed as well.
The EC delegation subsequently provided consultations for public administration institutions on the drafts of their project requests. The consultations were attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of the Interior and the National Agency for Communication and Information Technologies.
Upcoming TSI 2023 round will traditionally take a place in autumn. The deadline for project request submission to Office of the Government has been set on 7 October 2022. However, during the summer months the public administration institution may contact the Office of the Government and start consultation with the TSI Coordinating Authority at Office of the Government and with the EC on possible project requests.
For More information (also available in Czech)
Country factsheets on Member States' reform projects
