(28 September 2020) – The Commission published a study that aims to enhance the understanding of the planned and implemented use of Technical Assistance at the initiative of Member States during the 2014-2020 period.
The report assesses the capacity of the administrations of Member States and regions to prepare, manage and implement Cohesion policy projects as well as to remove important barriers to investment.
The study confirms the need for a more strategic and comprehensive approach, encompassing a wide range of actions and actors, also by taking into advantage of the new instruments proposed by the Commission for the new programming period 2021-2027.
In particular, the study calls on the national and regional authorities to ensure more leadership and coordination, involvement and strengthening of the competencies of all relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries, invest in long-term learning and development strategies to build knowledge and skills of their staff.
The Commission also made available a practical toolkit, which administrations can use to better prepare for future investment programmes.