The Technical Support Instrument is a programme through which the European Commission provides member states with expert assistance in preparing and implementing reforms. It does not involve financing investments, but rather experts, analyses, comparisons with other countries and methodological support, which are free of charge for the state. It is used, for example, in reforming public administration, the tax system, healthcare, energy, digitalisation, or in preparing strategies that are a condition for drawing on other funds. The applicant is always a public administration body, not a company or a local government on its own. For the business environment it has an indirect but significant impact, because the outputs tend to be changes in rules, methodologies and processes that companies subsequently work with. The results of supported projects are published and tend to be a useful source of information about upcoming changes in the given sector.
See also: Enabling condition, European Semester, Technical assistance.
