Twinning is an EU institution building instrument developed by the Commission and based on partnership cooperation between public administrations of EU Member States and a Beneficiary Country for the achievement of mandatory results jointly agreed with the Commission.

Twinning is an initiative of the European Commission that was launched in 1998 in the context of the preparation for enlargement of the European Union. It was conceived as an instrument for targeted administrative co-operation to assist the pro tempore Candidate Countries to strengthen their administrative and judicial capacity to implement EU legislation as future Member States of the European Union. It has remained an important pre-accession instrument which is now available for all the candidate countries and pre-candidates benefitting from the Instrument of pre-accession (IPA).

Fundamental Principles of all Twinning Projects

The concept of ‘mandatory results’ is a key feature of Twinning. Both project partners commit themselves to work towards commonly agreed results in a joint project implementation process. The Commission indicated from the outset that Twinning projects should focus on limited and well-defined institutional targets. These ‘mandatory results’ can be an intermediate benchmark, which constitutes a specific criterion in relation to administrative capacity, as long as there is a jointly agreed target. This target must be measurable and precise.

At the completion of a Twinning project, the BC should have a significantly improved organisation enabling it to properly fulfil its objectives in relation to the EU acquis or in relation to the relevant area of co-operation with the EU.

The aim of Twinning is therefore to produce an operational outcome in a particular field. Achieving this aim calls for long and thorough co-operation between BC and MS, bringing into play whatever actions are required to achieve the desired results.

Two Project Leaders (one on behalf of the Member State leading the project, the other of the beneficiary administration) and a Resident Twinning Adviser (RTA) are the backbone of Twinning projects. The RTA coordinates the project and is seconded from the lead MS to the beneficiary administration for a minimum of 12 months. The work plan of a Twinning project usually foresees expert missions, training events and awareness raising visits.

Twinning Light

"Twinning Light" is designed to offer a more flexible, mid-term approach (up to six months) without the presence of a RTA permanently located in the beneficiary administration.

Twinning is a dedicated institution building tool providing expertise from Member States administrations to the public institutions of candidate, pre-candidate and Neighbourhood countries. Twinning is made of grant contracts signed with Member States public institutions. Twinning operations obey specific rules that are described in the "Common Twinning Manual"