Today (Feb 22), the Commission is closing a Technical Support Instrument (TSI) project that has supported 17 Member States in their efforts to phase out their reliance on Russia's fossil fuels, as set out in the REPowerEU Plan.
The project was launched in March 2022 through a dedicated call as part of the Commission's response to the energy crisis triggered by Russia's attack against Ukraine. The Commission, together with the International Energy Agency (IEA), provided the participants with advice and capacity building to identify and undertake specific reforms and investments in the field of renewable energy, energy efficiency, renewable hydrogen production, and innovative solutions to decarbonise the industry in line with the REPowerEU objectives.
The 17 participating Member States are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. The project concretely helped Member States get ready for the winter and beyond, while supporting their path towards net-zero.
The TSI is the Commission's main instrument to provide technical support to reforms in the EU, following requests by national authorities. It is part of the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 and of the Recovery Plan for Europe. It builds on the success of its predecessor, the Structural Reform Support Programme which, since 2017, has implemented more than 1,400 technical support projects in all Member States.
A closing event took place on 22 February in Brussels and its recording can be watched online.
More information can be found here.
