Tacis organisation
in the field
(a) Tacis Coordinating Units
78. Important elements of the organisation
of DG1A and Tacis are located in the NIS partner countries. In
each country, a Tacis Coordinating Unit is set up by the
partner government in association with Tacis. These Units are
under the supervision of a Tacis National Coordinator, who
usually reports to a government minister. Each Unit is also supported
by a small number of experts financed by Tacis; its main responsibilities
are:
the elaboration of Indicative Programmes
the elaboration of Action Programmes;
preselection and final selection of proposals
the implementation and evaluation of Action
Programmes
other tasks, including promotion and information
on Tacis.
(b) EU Delegations
79. There are four European Union Delegations
in the Tacis area, based on Moscow, Kiev, Tbilisi and Almaty,
which between them cover the whole Tacis area. In the context
of the Tacis programme, the responsibilities of a delegation normally
depend upon the size of its Tacis team and on how well established
the delegation is. Globally, these responsibilities are:
to manage relations with national authorities
in the context of Tacis
to participate in the preparation of Indicative
Programmes, together with the National Coordinator, the
technical ministries and DG1A in Brussels.
to assist with all stages in the preparation
of Action Programmes.
once the financing decisions are taken
by the European Commission, to secure their signing by the National
Coordinator concerned.
to prepare the terms of reference of a
number of invitations to tender, at the request of Tacis
to receive the expatriate experts working
on Tacis projects and to provide guidance
to provide experts with assistance in
the implementation of projects
to supervise the implementation of projects
to manage the Tacis Bistro facility (in Moscow and Kiev)
to inform EU and local contractors about
Tacis possibilities
to prepare six-monthly reports on the
situation in each of the sectors covered by the Tacis programme
to act as a focal point for visits from
DG1A, the European Parliament and the Court of Auditors.
(c) Tacis Technical Offices
80. The separate network of Tacis Technical
Offices provide technical assistance to the partner countries
concerned, supporting the preparation and implementation of Tacis
programmes. They usually consist of one or more Tacis-funded experts,
both western or local. There are currently seven Technical Offices,
6 in Russia and one in Belarus.
(d) Tacis Monitoring and Evaluation Service
81. Tacis Monitoring Units, which like
the Technical Offices are separate from the EU Delegations, are
based on three locations (Moscow, Kiev and Almaty). Their tasks
are:
to carry out systematic on-the-ground
monitoring of Tacis projects;
to monitor set projects on a regular basis,
highlight issues in relation to project progress, and make recommendations
to management.
The teams are made up of external experts contracted
by the European Commission under the Tacis budget, and working
to pre-agreed terms of reference. As a matter of principle, each
team is bilateral, with equal numbers of Western and local experts;
this is designed to ensure even-handed assessment of project performance.
The aim is that all the teams can perform their work with absolute
professional independence, in order to achieve excellence in their
work.
82. Until recently the Monitoring Units
carried out project evaluation as well as monitoring; evaluation
is now the responsibility of a separate unit in Brussels, which
sends out teams of mainly contract staff to carry out selected
project evaluations in the partner countries.
(e) Tacis Programme Contractors
83. Tacis programme contractors are
drawn from a wide range of public organisations, non-commercial
organisations and private organisations and companies. As a matter
of policy, invitations to tender for contracts funded by Tacis
are open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons from
the member states of the EU and from the Tacis partner countries.
Tacis increasingly encourages the use of locally-based participants,
as they are more familiar with local conditions, which also facilitates
the onward transfer of know-how to other local experts.
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