TAIEX – Sharing EU expertise
TAIEX (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange instrument) is an integral feature of the European Union enlargement strategy. Since 1996 TAIEX shares the expertise of EU Member State public officials with beneficiary countries to “fill the gaps” in their knowledge and understanding of EU rules and procedures through the exchange of experience and best practice – thereby fostering networks between officials in EU Member States and partner countries. TAIEX is demand-driven and delivers peer-to-peer assistance. Since 2006 it has been extended to cover the neighbourhood countries.
The continued rise in demand for EU expertise demonstrates how valuable such support continues to be not only for the Western Balkans, Turkey and Iceland but also for the southern Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and former Soviet states as well as the Turkish Cypriot community. Between 2000 and 2010, TAIEX mobilised almost 50,000 Member State experts to participate in 11,500 events reaching 325,000 officials from beneficiary countries. In just 5 years – from 2006 to 2010 – the volume of TAIEX activity has increased by 78% from 1100 to almost 2000.[1]