EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 11.10.2021 SWD(2021) 283 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Accompanying the document REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL Annual Monitoring Report on the implementation of the 2019 Structural Reform Support Programme {COM(2021) 622 final}



1.Introduction Effective implementation of structural reforms, timely and adequate transposition and implementation of the Union acquis, as well as efficient and effective use of the European Union funds are vital for encouraging investment, unlocking the growth potential, raising living standards and supporting the process of resilience and convergence in the EU. Without growth-enhancing reforms, economies stagnate and decline. At the same time, overall successful implementation of reforms requires efficient and effective public administration, since this affects the performance of all public policy domains. For this reason, adequate administrative capacity (notably in terms of competences, mobility, incentives and changes to work processes) is crucial for well-functioning economies and to underpin the success of structural reforms. The Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP), established in May 2017, covers the 2017- 2020 period. Its objective is to strengthen the Member States’ capacity to prepare and implement growth-enhancing reforms, including by providing assistance for the efficient and effective use of Union funds. The final decisions on the design, structure and implementation of reforms lie with the Member States, however. Support from the SRSP is available to all EU Member States upon request, requires no co-financing and involves a relatively small administrative burden for Member States. It is managed by the Commission’s DG REFORM (previous Structural Reform Support Service). The Commission monitors how support measures financed by the programme are implemented and provides the European Parliament and the Council with an annual monitoring report for each year of implementation. This report provides an overview of the implementation of measures selected for funding under the 2019 SRSP round. In addition, section 5 of the report (progress in relation to the programme’s objectives) describes the progress of some measures selected for financing under the 2017 and 2018 SRSP rounds and covered by the previous annual monitoring reports.



Article 16 of the SRSP Regulation Monitoring and evaluation […] 2. The Commission shall provide the European Parliament and the Council with an annual monitoring report on the implementation of the Programme. That report shall include information on: a)requests for support submitted by Member States, referred to in Article 7(1); b)analyses of the application of the criteria, referred to in Article 7(2), used to analyse the requests for support submitted by Member States; c)cooperation and support plans, referred to in Article 7(2); d)participation of reform partners, referred to in Article 9; e)special measures adopted, referred to in Article 13(6); and f)implementation of support measures . 2.Background information 2.1.Budget of the programme

The budget for the implementation of the Programme over the 2017-2020 period is €222.8 million (following the amendment to the original SRSP Regulation) . The budget available for 2019 was €79.3 million. In addition to the SRSP budget, Article 11 of the SRSP Regulation and Article 25 and 59 of Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 (the Common Provisions Regulation) also enable the programme to be financed through additional voluntary contributions from Member States, using resources provided for technical assistance at the initiative of the Member States under the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI Funds). In 2019, no Member States made voluntary transfers to the SRSP. The overall budget for 2019 thus remained €79.3 million. 2.2.Objectives and scope of the programme The general objective of the SRSP is to contribute to institutional, administrative and growth-sustaining structural reforms in the Member States. This is achieved by providing support to national authorities with the aim of reforming and strengthening institutions, governance, public administration, and economic and social sectors in response to economic and social challenges. The overarching goal is to enhance cohesion, competitiveness, productivity, sustainable growth, job creation, and investment and social inclusion and to contributing to real convergence in the Union, which may also prepare for participation in the euro area, in particular in the context of economic governance processes, including through assistance for the efficient, effective and transparent use of the Union funds. The specific objectives of the programme are to: a)support the intiatitives of Member States’ national authorities to design their reforms according to their priorities; b)enhance the national authorities’ capacity to formulate, develop and implement reform policies and strategies and pursue an integrated approach; c)support the efforts of national authorities to define and implement appropriate processes and methodologies; and d)assist the national authorities in enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of human resources management. In addition, with a view to pursuing the general and specific objectives, the Programme could finance actions and activities also in support of reforms that may help Members States in their preparation to join the euro area. The support therefore covers all stages of reform, from inception to implementation and evaluation of results. Support can be provided for reforms which fall under the following main broad policy areas: a)revenue administration and public financial management; b)governance and public administration; c)growth and business environment (including energy and climate action); d)labour market, education, health and social issues; and e)financial sector and access to finance.

2.3.European added value The Commission should ensure that actions and activities selected for funding are likely to produce results that show a clear European added value. European added value is ensured in particular by: a)the development and implementation of solutions that address local, regional or national challenges that have an impact on cross-border or Union-wide challenges, and which may also contribute to social, economic and territorial cohesion; b)their complementarity and synergy with other Union programmes and policies at regional, national, Union and international level, as appropriate; c)their contribution to the consistent and coherent implementation of Union law and policies, as well as the promotion of European values, including solidarity; d)their contribution to the sharing of good practices, also with a view to increasing the visibility of the reform programmes, and to building a Union-wide platform and network of expertise; and e)the promotion of mutual trust between beneficiary Member States and the Commission and of cooperation among Member States. 2.4.Implementation of the programme and forms of support The support provided under the SRSP is tailored to the country’s needs. Experts accompany national authorities throughout different stages of the reform process (scoping, prioritising, designing, road mapping, implementing, evaluating). The support depends on the nature of the reform, the urgency of action, the resources available and the obligations deriving from the EU Financial Regulation. In concrete terms, the technical support can take the form of: ·long-term or short-term presence of experts, and cooperation on the ground with the national authorities throughout the reform process or at certain stages; ·actions to help address specific needs – diagnostic analyses, recommendations on how to address the situation, a strategy, draft of a new law/act or modification of an existing one; proposals for (new) working and organisational procedures; and/or ·wider actions that increase administrative capacity – seminars, training, working visits, development of methodologies, collection of data, establishment of benchmarks, etc. 2.5.Data collection All data on the implementation of the SRSP is stored by the European Commission in an internal IT tool managed by DG REFORM. The tool facilitates monitoring and reporting on the implementation of SRSP projects. It has provided data for this report.



3.Implementation of support measures funded by srsp 2019 budget 3.1.Introduction 2019 was the third year of activities under the SRSP. As indicated previously, the budget for support measures in 2019 amounted to €79.3 million, available to all EU Member States. On 27 February 2019, the Commission adopted the annual work programme for the SRSP 2019 , setting out priorities for the year, objectives, expected results and outlined actions to be implemented. The annual work programme for 2019 was sent to the European Parliament and the Council on 30 April 2019. The focus of this report is the support measures selected for funding in 2019, and it also covers the implementation of support measures selected in 2017 and 2018. 3.2.Requests for support submitted by the Member States Member States were invited to submit their requests for support by 31 October 2018, and to provide information on the following elements: a)problem/need to be addressed by the requested support measures; b)the breadth of the problems identified (impact on other areas in the economy); c)and depth of the problems identified (severity); d)the urgency of the request for support; e)relevant socio-economic indicators to be taken into consideration when analysing the request, the indicative duration and estimated cost; f)expected results/use of the results of the support measures requested; g)information on the administrative capacity of the Member State to implement the results of the support measures and potential providers. In their requests for support, Member States also identified the relevant circumstances under which they were submitting the requests: a)the implementation of reforms undertaken by Member States at their own initiative, in particular to achieve sustainable economic growth and job creation; b)the implementation of economic adjustment programmes (for Member States that receive Union financial assistance); and c)the implementation of growth-sustaining reforms in the context of economic governance processes, in particular of European Semester country-specific recommendations, or of actions related to the implementation of Union law. The requests for support from interested Member States were submitted centrally by designated coordinating authorities , i.e. authorities responsible for submitting requests on behalf of a Member State. Each coordinating authority was invited to prioritise requests for its Member State, but not all of them did so in 2019. The requests for support could come from the national authorities of the Member States, i.e. authorities at central, regional or local level, or independent authorities. Once the requests for support were selected, the Commission then concluded a cooperation and support plan with the coordinating authority of each beneficiary Member State (see section 3.5).

Coordinating authorities To ensure proper coordination and efficient communication with the Commission, Member States designate a coordinating authority to act as the interlocutor of the DG REFORM for the overall implementation of the country’s cooperation and support plan. The coordinating authorities are responsible at national level for coordinating and prioritising the requests for support submitted by the Member State, and for coordinating the effective implementation of the measures envisaged and the achievement of the objectives set out in their cooperation and support plan. The coordinating authority is also encouraged to initiate corrective actions if needed. For the 2019 selection round, 580 requests for support were submitted by 27 EU Member States (including 1 request submitted by the UK, which was an EU Member State at that time) for an estimated amount that was almost 2.5 times the available 2019 SRSP budget (€194 million; as compared to the available budget for the SRSP 2019 of €79.3 million). The chart below shows the number of requests submitted per Member State, and a comparison with the previous round. More Member States participated in the Programme in 2019 than under the 2018 SRSP, and the total number of submitted requests was higher. The distribution of requests across the main broad policy areas was as follows: Figure 2: Number of requests submitted by Member States under SRSP 2019 – split per main broad policy area (in percentages By comparison, the highest number of requests submitted under SRSP 2018 were in the area of growth and business environment (32%) and governance and public administration (26%). For SRSP 2019, there was a significant increase in the area of labour market, education, health and social services (27%), closely followed by growth and business environment (26%). More than one third of the requests submitted by the Member States for the SRSP 2019 round related to the EU economic governance process. 27% of the requests concerned the implementation of Union priorites, and also 27% concerned the implementation of Member States’ own priorities. The remaining requests were related to the implementation of Union law (e.g. infringements) with 6%, and the implementation of economic adjustment programmes. The chart below shows the distribution by category. Under the SRSP 2017 and 2018 rounds, the majority of the requests also concerned challenges related to the EU economic governance process (38% and 30% respectively), but under SRSP 2019 the share of these types of requests increased even further (39%) 3.3.Application of the assessment criteria The Commission’s assessment of submitted requests was based on two sets of elements: ·general principles: transparency, equal treatment and sound financial management; and ·criteria for the analysis of requests: urgency, breadth and depth of the problems, support needs in the policy areas concerned, analysis of socio-economic indicators and general administrative capacity of the Member State.

The Commission analysed the requests for support submitted by the Member States in terms of their eligibility and compliance with these principles and criteria. A practical two-step approach was undertaken: a)screening for eligibility and analysis of requests; and b)prioritisation of requests for selection. As part of the assessment, the Commission undertook a broad internal consultation with all relevant Commission services in order to ensure complementarity and to avoid duplication of efforts and overlaps with several Union funds/programmes (in particular the ESI Funds). The process (including the broad consultation with other Commission services which fed into the assessment) resulted in the steps described below: Consultation Step 1 – screening and analysis of the requests for support Screening Prior to assessing the requests submitted under the SRSP 2019 round, the Commission first established whether the requests met the legal requirements of the SRSP Regulation (eligibility check). Requests which included elements that were not ‘eligible actions’ under the SRSP Regulation (see Article 6) such as the purchase of equipment, provision of IT software, budget support measures, measures consisting of paying for running costs, etc., were excluded from further assessment. As a result of the first screening, 1% (6 requests) were excluded, and 99% (574 requests) proceeded to further analysis (eligible requests). Analysis of the requests for support Following the exclusion of ineligible and withdrawn requests, the purpose of the analysis was to identify the requests that merited support under the SRSP. The analysis was based on the principles and criteria set out in Article 7(2) of the SRSP Regulation. A. General principles Throughout the selection process, the general principles of the EU financial management rules (transparency, equal treatment and sound financial management) were applied. Transparency: The Commission maintained a dialogue with the Member States prior to the submission of their requests. This allowed clarifications to be provided and the Member States’ requests to be refined, and adequate feedback on the assessment process after selection, in particular for requests which had not been selected. Equal treatment:

The Commission applied the assessment criteria equally to all requesting Member States. There was no set pre-allocation of funding – the amount of funding allocated per Member State was determined based on the compliance of the request with the principles and assessment criteria and on the quality, focus and expected result of the support measures. In order to ensure equal treatment, a scoring system was put in place (see sections below). Sound financial management: The principle of sound financial management requires that EU financial resources are used in accordance with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. The Commission used the principle of sound financial management to prioritise requests based on quality, focus and expected results of eligible submitted requests. B. Assessment criteria The assessment criteria were applied in the following way: I.Urgency of the request The Commission assessed the urgency of a request, as initially presented by the Member State. It also took account of the following elements: ·whether the urgency was linked to a crisis; ·whether the urgency was related to a deadline or a time-bound schedule derived from Union law, or from Union/Commission policy priorities (e.g. European Semester, Economic Adjustment programmes, capital markets union (CMU), energy union, digital single market, etc.). II.Breadth and depth of the problems identified The Commission assessed the severity (breadth) and extent (depth) of the problem, as presented by the Member State. It also took account of the following elements: ·the Commission's own knowledge and assessment of the prevailing situation in the Member State; ·country reports, country-specific recommendations, annual reports on the application of EU law and other relevant documents related to Union/Commission priorities (energy union, CMU, etc.), as well as to Member States’ own reform priorities, where known. III.Support needs in respect of the policy areas concerned The Commission analysed support needs, as described in the requests by the Member States. It also took account of the following elements: ·at which stage of the reform process the support would be required (the design phase or the implementation phase) and how appropriate the solution proposed by the Member States would be to address it; ·whether the requested support measures were covered by already existing support measures/instruments (under national or Union (e.g. ESI Funds) programmes). IV.Socio-economic indicators The Commission took account of relevant socio-economic indicators (as they had been described by the Member States in their requests for support, or in another manner as appropriate) to support the assessment .

V.General administrative capacity of the Member State The Commission also assessed the capacity of the Member State (i.e. of the national authorities requesting support) to implement and absorb the support measures to be provided, and ensure adequate follow-up. The following elements were particularly taken into account: ·existence of a structure in the requesting Member State that would coordinate and follow up on the support measures; ·staff that would be made available to follow up on the support measures; ·capacity (also based on past experience) to manage support measures/projects. Rating system In order to ensure equal treatment, a rating system was put in place to assess how the eligible requests complied with the criteria indicated above. Analysis based on general principles and criteria: rating system Every request for support that was considered eligible received rating scores (A to C) that evaluated how well the assessment criteria and the principle of sound financial management were fulfilled. Scores were attributed for each of the following criteria: (i) urgency of the request, (ii) breadth and depth of the problems identified, (iii) support needs in respect of the policy areas concerned, (iv) general administrative capacity of the Member State, (v) maturity, (vi) focus and (vii) expected results of the requested support measures. - requests with only high and medium scores and a majority of high scores fell into the category high scores (at least 4 As, no Cs) - requests with only high and medium scores and a majority of medium scores fell into the category medium scores (at least 4 Bs, no Cs) - requests with one low score fell into the category one major weakness (at least 1 C) - requests with more than one low score and medium scores for the rest fell into the category several major weaknesses (more than 1 C) 62.4% of the 574 requests analysed in the SRSP 2019 round received high scores, 13.4% medium scores, and around 12% had either one major weakness, or several major weaknesses. The chart below shows the breakdown in percentages:

Compared to the SRSP 2018 round, there have been some notable changes. The percentage of requests rated with high scores increased from 58% to 62.4%. At the same time, the percentage of requests with several major weaknesses decreased from 17% to 12.2%. These changes seem to reflect an improved quality of the requests submitted by Member States. Requests with high scores had in general the following characteristics: ·the problems/needs identified were sufficiently relevant/important and not covered by other Union funds/programmes; ·the solutions proposed were suitable for addressing the problems/needs; ·relevant socio-economic indicators underpinned the problems/needs at stake; ·the requesting Member State had sufficient administrative capacity to follow up the measure funded by the SRSP.



Step 2 – prioritisation of the requests for support The results of the screening and analysis stage were used to select requests for funding under the budget of the SRSP 2019 cycle (€79.3 million available, and €194 million in requests received). The requests were prioritised based on the principle of sound financial management (in particular taking into account their maturity, focus and expected results).

Without undermining the assessment criteria, the following aspects have also been considered and the priority has been given to: ·measures that were mature enough to allow for quick delivery of support and rapid implementation of reforms on the ground; ·targeted measures addressing defined objectives (as opposed to requests that were more generic or preparatory); and ·measures with a strong expected results on the ground. 3.4.Selection of requests After the analysis and prioritisation of the 574 eligible requests for technical support, 263 requests from 26 Member States were selected for funding under the available SRSP 2019 budget of €79.3 million. The distribution of selected requests by Member State was as shown below. With an increase in the budget from €20.5 million in the 2017 SRSP, to €30.5 million in the 2018 SRSP, and further to €79.3 in the SRSP 2019, the overall number of requests selected for funding under SRSP 2019 was higher than under the previous SRSP rounds, and also distributed across more Member States (26). The distribution across the main broad policy areas was as shown below: By comparison, the highest number of requests selected for funding under the SRSP 2018 were in revenue administration and public financial management (24%). Under SRSP 2019, this category had the lowest number of requests (15%). Also, in the area of governance and public administration the share of selected requests decreases from 21% to 18% under SRSP 2019. Moreover, there have been a significative increase in the number of requests selected for funding in the area of labour market, education, health and social services (from 21% to 27%), as well as in the financial sector and access to finance (from 11% to 17%). The following chart shows the breakdown of the request selected under the SRSP 2019 budget and split according to relevant circumstances. As part of the EU’s economic governance process, 4% (9 requests) were related to the preparation for euro area accession. 93.4% of requests selected for funding under SRSP 2019 round were given high scores. The chart below shows the distribution of the scores of the selected requests.

By way of comparison, 97% of requests selected for funding under SRSP 2018 were given high scores. 3.5.Cooperation and support plans Once the requests for support had been selected, the Commission concluded a cooperation and support plan with each Member State benefiting from the programme. Cooperation and support plans Member States and the Commission work closely together to carry out actions financed under the SRSP. After a Member State submits its request for support, the coordinating authority of the requesting Member State and the Commission agree on the priorities and objectives, an indicative timeline, the scope of the support measures and the estimated financial contribution for such support. This agreement is reflected in a cooperation and support plan (CSP). The CSPs are multiannual documents, signed and amended each year (if need be) by the Commission and Member States requesting support from the SRSP. Implementation of the support measures requires full involvement and ownership by the Member State. The CSP is not a legally binding document, and it does not serve as a financing decision (the estimated global financial contribution is only indicative). However, through this document, the Commission and the Member States express their commitment to engage in the implementation of the support measures . Subject to consent by the Member States, the CSPs are transmitted to the European Parliament and the Council. In 2019, 26 cooperation and support plans were concluded between the Commission and the Member States. They were sent to the European Parliament and the Council on 30 April 2019, in line with Article 8 of the SRSP Regulation. Country Indicative timeline of delivery of support measures Estimated global contribution Austria Q2 2019 – Q4 2022 €2,103,850 Belgium Q1 2019 – Q2 2021 €2,602,450 Bulgaria Q1 2018 – Q3 2021 €4,185,000 Croatia Q2 2019 – Q1 2021 €4,935,000 Cyprus Q1 2019 – Q2 2021 €2,770,000 Czech Republic Q1 2019 – Q2 2021 €2,901,000 Estonia Q2 2019 – Q4 2020 €2,626,000 Finland Q2 2019 – Q4 2020 €1,330,000 France Q1 2019 – Q2 2022 €2,872,560 Germany Q2 2019 – Q3 2021 €830,000 Greece Q1 2019 – Q2 2022 €5,040,500 Hungary Q1 2019 – Q3 2020 €1,610,000 Ireland Q2 2019 – Q4 2020 €3,120,000 Italy Q1 2019 – Q2 2021 €6,788,000 Latvia Q3 2017 – Q2 2021 €3,858,560 Lithuania Q1 2019 – Q2 2021 €3,385,000 Luxembourg Q2 2019 – Q2 2021 €600,000 Malta Q1 2019 – Q1 2021 €2,698,000 Netherlands Q1 2019 – Q3 2020 €577,500 Poland Q2 2019 – Q2 2022 €5,080,000 Portugal Q1 2019 – Q2 2021 €3,752,500 Romania Q1 2019 – Q1 2021 €3,950,000 Slovakia Q1 2019 – Q1 2021 €3,020,000 Slovenia Q1 2019 – Q2 2021 €3,280,000 Spain Q1 2019 – Q2 2021 €5,336,400 Sweden Q3 2018 – Q1 2021 €400,000 3.6.Reform partners and special measures In coordination with the Commission, the beneficiary Member State may enter into partnership with one or more other Member States which will act as reform partners to support specific areas of reform. In 2019, none of the requesting Member States entered into such a partnership. Every year, a limited part of annual work programme is earmarked for special measures in the event of unforeseen and duly justified grounds of urgency requiring an immediate response for a maximum period of 6 months. In 2019, none of the requesting Member States requested support under special measures. 3.7. Implementation of support measures

The 263 selected requests resulted in 259 projects (some selected requests were later withdrawn by Member States and some were merged for implementation purposes into one project). The 259 support measures are listed in Annex I. The distribution of support measures/projects per Member State and per policy area is shown in the table below. By 31 January 2021, 20% of the reform support projects under SRSP 2019 had already been completed and 80% continued to be implemented on the ground. The distribution of projects across the main broad policy areas is illustrated in the chart below: Under SRSP 2019, the highest number of approved projects were in the area of labour market, education, heath and social services (27 %) and growth and business environment (24%). The breakdown of specific actions (measures funded by the SRSP 2019 budget) supported in each policy area and each Member State is described in the chart below. Governance and public administration The SRSP provides support measures in 22 Member States in the fields of overall public administration, procurement, e-Government/Digital Public Administration, the functioning of the justice system, the fight against fraud, and corruption and money laundering. Certain measures could contribute to a better implementation of Union funds and programmes. Growth and business environment The SRSP provides support measures in 23 Member States, in particular in the fields of investment climate, management of natural resources and resource efficiency, and the Energy Union. Labour market, education, health and social services The SRSP provides support measures in 23 Member States, n particular in the fields of healthcare systems, education, training and research, labour markets and social policies, migration and social welfare systems. Revenue administration and public financial management The SRSP provides support measures in 22 Member States, in particular in relation to revenue administration, tax policy, budget preparation and spending reviews, budget implementation and transition towards accrual accounting, and fiscal framework. Financial sector and access to finance The SRSP provides support measures in 16 Member States, in particular in the fields of capitalmarket diagnostics and strategies, capital market development, insolvency and nonperforming loans, financial literacy and reinforcing financial stability. The largest proportion of support measures selected under the SRSP 2019 round and currently being implemented concern the following sectors/actions (see the figure below and Annex II for more details): ·Digital public administration (12.4%); ·Education and training (8.1%); ·Healthcare system (7.7%); ·Social protection and social services (6.6%); ·Capital markets union (6.2%);

·Governance (6.2%). 259 different authorities were recipients of support measures funded under SRSP 2019. The type of beneficiary authority receiving support is shown in the chart below. The distribution of beneficiary authorities in each Member State is shown by type in the table below. Member State Type of beneficiary authority Central government/ Ministry Public agency Regulatory authority Regional / Local authority Other public bodies Total AT 5 2 7 BG 8 8 BE 3 5 4 1 13 CY 6 1 1 8 CZ 8 1 9 DE 1 1 2 DK 0 EE 6 1 7 EL 13 1 1 15 ES 9 2 1 1 3 16 FI 1 2 3 FR 4 1 1 6 HR 15 3 2 20 HU 7 1 8 IE 4 3 1 1 9 IT 14 3 1 18 LT 12 1 1 14 LU 1 1 2 LV 10 4 1 15 MT 5 2 1 1 9 NL 3 3 PL 13 2 2 17 PT 5 5 1 1 12 RO 7 4 2 1 14 SE 2 2 SI 9 1 2 12 SK 7 2 1 10 Total 175 45 17 8 14 259 Means of implementation The programme’s support measures can be implemented either directly by the Commission or indirectly by entities and persons other than Member States. Financing of the support measures can take the form of grants, including grants to the Member States’ national authorities, public procurement contracts, reimbursements of costs incurred by external experts, contributions to trust funds set up by international organisations, and actions carried out in indirect management. By 31 January 2021, the SRSP 2019 budget of €79.3 million was being implemented as follows.



Grants By 31 January 2021 (referring here only to projects selected for funding under the 2019 round), the majority of grants being implemented were awarded to international organisations (41%) and public law bodies (26%).

Public procurement and TAIEX By 31 January 2021 (referring only to projects selected for funding under the 2019 round), the highest proportion of procurements were specific contracts based on framework contracts (88%) followed by direct procurement contracts for services (8%). 2% of the 2019 funding has been implemented through a Service Level Agreement entered into with DG NEAR to utilise the TAIEX instrument under a programme entitled TAIEX SRSP Peer to Peer, which provided for expert exchange between Member States' administrations, 1% through simplified expert contracts for private sector experts (AMI list) and 1% through open tenders. Delegation agreement By 31 January 2021 (referring here only to projects selected for funding under the 2019 round), the implementation of technical support projects was being indirectly managed by the international organisations, which have undergone an ex-ante (pillar-) assessment of their procedures and systems, guaranteeing a level of protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that guaranteed by the Commission in direct management. Administrative arrangements By 31 January 2021 (referring here only to projects selected for funding under the 2019 round), three support meaures were implemented by the way of the administrative arrangements: ·administrative arrangement with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission for provision of technical support for the microsimulation hub of the Council of Economic Advisors in Greece; and ·adiminstrative arrangement with the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) for increasing capacity to supervise the insurance sector in Croatia and Romania.



4.Progress in relation to the programme’s objectives Institutional, administrative and growth-sustaining structural reforms are, by their very nature, complex processes, the design and implementation of which require a complete chain of highly specialised knowledge and skills. In some Member States, the capacity to initiate and implement structural reforms is not always adequate to address the challenges ahead. Inadequate responses to economic and social challenges could hamper competitiveness, growth, employment, and investment. That is equally important for Member States whose currency is not the euro, in their preparation to join the euro area.

Considering the European dimension of these challenges, the SRSP aims to reinforce administrative capacity in the Member States and, by doing so, help the Member States implement institutional, administrative and structural reforms. Better administrative capacity can make administrative structures more efficient, benefiting the public and business. To this end, through its support measures, the SRSP aims to achieve the following results: ·improved ability of national authorities to identify and address economic and structural weaknesses; ·strengthened ability to develop, design and implement reform policies according to priorities; ·improved capacity of national authorities to define processes and methodologies to support the design, management and implementation of reforms, and/or the efficiency and effectiveness of human resources; ·increased professional knowledge, skills and adaptability to change management processes; ·improved channels of communication with the Commission, Member States and international organisations in order to improve communication and coordination of reform efforts; and ·improved capacity to ensure progress of reforms recommended within the European Semester cycle, economic adjustment programmes and Member States’ own-initiative reforms, and to ensure consistent and coherent implementation of Union law. Against this background, the intervention logic of the programme can be illustrated in the chart below: the activities under the programme produce outputs, which in turn generate outcomes. The outcomes then contribute to the achievement of the specific objectives at the project and programme level. This in turn feeds into progress towards the general objective of the programme, which is to support growth-sustaining structural reforms in the Member States.

Contribute to institutional, administrative and growth-sustaining reforms in the Member States by providing support to national authorities for measures aimed at reforming and strengthening institutions, governance, public administration, and economic and social sectors in response to economic and social challenges, with a view to enhancing cohesion, competitiveness, productivity, sustainable growth, job creation, investment and social inclusion and to contributing to real convergence in the Union, which may also prepare for participation in the euro area, in particular in the context of economic governance processes, including through assistance for the efficient, effective and transparent use of the Union funds. •Support in designing reforms •Support for the development and implementation of reform policies •Support for the definition and implementation of processes and methodologies •Support for more efficient and effective human resource management

•Adoption of a strategy •Adoption of a draft of a new law, act or modification of an existing one •Adoption of (new) procedures and actions to enhance the implementation of reforms •Improved internal working procedures, methodologies and processes/organisation •Organisational change, change management, improved human resource management •Action plan, roadmap •Guidelines, handbook •Recommendation •Terms of reference •Legislative proposal •Analysis, report •Workshops (including material), training, training material •Study visit reports •Communication (including material) and other events •Short term expert mission(s); •Long term expert (resident expert and similar); •Study visit (of officials of the beneficiary MS); •Workshop/conference/seminar; •Training activity; •IT expertise/advice; •Collection of statistics; •Study, research, evaluation; •Communication activities •Compilation/dissemination of material (including through information technology systems) •Organisation of local operations

4.1.Progress in achieving the general objective The general objective of the programme is to contribute to institutional, administrative and growth-sustaining reforms in the Member States by providing support to national authorities for measures aimed at reforming and strengthening institutions, governance, public administration, and economic and social sectors in response to economic and social challenges, with a view to enhancing cohesion, competitiveness, productivity, sustainable growth, job creation, investment and social inclusion and to contributing to real convergence in the Union, which may also prepare for participation in the euro area, in particular in the context of economic governance processes, including through assistance for the efficient, effective and transparent use of the Union funds. Support measures are being implemented in those policy sectors for which institutional, administrative and/or structural reforms have been envisaged and/or should be undertaken by the Member States, also in view of the support provided. The table below shows that the support measures under way in the requesting Member States and for projects selected for financing under the SRSP 2019 round contribute to the implementation of institutional, administrative and structural reforms that Member States face in various economic and social sectors, and which are being undertaken in response to economic and social challenges. Contribution to institutional and administrative reforms N° of measures ·Effectiveness of the judicial system 7 ·Efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector 20 ·Public financial management reforms 10 ·Anti-corruption/anti-money-laundering 7 ·Digital economy/digital public administration 24 ·Reforms improving the regulatory frameworks 5 ·Reforms in public procurements rules 2 ·Spending reviews 7 ·Tax administration reforms 23 Contribution to economic-related and social-related reforms ·Sectoral expertise (transport, logistics, agriculture, etc.) projects 10 ·Enhancing competitiveness and productivity of SMEs 6 ·Implementing legal frameworks in environment, circular economy, water, land registry and spatial planning 16 ·Making healthcare systems more accessible, effective and resilient 19 ·Investment management & public private partnerships 1 ·Migration 2 ·Legal framework addressing insolvency and non-performing loans 9 ·Labour market policies 9 ·Capital markets union and access to finance 24 ·Improving the quality and innovation of educational and training systems 21 ·Social protection and social services 16 ·Bank supervision and resolution frameworks 6 ·Pensions and disabilities schemes 3 ·Energy efficiency, energy poverty and renewables 12 TOTAL 259

4.2.Progress in achieving the specific objectives Support measures financed by the SRSP 2019 budget are contributing to the specific objectives of the programme as follows : ·38% of support measures contribute to the design of reforms. oThe majority of support measures contributing to this objective are in digital public administration, governance, tax policy and environment, circular economy, water, land registry and spatial planning. ·56% contribute to the formulation, development and implementation of reforms; oThe majority of support measures contributing to this objective are in digital public administration, education and training, healthcare, social protection and social services. ·59% contribute to the definition and implementation of processes and methodologies; oThe majority of support measures contributing to this objective are in digital public administration, governance education and training,social protection and social services. ·10% of support measures aim to help improve efficiency and effectiveness of human resources management. oThe majority of support measures contributing to this objective are in access to finance and governance.

4.3.Expected outcomes of SRSP activities In line with the intervention logic of the programme, the support measures financed under the 2019 SRSP budget are expected to achieve outcomes that will ultimately contribute to the achievement of the general and specific SRSP objectives as follows. ·35% of support measures are expected to lead (or have led) to adoption of a strategy, draft of a new law or act, or modification of an existing one; ·57% of support measures are expected to lead (or have led) to adoption of (new) procedures and actions to enhance the implementation of reforms; ·53% of support measures strive to deliver (or have delivered) improved internal working procedures, methodologies and processes/organisation; ·16% of support measures aim to bring about organisational change, change management and improved human resource management; ·1% of support measures are expected to lead (or have led) to other results (assessment of software landscape, evaluation of public policies, etc.). 4.4.European added value Actions implemented under the SRSP 2019 round are designed to ensure complementarity and synergy with other programmes and policies at national, Union and international level, contribute to further promoting mutual trust and cooperation between beneficiary Member States and the Commission, and ensure consistent and coherent implementation of Union law. In addition, some actions should allow for the development and implementation of solutions that address national challenges but also have a positive cross-border impact and/or impact on the Union as a whole. The Commission is in a better position than any single Member State to identify and channel good practices. In many instances, therefore, support measures delivered to the Member States have been improved by the exchange of good practices among the Member States and between Member States and international organisations. This also enabled efficiency gains, as positive results in one Member State could be implemented in another. Support measures implemented under the SRSP 2019 are expected to generate European added value, as the following examples illustrate . ·33% of support measures are expected to have an impact on cross-border or Union-wide challenges: oThe same measures for example are being provided to national promotional banks to help with their participation in InvestEU, an EU-wide initiative; or for the introduction of digital justice to, among other things, facilitate international and European judicial cooperation. ·37% are expected to complement other Union programmes: oSupport measures provided under the SRSP 2019 for example helped elaborate action plans to transition from coal and identify sources of financing under the Union funds to finance the transition. ·54% are expected to contribute to the consistent and coherent implementation of Union laws and policies: oSupport measures provided under SRSP 2019 are helping Member States implement sustainable mobility, design insolvency frameworks, design and implement anti-corruption measures, prepare circular economy roadmaps and legislations, or support adult education. ·51% of support measures are expected to contribute to the sharing of good practices, also with a view to increasing the visibility of the programme: oSupport measures provided under SRSP 2019 for example involved mproving the institutional capacity of national authorities in the area of local financial management and investment programming through exchange of best practice.

·24% are expected to promote mutual trust between the beneficiary Member State and the Commission and between Member States: oSupport measures for example allowed for capacity building at the local level to use classification of data methodology for local social benefits or to help design and deploy a digital strategy to increase transparency and efficiency of the administration.

5.delivered support measures under the programme The third year of implementation of the SRSP is showing concrete results. By 31 January 2020, 276 of the projects implemented under 2017 – 2019 SRSP rounds have already delivered concrete results. While the outputs of the individual projects are known (a draft law, strategic and legal advice, studies, training, workshops, recommendations, actions, plans, etc.), the report does not systematically evaluate the extent to which the Member State authorities have used the results of the support measures to design or implement reforms (the outcome). DG REFORM established a mechanism to evaluate the outcomes in order to assess the extent to which the support provided to Member States met its goals and to identify factors which influenced the successful delivery of the support measures. Under this mechanism, authorities benefitting from the programme provide feedback on the support provided (the outputs) and information concerning follow-up actions taken several months after delivery of the support measures. Some illustrative examples of actual results of the support delivered, and the use of these measures by Member States where available, are provided below.



Contribution to institutional and administrative reforms

Contribution to economic-related and social-related reforms



6.Conclusion Reforms are crucial to modernise the economies of the Member States and to encourage investment, create jobs and raise living standards. The successful implementation of reforms requires good administrative capacity and a high sense of ownership of the reform process by the Member State concerned. The SRSP aims to help Member State authorities in their efforts to design and implement growth-enhancing reforms. The third year of the implementation of the SRSP showed an increase in demand for the programme from Member States – 26 Member States submitted 580 requests for support (the SRSP 2018 round saw 444 requests for support from 24 Member States). This is the first indication that the support provided by the Commission is relevant and needed. This report has also described how the Commission has implemented the measures funded under the SRSP 2019 and how it is monitoring actions finalised under the SRSP 2017 and 2018 rounds. Overall, three years of implementation of the SRSP have shown that the programme can provide the necessary assistance to the national authorities to identify and overcome certain structural weaknesses and bottlenecks in the design or implementation of reforms. Likewise, it has so far proven to be a significant tool in improving the Member States’ capacity to define more efficient processes and methodologies and/or progress towards more effective human resource management. A number of concrete examples of results and follow-up actions by the governments demonstrate this. In addition, with the view of continuing to provide technical support to Member States after the end of the SRSP in 2020, the European Parliament and the Council adopted a Regulation establishing the successor of the Programme - the Technical Support Instrument - with a similar scope and objectives. While results of the support actions carried out under the SRSP contribute to the reform processes, effective follow-up of such actions in terms of concretisation of reforms remain the prerogative of the recipient Member State. In the years to come, the Commission will continue to monitor the uptake of the support measures, as well as the implementation of institutional, administrative and growth-enhancing reforms.





ANNEX I List of support measures implemented under SRSP 2019 Governance and public administration •Development of the open source intelligence capabilities to fight and prevent cybercrime, fraud and cconomic crime •Better Regulation - reducing administrative burdens for citizens, public administration and enterprises •e-Government: implement the "Once-Only" Principle •Justice reform •Support for public administration reform •Enhancing the current Reform of the Court System and the implementation process, as well as the efficiency of justice •Digitalization of the Public Prosecutor's Office •Feasibility study of the new Integrated Foreigners Administration System (IFAS) •Administrative automation through machine learning / processing of civil letters •Establishment of data governance services •Reinforcement of the public procurement system •Support for public administration and digital public administration reforms •Promoting cyber-justice through change management and improvement of data collection •Tackling grant fraud through continous supervision and data-driven risk assessments •ICT strategic plan for the administration during the period 2021-2024

•Life events data exchange •Reform of the organisation of the Directorate-General for the Treasury •Framework for assessing the performance of public polices - development of multiple assessment tools and analytical capacity building for evidence-based policy-making and implementation •Public Administration HR, innovation and capacity •Introduction of an innovative recruitment and assessment process in the public administration •Reinforcing the institutional corruption prevention community •Support for the implementation of a National Digital Strategy - change and cultural management •Improvement of the implementation performance and absorption capacity of structural funds at the local level •Delivering good governance in local governments •Public sector innovation labs •Development of the judicial system •Increasing the efficiency of the interior sector institutions •Improving SOLVIT's ability to signal structural problems by attracting more business cases •Regulatory framework for cloud computing and a roadmap for distributed ledger technologies in the government sector •Shared services strategic deployment plan •Increasing the capacity of the Government to implement EU restrictive measures •Building institutional capacity of a Court of Accounts and its capacity to deal with the external environment •Judicial reforms •Support the implementation of house of children •Strategy to strengthen local governance

•Continued support to a well performing judiciary •Agile development provided by the Office for Public Procurement •Modernisation of the national data-information infrastructure •Risk analysis regarding money laundering terrorism financing •Specialised training programme in financial crime •Anti-money-laundering training programme to strengthen capacity of the financial sector •Target operating model development for Office for prevention of laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activity •Support to the Reception and Identification Service and the Departement for the Protection of Asylum Seekers on reception Growth and business environment •Learning from failures and successes regarding the support of SMEs in the process of digitalisation •Optimisation of rail management and infrastructure •National energy and climate modelling and forecasting •Trading model and legislative framework for a gas hub •National strategy for SMEs 2021-2027 •A long term economic strategy – towards sustainable development and international competitiveness •Revising the national strategy for the management of municipal waste •Analysis, recommendations and legislative proposals for a building act reform in the area of spatial planning

•Analyses and Recommendations for housing affordability improvement •Setting up a competitive bidding process within the revised EU Emission Trading System •Preparation of new national circular economy strategic framework, including new waste management strategy •Large Cases Unit – official statistics •Support for a transport and mobility master plan •Digital transformation of the industry •Improving the energy system modelling tools and capacity •Program to improve the detection of competition infringements •Strategy for the coastal protection, considering the effects of climate change •Guidance to strategic decisions on public-private partnership on wastewater plants •Impact of regulations on international investment •Enhancing authorities’ operational capacity on regulatory methodologies and processes •Business environment reform •Enhancing competencies of supervisory boards and audit committees in state-owned enterprises •Activation of non-operating assets in state-owned enterprises •Increasing energy efficiency, associated comfort levels and occupant productivity of public and residential buildings •Support to the implementation of the national climate strategy •Strengthening the regulatory processes for improved competiveness and productivity of businesses in hungary •Public sector energy efficiency investment programme to achieve EU’s 2030 climate and energy targets •Improving management development standards in SMEs

•Policy and strategy development in the field of advanced therapy medicinal products •Enhancing an environmental fiscal reform •Support to elaborate the legislative and regulatory framework to promote the power purchase agreements •Enhancing the national aid registry with new capabilities •Rating Audit Control – construction of a model to rationalise and simplify controls on businesses •New economic regulation for transport in case of emergency events •Support for the establishment of Special Economic Zones •Enhancing the efficiency of the cooperation between business and science •Integration of industry into European value chains •Building analytical capacity of the National Productivity Board •Contribution to a coherent digital infrastructure strategy •Ensuring sustainable mobility •Digitalisation of construction planning •Establishment of national efficiency experts system •Supporting strengthening of state waters •Improvement of national capacity to evaluate structural reforms and public policies, and to analyse and forecast investment. •Regulation of petroleum products and biofuels •Reinforcing regulatory impact assessment •Reduce-Reuse-Recycle: 3 roads to a circular economy •Increase the institutional capacity of national authorities and its structures to integrate flood risk reduction across all relevant sectors

•Comprehensive redesign of the licensing system •Elaboration of the strategy for economic and social development of a coal mining region •The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) E-permitting in Sweden •Preparation of the regulation on sustainable mobility •Clean Energy Goals for 2020 and 2030 •Economic restructuring of a region •Enhancing specialist capacities of the Better Regulation Center •Supporting the transformation of the economy by increasing its innovation performance •Health impacts of air pollution •Improve public sector capacity in managing public-private partnerships Labour market, education, health and social services •Start-up services for primary health care units •Supporting the design and implementation of a comprehensive education monitoring system •Recognition of learning outcomes for very low-skilled people •Disability assessment: introducing a new functionality tool •Dual learning in Flanders: professionalisation of teachers •Digital transition in education system •VET and state education standards

•Support to design the reform of teachers’ training system and career path •Support for the development of a draft e-Health strategy (2021-2027) and action plan •Completion of the special education reform •Support to address students' disengagement and school dropout •Addressing regional disparities in the education system •Integrated hospital master plan •Improving the provision of labour market services •Enhancing data-informed strategic governance in education •Promoting inclusive education: addressing challenges in legislation, educational policy and practice •Technical support for the reform of the disability assessment system •Design and implementation of the national eHealth interoperability framework •Inclusion of refugees in the labour market •Technical support for the reform of the social care system for the elderly •Tackling youth and long-term unemployment •Telemedicine in a selected regions •Measures towards the design of a system for the identification, evaluation and recognition of basic competencies in adults •Improving public health actions through better information on equity and social determinants of health and improved tools for evaluating health promotion interventions •Modernisation of the statistical and analytical information of the Ministry of Labour, Migration and Social Security •Technical support on the implementation of the five-year plan 2017-2022 on housing first and combating homelessness •Youth prevention, community sexually transmitted infection services, integrated hepatitis c care

•Development of a support system for the implementation of a comprehensive curricular reform •Technical support on the harmonisation of the collection of information on local social benefits •The role of pension awareness and the promoting of pension savings •eHealth Strategic Development Plan 2020-2025 •Development of Health System Performance Assessment •Technical support to reform the elderly care system •Developing a methodology for calculating the prices of social services •Technical support to improve the quality and relevance of the adult education system •Increasing the sustainability of higher education provision •Developing a new automatic enrolment workplace retirement savings system •Health system performance assessment •Strengthening the system of active labour market policies through reward and support mechanisms •Support to the reinforcement of interinstitutional governance in the field of labour exploitation, especially in the agricultural sector •Public employment services reform and capacity-building - integrated collection of jobseekers' information •Implementation of a talent attraction policy •Reform of the school management system and improvement of school leadership •Establishing a public annuity provider •Technical support to reform the disability assessment system •Restructuring of the hospital sector •“One Health” approach to anti-microbial resistance

•Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) •Technical support to harmonise the disability assessment system and enhance integration of people with disabilities in the labour market •New national basic skills strategy •Supporting the improvement of quality in inclusive education •Support for the systematic update of the Diagnosis Related Groups system •Learning communities in educational areas of priority intervention •Evaluating the effectiveness of centralised public procurement of medicines •Expansion and modernization of national support centres for migrant integration •Strengthening national health system reform by empowering health professionals •Improving quality, relevance and sustainability (and governance structures) of the national VET system •Support for developing an indexation mechanism and piloting a new payment method for social assistance benefits •Quality standards for primary care and ambulatory care •Monitoring and evaluation system at county level for the implementation of the strategy for the inclusion of Roma minority citizens •Improving the capacity of municipalities to assess the quality of healthcare delivered at home, in nursing homes and in special housing for people with functional impairments •Labour market integration of the long term unemployed persons and those not in education, employment or training •Support for improving quality of care and patient safety •Support to the design of a labour mobility scheme •Deinstitutionalisation of substitute care for children •Reducing employment gender gap in the labour market •Reorganisation of the blood system

Revenue administration and public financial management •“Self- assessment” in personal income tax, value added tax and corporate income tax •Cooperative tax compliance programme reform •Design and implementation of an expenditure rule at regional level •Preparation for the introduction of spending reviews •New technologies in the customs administration •Change management to accompany public financial management reforms •Developing a trial for a behavioural approach to tax debt collection through streamlined communication •Analysis of financial management information systems •Improving public financial management: spending review and budget preparation •IT capacity building for Ministry of Finance and the Independent Authority of Public Revenue •Continuation of technical assistance in core functions of revenue administration •Supporting the microsimulation hub of the Council of economic advisors •Transport infrastructure spending review •Assessment of the impact of digital economy on taxation •VAT reporting reform •Improving the quality of the state budget preparation process •Measuring tax compliance cost and adapting automatic performance measurements of the tax authority

•Financial reporting reforms •Support for the implementation of the accrual IPSAS/EPSAS-based accounting in the public administration •Improving the evaluation of VAT and excise tax policies •Improvement of VAT administration •Scoping the feasibility of a reform of the budgetary accounting and financial reporting framework •Support to the state revenue service in the implementation of mid-term tax strategy of the Government •Technical support in transfer pricing risk assessment and management capacity building •Digital transformation of debt and cash management process within the treasury •Improving evaluation practices for better policy making •Implementation of the compliance risk management model in the national revenue administration •Development and implementation of the measurement, monitoring and evaluation system in the national revenue administration •Technical support on the assessment of effectiveness of tax incentives •Methodology for estimating excise gap •Methodology for estimating the corporate income tax gap •Expert assistance in knowledge-based capacity building in transfer pricing to the Polish revenue administration •Public financial management reform •Increasing the strategic management capacity of the National Agency for Fiscal Administration •Setting up an IT system for dealing with tax complaints •Reforming the taxation of investment funds •Evaluation of the position and performance of the Council for Budget Responsibility

•Public financial management reform Financial services and access to finance •Fighting tax fraud, money laundering and terrorism financing •Technical support for the participation in the exchange rate mechanism ІІ and the Eurozone •Support to increase awareness about the insolvency framework •Reform of the insolvency framework for credit institutions •Crisis management manual in the banking sector •Credit institutions insolvency legislation •Support for capacity building to directly participate in InvestEU •Assistance to a national promotional institution to develop its strategic goals •Support for insolvency, pre-insolvency, restructuring and data collection •Marketing practices and ageing populations to avoid financial misselling •Setting up of a new credit rating and scoring models with development of risk-based pricing for national promotional bank •Preparation for the transformation of national promotional bank’s core banking system •Capital market diagnostic •Alignment of a central depository and clearing company with the European standards for corporate action processing •Strengthening consumer protection through structured creditworthiness •System for the compilation of financial accounts

•Improvement of risk based supervision in the insurance sector in the Financial Services Supervisory Agency •Reform of bankruptcy law and secondary legislation •Capacity building to directly participate in the InvestEU Programme •A supervisory framework for complex investment firms •Increase the ability to attract capital investments on public real estate, maximizing the social-economic impact •Addressing consumer protection and addressing the low level of financial literacy •Strengthening data collection and court organisation regarding insolvency and enforcement •Municipal debt management and investment capacity building for enhanced local development •Support to the national public investment development agency •Review of deposit guarantee scheme •Strategy on sustainable/green finance (green capital markets) •State ownership policy review •Support for reorganisation and preventive restructuring •Support in conducting the pillar assessment of Development Finance Institution Altum •Implementation of the capital market development strategy •Feasibility study on innovative technological solutions in the financial markets •Support for pillar assessment process to directly participate in InvestEUSupport to strengthen insolvency framework •Enhancing the supervision function of the insurance market in respect of market conduct •Developing internal processes and procedures specific to the payments oversight authority for performing on-site inspections •Development of internal processes and procedures specific to resolution authority, from an operational point of view