Twinning Light

Twinning ‘light’ can be used to tackle any self-contained institutional issues arising from the acquis communautaire provided the subject addressed is of limited scope, that is the structures needed to give effect to the acquis are not complex or the existing ones need little adjustment. The likeliest scenario would be implementation of a specific measure rather than reform of the general or legal framework. Twinning ‘light’ projects are self-contained and cannot be used to supplement full Twinning projects, which are also self-contained and involve the obligation to deliver their own guaranteed result.

Twinning ‘light’ consists of the provision by the Member State of a package of services, generally involving one or more short missions (e.g. one or two weeks at a time) by selected officials, and/or, less frequently, civil servant experts staying for lengthier, intermediate periods.

The financial ceiling for twinning ‘light’ projects is €250,000 and their duration limited to six months; in exceptional cases this can be extended to eight months.

Malta has undertaken the following twinning ‘light’ projects since 2000:

Pre-Accession 2000

Project	Member State partner(s)	Beneficiary	EU contribution (€)	National co-financing (€)
Assistance for the development of IT systems for interfacing with the VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) and the establishment of a Central Liaison Office (CLO) within the Malta VAT Department	Belgium	VAT Department, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	102,000	-
Support to the establishment and operation of the Market Surveillance Directorate	UK	Market Surveillance Directorate, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	148,000	-

Pre-Accession 2001

Project	Member State partner(s)	Beneficiary	EU contribution (€)	National Co-financing (€)
Elaboration of a Code of Good Agricultural Practice	Germany	Plant Health Department, Agriculture Department, Food and Veterinary Regulation Division, Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs	150,000	-
Setting up of a Merger Task Force	Italy	Consumer and Competition Division, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	142,000	-
Market Surveillance (Food Sector)	UK	Market Surveillance Directorate, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	148,000	-
Capacity building in the Food and Veterinary Regulation Division in the area of milk production	UK	Food and Veterinary Regulation Division, Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs	150,000	-
Assistance to the Malta Inland Revenue Department in the implementation of the European Council Directives 77/799/EEC and 90/434/EEC	Belgium	Inland Revenue Department, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	16,098	-
Assistance to Malta VAT Department with the development of the administrative system needed to implement refunds of VAT to EU and third country traders in accordance with ad hoc EU Directives	Belgium	VAT Department, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	102,000	-

Pre-Accession 2002

Project	Member State Partner(s)	Beneficiary	EU Contribution (€)	National co-financing (€)
Institution Building of the Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture	Greece	Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs	77,000	-
Setting up of a Paying Agency	Germany	Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs	126,347.53	-
Reform of the Electricity Sector	Germany	Malta Resource Authority	150,000	-
Consumer Information and Education Campaign	UK	Consumer and Competition Division, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	150,000	-
Free movement of Goods	Austria	Malta National Laboratory	50,000	-
Financial Control	UK	Internal Audit and Investigations Directorate, Office of the Prime Minister	53,000	-
Setting up of an Aliens Office	UK	Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs	44,395	-

Pre-Accession 2003

Project	Member State Partner(s)	Beneficiary	EU contribution (€)	National Co-financing (€)
Technical Assistance in the Environment Sector (Establishing of an Integrated Permitting and Monitoring Systems)	Austria	Malta Environment and Planning Authority	142,857	107,143
Implementation of the Data Protection Acquis	Germany	Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Office of the Prime Minister	250,000	25,000
Specialist Border Training	UK	Armed Forces of Malta	-	50,000
Drafting of a Protocol, drafting and verification of draft of procedure manuals required for the accreditation of Malta’s Paying Agency and Assistance to IACS	Italy	Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs	247,734.24	-
Assistance in t eh Setting up of an Agricultural Products and Policies Co-ordination Unit (APPC Unit)	Netherlands	Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs	39,693	-
Setting up a Postal Regulatory Framework	UK	Malta Communications Authority	73,198.34	-
Assistance in the preparation for Structural and Cohesion Funds	Italy	Planning Priorities Coordination Division, Office of the Prime Minister	200,000	-
Institution Building for active participation in the EMCDDA	Netherlands	National Commission on the abuse of Drugs, Alcohol and other Dependencies	128,843	-
Preparing for the Administrative Capacity, Programming and Implementation of Malta’s Equal Community Initiative Programme	Spain	ESF Unit, Ministry for Social Policy	62,098.17	-
Technical Assistance in the implementation of the New Public Contract Regulations	Italy	Contracts Department, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	59,024.14	-
Assistance in the Setting up of a Unit to Implement EC Regulations 1408/71 and 574/72 (Co-ordination of social security systems of health care)	UK	Ministry for Social Policy	143,656.15	-

Transition Facility 2004

Project	Member State Partner(s)	Beneficiary	EU contribution (€)	National Co-financing (€)
Technical support in the areas of Medical Devices, Recreational Craft and Lifts, for the continued effective implementation and operation of the Market Surveillance System in Malta.	Austria	Market Surveillance Directorate, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	96,000	-
Technical support in the areas of Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment (RTTE), Construction Products, Machinery, Personal Protective Equipment and Noise Emission, for the continued effective implementation and operation of the Market Surveillance System in Malta.	Austria	Market Surveillance Directorate, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	96,000	-
Technical support in the areas of Chemicals and auditing function, for the continued effective implementation and operation of the Market Surveillance System in Malta.	Austria	Market Surveillance Directorate, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	51,000	-
Modular Training Programme for the enhancement of the Asylum System in Malta	Greece	Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs	94,500	-
Capacity Building in the Justice Sector	Germany	Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs	135,000	-
Building Capacity to comply with the EU Environmental Acquis through improved Enforcement	Austria	Malta Environment and Planning Authority	250,000	-
Institutional Building of the Occupational Health and Safety Authority	Austria	Occupational Health and Safety Authority	155,000	-
Training of Health Inspectors on the Investigation Procedures of Domestic Residential Noise and on the use of Noise Monitoring Equipment	Greece	Public Health Department, Ministry for Social Policy	32,000	-
Capacity Building of the Department of Social Security to co-ordinate Social Security Schemes	UK	Social Security Department, Ministry for Social Policy	180,000	-
Intellectual Property Awareness, Training and Enforcement Commerce Division	Denmark	Commerce Division, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	50,000	-
Upgrading the National Blood Transfusion Service to Quality Standards as specified in Directive 2002/93/EC	Germany	National Blood Transfusion Centre, Ministry for Social policy	53,000	-
Development of Border Management Control in Malta - Assistance for the Effective Implementation of the Schengen Acquis (1)	Italy	Malta Police	50,000	-
Development of Border Management Control in Malta - Assistance for the Effective Implementation of the Schengen Acquis (2)	Italy	Malta Police	56,000	-
Assistance to the IACS Department to carry out an assessment on the impact of the CAP reform on IACS in Malta	Italy	IACS Department, Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs	189,000	-
Building Capacity to implement the Air Pollution, Monitoring and Mitigation Measures required under the Air Quality Framework Directive 92/82/EC	France	Malta Environment and Planning Authority	62,500	-
Capacity Building at the Malta Maritime Authority (Merchant Shipping)	Germany	Malta Maritime Authority	247,000	-
Capacity Building at the Malta Maritime Authority (Ports)	UK	Malta Maritime Authority	197,000	-
Strengthening Malta's Capacity to issue Visas	Austria	Ministry of Foreign Affairs	122,000	-
Protection of EC Financial Interests: Administration and management of a robust IT-based system of databases	UK	Internal Audit and Investigations Directorate	55,000	-
Development of Programme of Measures in Maltese Water Catchment District (implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive)	France	Malta Resources Authority	207,500	-
Hazardous waste inventory and technical assistance in regulatory aspects of hazardous waste management	Austria	Malta Environment and Planning Authority	250,000	-
Assistance related to the Euro Changeover	France	National Euro Changeover Committee, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	200,000	-
Support to implementation of the EU Directives on Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control (IPPC), Nitrates and Sewage Sludge in Agriculture.	Austria	Malta Environment and Planning Authority	222,550	-
Improving Regulatory Effort and Compliance with EU Environmental Directives.	Austria	Malta Environment and Planning Authority	135,550	-

Transition Facility 2005

Project	Member State Partner (s)	Beneficiary	EU contribution (€)	National Co-financing (€)
Reinforcement of the Drugs National Focal Point in Malta.	The Netherlands	Ministry for Social Policy	163,000	-
Capacity Building at the Enforcement Unit of the Malta Transport Authority.	UK	Ministry Transport Authority	39,000	-
Capacity Building in Fisheries Conservation and Control Division.	Spain	Fisheries Conservation and Control Division, Ministry for Resources and Rural Affairs	35,000	-
Further Capacity for the Occupational Health and Safety Authority.	Germany	Occupational Health and Safety Authority	154,000	-
Further Capacity Building for Strengthening of Department for Industrial and Employee Relations.	Italy	Department for Industrial and Employee Relations, Ministry for Social Policy	109,000	-
Further Capacity Building at the Medicines Authority.	The Netherlands	Malta Medicines Authority	157,750	-
Strengthening the institutional capacity for the implementation of a Better Regulation framework.	UK	Management Efficiency Unit	111,400	-
Data Protection training in the Malta Public Service.	Germany	Office of the Prime Minister	82,300	-
Instituting a robust Public Internal Financial Control system for the Public Sector in Malta: Acquisition of technical assistance to EU standards and best practices.	UK	Public Internal Financial Control Division, Ministry of Finance, Economy and Investment	62,975	-
Upgrade of Drug Information System for Drugs National Focal Point.	The Netherlands	National Commission on the Abuse of Drugs, Alcohol and Other Dependencies, Ministry for the Social Policy	170,211.50	-
Further development of the environmental permitting system and capacity building for its practical implementation in Malta.	Austria	Malta Environment and Planning Authority	162,000	-

Transition Facility 2006

Project	Member State Partner (s)	Beneficiary	EU contribution (€)	National Co-financing (€)
Auditing the Authorities represented with the Food Safety Commission.	UK	Food Safety Commission	51,500	-
Free Movement of Health Care Professionals.	The Netherlands	Ministry for Social Policy	128,200	-
Strengthening the technical competence and operational functions of the Foodstuffs, Chemicals & Cosmetics Directorate of the Malta Standards Authority as the Maltese Competent Authority for REACH.	Austria	Malta Standards Authority	121,500	-
Capacity Building of the Malta Standards Authority as the Competent Authority for Motor Vehicles Type Approval.	Italy	Malta Standards Authority	51,500	-
Capacity Building for the implementation of a Health System of Accounts-based Accounting System and of an associated Statistical / Management Information System.	UK	Ministry for Social Policy	65,000	-
Strengthening the capacity of the Malta Resources Authority in the implementation of the liberalisation of the petroleum market and petroleum market monitoring.	Germany	Malta Resources Authority	249,000	-
Capacity Building in the Driving Testing Section within the Malta Transport Authority (ADT) to implement the Certificate of Professional Competence Directive (2003/59/EC).	Hungary	Malta Transport Authority	137,500	-
Capacity Building in the field of Plant Protection Products and Biocides.	Italy	Malta Standards Authority	57,500	-
Implementing the SIS II Regulation - Assistance for the effective migration from SISOne4All to SIS II.	Italy	Ministry for Justice and Home Affairs	101,600	-
Capacity building to draw up and implement the first River Basin Management Plan for Malta as required under the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC.	France	Malta Environment and Planning Authority / Malta Resources Authority	248,700	-
Capacity building for the Public Internal Financial Control System in Malta – Technical training in Risk Management and Internal Auditing.	UK	Internal Audit Investigations Directorate	37,500	-

Planning and Priorities Coordination Department

Office of the Prime Minister