Twinning is an institutional strengthening tool that enables exchange of national experience in the sphere of implementation of EU legislation in different fields. Twinning is an experience exchange tool between a beneficiary country and a similar institution of the EU Member State. The main aim of Twinning is to improve and modernize the administrative and juridical bodies of the beneficiary countries (in central, regional and local levels) by implementing EU legislation through trainings, reorganization, and elaborating relevant laws and regulations on the basis of common EU legislation.

The smooth start, current monitoring and active involvement of the beneficiary organization throughout the whole process of implementation are important for the successful implementation of the Twinning project. The basic principle is to ensure mandatory results. This means that at the end of the project, the beneficiary country should have substantially improved structure, allowing to properly implement the objectives of the EU general legislation or the goals that are mainly connected to the cooperation in the relevant field with the EU. Twinning is not an unipolar technical assistance program, so, active participation of all parties is necessary in order to achieve positive results.

The European Union Delegation is the Twinning Project Contractor in Armenia. Areas that can be covered by Twinning support are derived from the priorities set out in Armenia-European Union Agreements, Development Strategy of Armenia, the Single Support Framework Agreement of the EU (SSF), and other assistance provided to Armenia.

Throughout the entire Twinning project development and implementation process, the EU Program Administration Division (PAO) performs thorough and scaled work. Firstly, it studies strategies of priority sectors and existing institutional structures to determine gaps and problems that can be settled and addressed through twinning programs. After identifying potential beneficiaries, PAO carries out assessment of their capacity and selects appropriate bodies. After specifying the areas of cooperation and possible stakeholders in the targeted areas, the concept of Twinning program is being developed for each candidate direction, which is then presented to the Government of Armenia and the EU Delegation to Armenia. Once the idea is approved, a Twinning project fiche is developed, which includes a review of the baseline, objectives, problems, and planned outcomes. After approval by the European Commission, the project fiche is circulated within the competent authorities of EU member states, inviting them to participate in the call for applications. Interested EU Member States represent an interest request to the EU Delegation to Armenia as well as to PAO, and the latter transfers it to the beneficiary body. The beneficiary body itself decides who the winner is.

The average duration of the Twinning project is 12-24 months, with an average budget of € 1 million.

Twinning projects implemented in Armenia:

1. Support to the Office of the Human Rights՚ Defender (HRDO)

2. Support to the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia: Regulatory Management/Standard Cost Model

3. Strengthening the enforcement of competition and state aid legislation in Armenia

4. Support to the National Statistical Service of the Republic of Armenia (NSSA)

5. Strengthening the Capacity of the Armenian General Department of Civil Aviation (GDCA) in the Integration and Enforcement of Joint Aviation Requirements (JARs) and EU Aviation Safety Regulations

6. Strengthening the enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in the Republic of Armenia

7. Strengthening of animal origin food and feed safety control in Armenia

8. Approximation process of EU Acquis and Policies on Judicial Cooperation and Capacity Building of the Translation Centre on Judicial Sector Terminologies and Methodologies

9. Support to the State Migration Service for Strengthening of Migration Management in Armenia

10. Harmonization with EU standards and institution building of the State Inspectorate of Protection of Markets and Consumer Rights

11. Support to the State Revenue Committee for strengthening of Customs control procedures and enforcement in the Republic of Armenia

12. Strengthening the Ministry of Nature Protection of the Republic of Armenia in Introduction of the System of Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC)

13. Empowerment of the Tertiary Level Education of the Republic of Armenia for European Higher Education Area Integration&quot (EHEA)

14. Strengthening the System of Public Internal Financial Control in the Republic of Armenia

15. Strengthening the investment promotion and investment policy institutional framework of Armenia

16. Strengthening of the National Statistical System of Armenia – Phase II

Additional information

Twinning Implementation Process

Twinning general manual

Twinning proposal submission template