Background
Turkey has been a candidate country for EU membership since 1999 and accession negotiations were opened on 3 October 2005. In the last decade, there has been an arduous effort in central administration in order to meet Copenhagen Criteria and the EU acquis. Besides the central level, steps taken by institutions at local level are also important to meet the EU standards. According to the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), “over 60% of decisions taken at the European level have a direct impact on municipalities, provinces, and regions. Therefore, local administrations have also important roles with respect to the implementation of the EU acquis at local level in Turkey.
In addition to the legal and institutional changes and challenges at local level, it is important for local administrations in Turkey to observe how EU standards and policies are implemented in the EU Member States and to transfer and adopt the good practices. With this aim, local administrations in Turkey have launched town twinning relations with their counterparts in the EU Member States. In order to support partnerships between local administrations in Turkey and EU local authorities, some EU funded projects including town twinning component were implemented: “Support to Local Administration Reform” (MEDA 2002 Programming) was implemented between 2005 and 2007 and “Support to Further Implementation of Local Administration Reform in Turkey” (IPA 2007 Programming) was implemented between 2009 and 2011 by the Ministry of Interior. Lastly, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate for EU Affairs has implemented “Building Capacity for EU Affairs in Governorates (VABpro)” (IPA 2009 Programming) between 2012 and 2014. Besides the EU-funded projects, MEU, by its own resources, implemented “İstanbul on the Path to EU” project between 2012 and 2014, which included a town twinning component. “Town Twinning Action between Turkey and the EU Grant Scheme” has been developed as the continuation and supplementary of these previous projects.
The institutional framework of the Grant Scheme includes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate for EU Affairs and the Central Finance and Contracts Unit (CFCU) of the Republic of Turkey. The Directorate for EU Affairs, as the Lead Institution, will be responsible for the overall coordination and monitoring of the Project. Directorate for EU Affairs, as the End Beneficiary of the Project, will be in charge of implementing the project and monitoring of the grant contracts awarded under the overall supervision the CFCU. Union of Provinces (UP) and Union of Municipalities of Turkey (UMT) as the co-beneficiary institutions will provide technical support to grant projects. The CFCU, as the Contracting Authority for the Project, is responsible for the administrative and financial implementation of the Grant Scheme. The CFCU has the ultimate responsibility for the correct use of grant funds and is responsible for tendering, contracting and payments. This Grant Scheme is co-funded by the EU and the Republic of Turkey within the Annual Action Programme for Turkey for the year 2014 under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II).
Objectives Of The Programme and Priority Issues
The global objective of this programme is to improve administrative and implementation capacity of Turkey at local level in the EU Accession process.
The specific objective of this programme is to create sustainable structures for stimulating exchange between local administrations in Turkey and local authorities in EU Member States in areas relevant to the EU accession through town twinning actions.
Determined under the scope of this programme the priority areas mentioned below:
Priority Area 1: Developing and/or deepening town twinning relationship between local administrations/authorities in Turkey and EU Member States.
• Actions to contribute/create sustainable relations among local administrations in Turkey and local authorities in EU member states, CSOs and citizens;
• Actions to create networks and platforms for exchange of good practices;
• Actions to improve town twinning methodology and practices;
• Actions to promote technical cooperation and exchange of best practices on EU acquis related areas;
• Actions to provide a platform to encourage and facilitate town twinning activities.
Priority Area 2: Reinforcing the role of local administrations/local authorities in European integration and EU-Turkey relations in line with the EU acquis chapters and/or UN Sustainable Development Goals and/or priorities of CEMR
• Actions emphasizing the importance of local administrations and local authorities in EU process;
• Actions on capacity development at local level in implementation of the EU acquis and/or priorities of CEMR;
• Actions to ensure partnership, including CSO-public cooperation and citizens’ participation, at decision-making procedures at local level in implementation of EU acquis;
• Actions to improve the capacity of project preparation and implementation at local level;
• Actions which emphasizes future needs of local administration/authorities;
• Actions on innovative technologies for the planning, design, delivery and operation of smart and resilient services;
• Actions which lead development of policies and/or innovative solutions to daily life challenges of citizens;
• Actions which lead to increase global competiveness of local administrations/ authorities through innovative approaches;
• Actions related to new engagement models that embraces civic participation and social inclusion;
• Actions on developing policy recommendations on the impact of EU acquis at local level.
Financial Allocation Provided By The Contracting Authority
The overall indicative amount made available under this programme is EUR 2.648.000
Size of grants
Minimum and maximum grant amount provided within the scope of the Programme is as follows:
• Minimum amount: EUR 60.000
• Maximum amount: EUR 130.000
For detailed information about grant scheme:
• Guidelines for Grant Applicants (English)
• Guidelines for Grant Applicants (Turkish)
• Local Publication
• Documents to be filled
• Documents for information
• Corrigendum - I
• Corrigendum - II
• Clarifications - I
• Clarifications - II
• Clarifications - III
Evaluation process of Town Twinning Action between Turkey and the EU Grant Scheme is still on-going.