The European Commission’s Backbone Strategy on 'reforming technical cooperation and project implementation units'

This document presents the European Commission Strategy for external aid to guide the reform of Technical Cooperation (TC) and Project Implementation Units (PIUs). This Strategy, which is part of wider EC actions to implement the Paris Declaration, aims to improve the effectiveness of EC aid with
respect to capacity development. The Strategy also responds to the European Court of Auditors’ Report on Technical Assistance (No. 6/2007).

The Strategy explains why reform is necessary, presents a vision of future Technical Cooperation practice and Project Implementation Units (PIUs), and sets out the actions to be undertaken to achieve the vision.

This Backbone Strategy provides the overall approach for a change process that will evolve over time through the implementation of a set of actions and internal learning. The Strategy is supported by a Work Plan that sets out the actions to be taken in the short, medium and long term.