Baltic States – CIS, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Lithuania, Tourism

The project is funded by the EU and has a budget of nearly a million euros and duration of two years. The Lithuanian State Department of Tourism with Austrian partners will share with Azerbaijani authorities their experience and best practices, strengthen their capacity in accordance with EU standards and help to reform the legal framework.

Lithuanian authorities have successfully implemented three EU twinning projects in Azerbaijan.

For the fourth time this year, Lithuanian institutions were selected to carry out EU twinning projects. As many as seven such projects were implemented last year. This figure surpasses not only the number of projects implemented by new EU member states, but also by some old ones.

Lithuanian authorities have been selected 30 times to implement EU Twinning projects.

In 1998, the EU Commission launched its Twinning Programme to help beneficiary countries to develop the capacity of their administrations. The programme provides a framework for administrations in the beneficiary countries to work with their counterparts in the member states in implementing necessary reforms.

From 1998 to 2008, 125 projects of this kind were implemented in Lithuania. Since 2004 when Lithuania joined EU, the country has been granted a right to help other countries through EU twinning projects.

In 2009, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs took over the coordination of the EU Twinning Programme from the Chancellery of the Government. The Foreign Ministry supports those Lithuanian institutions that seek to win the competition. Currently, the Foreign Ministry's Development Cooperation and Democracy Promotion Department coordinates the programme.