TACIS - National Coordinating Unit

National Coordinating Unit for the EU Tacis Programme in Belarus

The Tacis National Coordinating Unit (NCU) in Belarus was established in 1992. The main objective of the NCU is to assist with the programming and implementation of the EU technical assistance along with the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The National Coordinating Unit provides assistance to the National Coordinator in relations with the European Commission at key stages of the programming and implementation of EU assistance.

In its activities the NCU is guided by the following documents: (i) the Law of the Republic of Belarus; (ii) the EU-Belarus Framework Agreement signed on 18 December 2008 and (iii) the statutes of the National Coordinating Unit approved by the Council of Ministers.

The main functions of the NCU are as follows:

Indicative Programmes (IP)

to assist in the formulation of national strategy papers for discussion and development of future Indicative Programmes;
to prepare pre-programming documents in consultation with line ministries, technical agencies and representative groupings and submit these documents to the Delegation;

Action Programmes (AP)

to prepare and update pre-programming documents;
to participate in EC identification missions;
to identify, analyse and assist in the elaboration of project proposals;
to assist in the preparation of project Terms of Refernce (ToR), including signed Statement of Endorsements (SoEs);

Project Implementation

to participate in project Steering Committees;
to monitore project implementation;
to assist with project administration, i.e. registration, tax exemption, etc.;

Public Awareness

to increase visibility of EC assistance in Belarus
to disseminate relevant information among Government entities as well as regional and local authorities;
to provide training in EC programme procedures;

Aid Coordination

to maintain and foster links between donors;
to coordinate international technical assistance.

The National Coordinating Unit maintains close contact with the EC Delegation in Belarus and with other international donors.

The EU Tacis project "Support to the National Coordinating Unit in Belarus" provides assistance to the NCU and other government departments involved in the coordination of EU assistance in Belarus.