INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DOMESTIC CLIMATE POLICIES

The document examines the 'twinning' mechanism used by the European Commission to assist candidate countries, specifically Hungary, in adopting the acquis communautaire. It identifies key success factors, such as political leadership and specific technical goals, and highlights barriers like institutional inertia and the limited capacity of beneficiary institutions to absorb support. The author concludes by questioning the applicability of twinning to South-North climate policy cooperation, noting significant differences in priority levels, policy scope, and administrative stability compared to the EU enlargement context.

• Twinning is an effective tool for transferring practical expertise through the long-term secondment of a Resident Twinning Advisor (RTA), but it cannot replace political will.
• Projects aimed at reforming existing institutional setups or those that are 'policy heavy' are more likely to fail due to the strength of vested interests in maintaining the status quo.
• The success of twinning projects is heavily dependent on the political leadership of the beneficiary administration endorsing the goals as a real operational bottleneck.
• Beneficiary institutions often underestimate the human and organizational resources required for twinning, leading to the under-utilization of resident experts.
• In Hungary, twinning was extensively used across various sectors, with 125 projects totaling 64.5 million euros, primarily focusing on Agriculture, Special Preparatory Programmes, and Justice and Home Affairs.
• Applying twinning to South-North climate policy cooperation faces challenges because climate policy often has lower domestic priority and a narrower scope than the comprehensive requirements of EU membership.

APA

PATÓ, Z. (2008). INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DOMESTIC CLIMATE POLICIES. Climate Strategies. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/pato-241108-final.pdf

Chicago

PATÓ, ZSUZSANNA. INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DOMESTIC CLIMATE POLICIES. Climate Strategies, 2008. https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/pato-241108-final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=PATÓ |first1=ZSUZSANNA |title=INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DOMESTIC CLIMATE POLICIES |publisher=Climate Strategies |date=25 November 2008 |url=https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/pato-241108-final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pat2008international, author = {PATÓ, ZSUZSANNA}, title = {{INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR DOMESTIC CLIMATE POLICIES}}, institution = {Climate Strategies}, year = {2008}, month = nov, url = {https://climatestrategies.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/pato-241108-final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }