Our international cooperation in Europe

We support reform and European integration by leveraging French expertise and encouraging peer-to-peer dialogue. As our activity rapidly expands, we play a key role in promoting sustainable, inclusive, resilient development across the continent.

We are also strengthening and transforming capacities within the EU itself, particularly in Greece, in line with French and European priorities. Our focus spans many strategic sectors, from vocational training and economic resilience to health, digital technologies and innovation, governance and justice, and social protection.

Our work with the EU

We support EU Member States through advisory services and technical assistance under the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM) programmes. 

We have built on a decade-long strategic partnership with Greece to expand our cooperation to over 20 Member States. This sets us apart from other agencies implementing development projects.

We assist our European partner countries and organisations in designing and implementing administrative reforms in public finance, civil service HR, digital transformation, civil defence, and health. 

We also tackle strategic issues such as cybersecurity, the use of AI, green budgeting, and gender mainstreaming in public policy.

Our project office in Greece allows us to stay informed of the needs of our partner countries and organisations. This hands-on experience within EU Member States strengthens the services we offer to countries in Eastern Europe and the Western Balkans pursuing European alignment.

Our work in countries neighbouring the EU

To carry out our work in the European Neighbourhood and Enlargement regions, we deploy French expertise to support reforms and foster European integration. With 35 major projects totalling €153 million, we have offices and experts in cities like Tirana, Belgrade and Chisinau. Our goal is to promote sustainable, inclusive, resilient development in line with the strategic priorities of France, the EU and our partner countries.

In addition to facilitating reform and sharing best practices within the EU, our work in neighbouring regions focuses on the following areas:

• Judicial reform and the rule of law: We help strengthen and modernise judicial systems, align legal frameworks with EU standards, reinforce institutional independence and efficiency, and fight corruption.

• Reform agendas and EU integration: We support Western Balkan countries in their EU accession by boosting administrative capacity, aligning national policies with the Community acquis, and strengthening inter-ministerial coordination.
• Health systems: We implement projects to help our partners bolster their health systems, mainly by funding the structural reforms whose necessity became apparent during COVID-19.

• Vocational training for the socio-economic inclusion of young people: We work to improve job prospects and social cohesion, particularly for refugees and host communities. We focus on three priority goals: help young people develop the skills the market needs, modernise training centres, and facilitate access to employment.
• Innovation and digital transformation: We foster innovation ecosystems and start-ups in the Eastern Partnership region to help digital stakeholders reach maturity, promote EU market integration, and strengthen the digital sector. We also facilitate networking between innovation stakeholders and their inclusion in European ecosystems, accelerating digital transformation and alignment with the EU market.
• Social reform and protection: We help EU neighbouring countries modernise social protection systems and employment policies to promote decent work and better living conditions in line with EU standards.
• Energy transition and environmental protection: We facilitate projects in a range of sectors, including environmental justice, energy and environmental reforms, renewable energy development, water management, green growth, biodiversity conservation, and policy alignment with EU standards.

Discover all our projects in Europe

Expertise France’s activities in Europe align closely with France’s broader political strategies for the continent. They reflect the goals set by the Presidential Council for Development (5 May 2023) and the Interministerial Committee for International Cooperation and Development (18 July 2023).

Our work also contributes to the “France and Europeans” strategy and helps implement the priorities of the EU Strategic Compass and the Global Gateway initiative.