Annual Conference: Sharing knowledge, learning from one another!

On 17 September 2026, the NCP (National Contact Point) invited German federal and state authorities to its annual conference in Berlin. The event serves as a forum for the exchange of experiences and networking amongst German authorities involved in twinning projects. Since 1998, IRZ has represented the BMJV in the application and implementation of EU twinning projects in the justice sector and is therefore a regular guest at this important event

Experiences in identifying experts

Teresa Thalhammer, EU Projects Coordinator at IRZ, shared her experiences from the numerous Twinning projects carried out by IRZ in recent years during the panel discussion on identifying experts. Moderated by Bernd Schumacher from the NCP, she spoke with Joachim Heyer from the Federal Criminal Police Office. In particular, the recruitment of suitable experts from the judiciary and legal practice met with great interest from colleagues in other departments: there, it is often difficult to secure time off for practitioners to take part in projects.

What is an EU Twinning project?

Under this EU funding instrument, Germany joins forces with another EU Member State to support a partner country on a specific reform issue. IRZ has carried out over 90 such projects to date; there are currently four projects underway in North Macedonia, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Jordan, with three further projects (one in Kazakhstan, two in Morocco) due to start shortly. With a success rate of 80 per cent over the past 10 years and a proven track record in twinning, IRZ is one of the most experienced institutions in the German twinning landscape.

Workshop for the federal states

The day before, the NCP also organised a workshop for the contact points of the federal states. The aim was to generate interest in the Twinning instrument and to discuss how to attract experts from state authorities.