Stronger together: EU Twinning project promotes legal reforms

Details: Published: November 6, 2025

Symposium as part of the EU Twinning project to systematise the regulatory framework

Usbekistan

‘Together as partners, we are stronger,’ said German Ambassador Manfred Huterer during the symposium ‘Towards a coherent and simplified legal framework in Uzbekistan’ as part of the EU Twinning project to systematise the regulatory framework on 29 October 2025 in Tashkent. In doing so, he emphasised the central guiding principle of all EU Twinning projects: partnership-based cooperation based on mutual trust, exchange of expertise and shared responsibility.

The heads of the departments for legal systematisation and regulatory impact assessment at the Uzbek Ministry of Justice presented the first joint project results on improving the structuring and consolidation of legal norms in several areas of law, which are seen as the basis for further work. This was followed by a lively professional exchange on methods and practical approaches to prioritising legal norms and assessing potential legislative impact and costs. German experts from the Normenkontrollrat (National Regulatory Control Council) and Statistisches Bundesamt (Federal Statistical Office) presented the methods and examples commonly used in Germany, with reference to international best practices.

The EU Twinning project, led by IRZ, supports the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan in its reform efforts towards a more transparent and sustainable legal framework, in cooperation with the Latvian Ministry of Justice as a junior partner. Germany, as other European countries, face similar challenges as Uzbekistan in this regard, according to the head of the project Anja Schoeller-Schletter, who cited the complexity of the legal framework, increasing bureaucracy and associated costs, digitalisation, and the opportunities and limitations of artificial intelligence.

The partnership-based peer-to-peer approach of the EU Twinning project therefore not only enables the Uzbek side to learn from EU best practices, but also offers German and Latvian experts valuable food for thought, according to Christian Schaich, Administrative Director of the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) and expert in the project.

The insights gained during the symposium will be incorporated into the further design of project activities in order to provide the Ministry of Justice with the best possible support in achieving its ambitious goals by the end of the project in July 2026.