Public technical cooperation reinforced in the new cooperation law

The new Spanish cooperation will be fully integrated into the European cooperation system, which recognises the value of the exchange of public expertise between institutions for sustainable and inclusive development.

The draft law specifically describes the modality of public cooperation – that between public servants in institutions for the formulation of public policies and public systems – the form of cooperation facilitated by the FIIAPP in more than 120 countries since 1998.

Beyond development results, this form of cooperation is becoming established as part of Spanish and European external action for its potential to bring societies closer together by building public systems – thus ensuring the sustainability of the intervention – on shared values. The law thus recognises the role of our public servants as “cooperators”. Every year, the FIIAPP mobilises more than 700 professionals from more than 130 Spanish institutions to contribute with short and long-term missions to specific public policy challenges in other countries. Justice and Interior professionals (in peace and development projects) are among the most mobilised.

The FIIAPP develops public technical cooperation, which is a specific cooperation modality based on the exchange and transfer of knowledge between public administrations to create alliances and relationships of trust between institutions in different countries. In addition, cooperation with institutions in other countries also favours the internationalisation of our public administration and provides a valuable return in the form of new perspectives and learning from other political cultures to our own administrations, when the displaced personnel return to their institution of origin. This new knowledge benefits our society.

Since the International Development Cooperation Law was passed in 1998, the reality of the political and legal framework for Spanish development cooperation has changed significantly. This new law updates the previous one to include new parameters, respond effectively to global challenges, pursue the objectives of the 2030 Agenda, establish geographical and thematic priorities for cooperation, among others. Societies demand the exchange of specific knowledge in a global world and this form of work developed by the FIIAPP, among other entities in the system, is proof of the value and importance of this form of Spanish cooperation.