Technical Assistance-2017

Scope : The purchase and maintenance of investigation tools and methods used by beneficiaries in the fight against irregularities, fraud and corruption detrimental to the Union’s financial interests, in particular the fight against tobacco smuggling and/or counterfeiting ("Investigation tools"). The Union's financial interests cover Union revenues (traditional own resources (ToR) and VAT) and expenditure, in particular under shared management (structural funds, agriculture). Specialised training to enable staff to operate these tools is included and will be encouraged. S pecific actions include: Technical equipment for electronic and mobile surveillance, including the purchase and adaptation of cars needed for operating the equipment; Technical equipment and software for the retrieval and analysis of data and other evidence taken from, for example, computers or smartphones (“digital forensic hard- and software”). The purchase of equipment for updating existing monitoring tools for (mobile) communications with the latest protocols also falls under this action ; Technical equipment for encrypted communications.