Brussels, 20 December 2011 – The European Commission has today finalised a series of aid programmes to support reforms in countries wishing to join the EU. The funding, totalling almost EUR 1 billion, comes under the 2011 budget of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA), and will be available to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, as well as Kosovo1, Turkey, and Iceland.
“All these programmes have been designed to achieve concrete results in terms of better public administration, more efficient judiciary and law enforcement, stable economy as well as safer environment. This is good news both for the recipient countries and the EU: we all face common challenges that do not stop at EU borders and we need to tackle them together”, said European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle.
These actions are funded through IPA 2011, under the Transition Assistance and Institution Building and Cross-Border Cooperation Components. They are based on the priorities set out by the EU and have been designed together with the governments concerned, local stakeholders and other donors.
This year’s funding focuses on better governance, with projects aiming at further reinforcement of administrative capacity, more efficient use of EU assistance, adoption and enforcement of EU standards, further support to reforms in public administration, as well as in the judiciary and fundamental rights and the continued support to the fight against organised crime and corruption.
Details per country2:
| Country | Amount in EUR | Main sectors financed |
| | 82,000,000.00 | Justice, home affairs and fundamental rights, public administration reform, transport, environment and climate change, social development, agriculture and rural development |
| | 91,280,000.00 | Public administration reform, justice and home affairs, private sector development, transport, environment and climate change, social development |
| | 39,159,128.00 | General administrative strengthening relevant to the post–accession period, with a particular focus on the justice, home affairs and fundamental rights sector |
| fYRoM | 28,903,410.00 | Justice, home affairs and fundamental rights, public administration reform, social development |
| | 12,000,000.00 | Preparation for acquis implementation, strengthening of administrative capacity, contribution to socio-economic development |
| Kosovo1 | 62,900,000.00 | Justice, home affairs and fundamental rights; private sector-led economic development; public administration reform |
| | 26,493,599.00 | Justice, home affairs and fundamental rights, public administration reform, social development, environment and climate change |
| | 178,556,810.00 | Strengthening of the rule of law and public administration, overcoming of the economic crisis and improvement of competitiveness, support to social inclusion and reconciliation |
| | 232,968,023.00 | Justice, home affairs and fundamental rights; environment and climate change; support to |
| Multi-beneficiary and other programmes | 210,436,237.00 | SME development and infrastructure, statistical cooperation, regional cooperation in trade, Erasmus Mundus, Tempus (regional programmes), Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection, Audit and Evaluation, Information & Communication, overall support to civil society organisations (Civil Society Facility), technical assistance on the transposition of EU legislation (TAIEX), Office of the High Representative (OHR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EU contribution 53%), International Civilian Office (ICO) in Kosovo1 (EU contribution 50%), Cross Border Cooperation programme Kosovo-Montenegro. |
Background
Since 2007, countries wishing to join the EU have received focused EU funding and support through a single channel – the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). The total pre-accession funding for the period 2007-2013 is €11.5 billion. IPA consists of five components:
Component I: Transition Assistance and Institution Building Component II: Cross-Border Cooperation Component III: Regional Development Component IV: Human Resources Development Component V: Rural DevelopmentThe execution of EU pre-accession aid under the IPA programme begins with the definition of the Commission’s intentions in terms of indicative financial allocations. This is followed by the adoption of the strategies, based on the countries’ specific needs, which have been adopted over the last few weeks setting out the priorities for EU financial assistance for the period 2011-2013. The next step is the preparation, along with the beneficiaries, of programmes to set the frame for the yearly financial allocation. Finally, the programmes are implemented through specific projects on the country or at the regional level.
For more information:
Examples of previous EU-funded project
| Contact : Peter Stano (+32 2 295 74 84) |
