IPA Component I: Institution building

The core activity under IPA Component I is Institution Building, addressing priorities as fully meeting the Copenhagen political criteria, ability to assume the obligations of membership; as well as the promotion of an EU-Turkey Civil Society Dialogue. Institution building also includes supporting programmes aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity for the management of EU funds as well as covering Turkey's participation in Community Programmes:

- The Political criteria: IPA 2007 and 2008 programmes address for instance reforms within the judiciary and the public administration, in order to improve their implementation on the ground and promote EU rules and values. The awareness about human rights, gender equality and children's rights is being strengthened among conscripts in the Turkish general staff, and social inclusion of vulnerable groups including people with disabilities and women is enhanced.

- The ability to assume the obligations of membership: IPA 2007 and 2008 assistance is concentrated on areas with a large volume of legislation to be harmonized with the EU legislation and where big investments are required. Priority has been given to projects in the area of agriculture, environment, customs union as well as in the field of justice, freedom and security; where the aim is to establish an integrated border management system and to fight organised crime, strengthen border police and forensic medicine.

- The EU-Turkey Civil Society Dialogue is continuously promoted, for instance by two IPA 2007 projects amounting to € 11.7 million, aiming to foster the dialogue between Civil Society organizations in Turkey in different fields with their counterparts within the EU. In the 2008 programme intercultural dialogue is supported with € 3.1 million. The overall purpose of the Civil Society Dialogue is to enhance mutual understanding between Turkey and the EU member states on a grass root level and to increase the participation of the civil society in the Turkish EU integration process in a broad sense.

In addition, Turkey is a beneficiary of assistance provided through the IPA Multi-Beneficiary programmes. For instance, it takes part in the Disaster Risk Reduction programme, and the Statistics and the Environment programmes. Turkey is also a beneficiary of the Erasmus Mundus Western Balkan-Turkey Window in the educational field, as well as two Police Cooperation programmes aiming to fight organized and trans-border crime, drug trafficking and strengthening the regional cooperation in these areas.

The objective of the Multi-Beneficiary programmes is to address common needs across several IPA beneficiaries and seek to attain efficiencies and economies in implementation by providing centrally managed and/or jointly managed assistance with international organisations rather than by implementing the programmes nationally.

IPA Component II: Cross- border cooperation

The core activity under IPA component II is Cross-border Cooperation.

IPA 2007 and 2008 programmes support cooperation between Turkey and Bulgaria as well as Turkey's participation in the Black Sea basin Programme under the European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument (ENPI).

A key objective of the Turkey-Bulgaria Cross-Border Cooperation Programme is to tackle the lack of competitiveness in the socio-economic development in the relevant area as compared to EU development levels. Another aim is to face common challenges in the environment and nature protection, as well as in relation to cross-border emergency situations.

Activities to be supported under Turkey's participation in the ENPI Black Sea basin Programme include the promotion of economic and social development in the Black Sea basin; the aim of working together to address common challenges as well as to promote local, people-to-people type actions.

IPA Components III, IV & V: Preparation towards Community's cohesion policy as well as agriculture and rural development policy

Assistance under IPA Components III (Regional Development), IV (Human Resources Development) and V (Agriculture and Rural Development) aims at preparing Turkey for participation in the Community's cohesion as well as agriculture and rural development policies:

- The scope of the Regional Development component is to prepare candidate countries in the development of policies, investment planning and implementation, with a view to their participation in Community Cohesion policy. To this end, the regional development component covers the two main programme areas covered by the Cohesion Fund - transport and environment - as well as a third area aiming to enhance regional competitiveness and sustainable employment creation, in line with the Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion 2007-2013. The latter marks a qualitative evolution from previous period's ISPA assistance.

- The Human Resources Development component under the IPA instrument will assist Turkey in policy development as well as preparations for the future implementation of the European Social Fund. It will support a single operational programme addressing three major areas of intervention: employment, education and training as well as social inclusion. These will be implemented by four priority axes, namely attract and retain more people in employment, enhance investment in human capital, increase adaptability of workers and promote an inclusive labour market. The Human Resources Development operational programme was adopted by Commission decision on 7 December 2007 and sets out a Community contribution of € 158.7 million for the years 2007 to 2009. The management of this assistance will be the responsibility of the Turkish authorities.

- The aim of the Rural Development Component is to prepare the candidate countries to implement the EU Common Agricultural Policy upon accession by helping them to align their agricultural sectors to the Community standards that will be applicable to them after accession and assisting them to develop a policy for the agricultural sector and rural areas.

The assistance is provided by an IPARD Rural Development Programme for the period 2007-2013 which has been drafted by the Turkish authorities and approved by the European Commission. The Programme will be managed by Turkey after it has set up the necessary system for managing the funds. The Programme defines several priority agricultural sectors such as dairy, meat, fruit and vegetables and fisheries, and will be implemented in 42 provinces in Turkey. Examples of actions that may be supported under the IPARD programme are given below:

• Investments in agricultural holdings to upgrade them to the Community standards (sectors supported: Meat, Milk)
• Investments in Processing and marketing (sectors: Meat, Milk, Fruit and Vegetables, Fisheries)
• Support for setting up of producer groups
• Support for preparation of local rural development strategies
• Support for measures related to the environment and the countryside
• Diversification of economic activities (actions such as: development of local products, rural tourism, etc.)

IPA Components III, IV & V: Preparation towards Community's cohesion policy as well as agriculture and rural development policy

Assistance under IPA Components III (Regional Development), IV (Human Resources Development) and V (Agriculture and Rural Development) aims at preparing Turkey for participation in the Community's cohesion as well as agriculture and rural development policies:

- The scope of the Regional Development component is to prepare candidate countries in the development of policies, investment planning and implementation, with a view to their participation in Community Cohesion policy. To this end, the regional development component covers the two main programme areas covered by the Cohesion Fund - transport and environment - as well as a third area aiming to enhance regional competitiveness and sustainable employment creation, in line with the Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion 2007-2013. The latter marks a qualitative evolution from previous period's ISPA assistance.

- The Human Resources Development component under the IPA instrument will assist Turkey in policy development as well as preparations for the future implementation of the European Social Fund. It will support a single operational programme addressing three major areas of intervention: employment, education and training as well as social inclusion. These will be implemented by four priority axes, namely attract and retain more people in employment, enhance investment in human capital, increase adaptability of workers and promote an inclusive labour market. The Human Resources Development operational programme was adopted by Commission decision on 7 December 2007 and sets out a Community contribution of € 158.7 million for the years 2007 to 2009. The management of this assistance will be the responsibility of the Turkish authorities.

- The aim of the Rural Development Component is to prepare the candidate countries to implement the EU Common Agricultural Policy upon accession by helping them to align their agricultural sectors to the Community standards that will be applicable to them after accession and assisting them to develop a policy for the agricultural sector and rural areas.

The assistance is provided by an IPARD Rural Development Programme for the period 2007-2013 which has been drafted by the Turkish authorities and approved by the European Commission. The Programme will be managed by Turkey after it has set up the necessary system for managing the funds. The Programme defines several priority agricultural sectors such as dairy, meat, fruit and vegetables and fisheries, and will be implemented in 42 provinces in Turkey. Examples of actions that may be supported under the IPARD programme are given below:

• Investments in agricultural holdings to upgrade them to the Community standards (sectors supported: Meat, Milk)
• Investments in Processing and marketing (sectors: Meat, Milk, Fruit and Vegetables, Fisheries)
• Support for setting up of producer groups
• Support for preparation of local rural development strategies
• Support for measures related to the environment and the countryside
• Diversification of economic activities (actions such as: development of local products, rural tourism, etc.)

IPA Components III, IV & V: Preparation towards Community's cohesion policy as well as agriculture and rural development policy

Assistance under IPA Components III (Regional Development), IV (Human Resources Development) and V (Agriculture and Rural Development) aims at preparing Turkey for participation in the Community's cohesion as well as agriculture and rural development policies:

- The scope of the Regional Development component is to prepare candidate countries in the development of policies, investment planning and implementation, with a view to their participation in Community Cohesion policy. To this end, the regional development component covers the two main programme areas covered by the Cohesion Fund - transport and environment - as well as a third area aiming to enhance regional competitiveness and sustainable employment creation, in line with the Community Strategic Guidelines on Cohesion 2007-2013. The latter marks a qualitative evolution from previous period's ISPA assistance.

- The Human Resources Development component under the IPA instrument will assist Turkey in policy development as well as preparations for the future implementation of the European Social Fund. It will support a single operational programme addressing three major areas of intervention: employment, education and training as well as social inclusion. These will be implemented by four priority axes, namely attract and retain more people in employment, enhance investment in human capital, increase adaptability of workers and promote an inclusive labour market. The Human Resources Development operational programme was adopted by Commission decision on 7 December 2007 and sets out a Community contribution of € 158.7 million for the years 2007 to 2009. The management of this assistance will be the responsibility of the Turkish authorities.

- The aim of the Rural Development Component is to prepare the candidate countries to implement the EU Common Agricultural Policy upon accession by helping them to align their agricultural sectors to the Community standards that will be applicable to them after accession and assisting them to develop a policy for the agricultural sector and rural areas.

The assistance is provided by an IPARD Rural Development Programme for the period 2007-2013 which has been drafted by the Turkish authorities and approved by the European Commission. The Programme will be managed by Turkey after it has set up the necessary system for managing the funds. The Programme defines several priority agricultural sectors such as dairy, meat, fruit and vegetables and fisheries, and will be implemented in 42 provinces in Turkey. Examples of actions that may be supported under the IPARD programme are given below:

• Investments in agricultural holdings to upgrade them to the Community standards (sectors supported: Meat, Milk)
• Investments in Processing and marketing (sectors: Meat, Milk, Fruit and Vegetables, Fisheries)
• Support for setting up of producer groups
• Support for preparation of local rural development strategies
• Support for measures related to the environment and the countryside
• Diversification of economic activities (actions such as: development of local products, rural tourism, etc.)

The purpose of support under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) programme is to help candidate and potential candidate countries and territories – the Beneficiaries – to progress towards fully meeting the Copenhagen political and economic criteria as well as adopting and implementing the EU acquis. The Multi-beneficiary actions will complement and add value to the support given under the National Programmes.