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Financial assistance

The EU provides focussed pre-accession financial aid to the candidate countries (currently: Croatia, Turkey and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) and to the potential candidates (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244). This financial assistance is intended to help these countries to introduce the necessary political, economic and institutional reforms in line with EU standards.

The reform necessary for EU membership also serves to improve the lives of citizens in the beneficiary countries. A key focus of assistance is to support political reform, in particular institution building, strengthening the rule of law, human rights, protection of minorities and the development of civil society.

Before joining the EU, a country must have a functioning market economy, as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the EU; assistance is therefore provided to support economic reform, leading to economic growth and better employment prospects.

Assistance in the adoption of the acquis communautaire (obligations related to membership) improves quality of life as candidate and potential candidates align to and gradually adopt EU rules, for example, concerning protection of the environment and the fight against crime, drugs and illegal immigration. Furthermore, pre-accession aid encourages regional co-operation and contributes to sustainable development and poverty reduction.

EU funding aims at medium to long-term changes in society and its economy as a whole. The pace of reform and that of the accession process are closely related.