Which countries receive this funding?

Since 2007, the Western Balkans and Turkey, under Component I - Transition assistance and institution building:

What are they?

Programmes under the Instrument for pre-accession assistance that provide EU financial aid for projects that require collaboration between
several beneficiaries – such as regional structures, networks of experts or civil servants – or to tackle issues of a cross-border nature. The assistance includes:

• cooperation with international financial institutions (e.g. EBRD, EIB, ECB), to jointly implement finance facilities
• civil society dialogue and development
• education actions (student mobility programmes, etc.)
• actions to help beneficiaries meet the requirements for EU membership and align their standards with the EU (on statistics, customs procedures etc.)

Multi-beneficiary programmes complement individual national programmes by focusing on regional aspects and helping countries to learn from each other's experience.

Which types of projects benefit from this assistance?

• Regional projects that facilitate cooperation between beneficiaries in different countries, promoting reconciliation, reconstruction and political cooperation – for instance, the Regional School of Public Administration (ReSPA), the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)
• Horizontal projects that address the shared needs of several beneficiaries and promote more efficient implementation and economies of scale – for instance in the statistical or environmental fields

Which categories do the projects fall under?

• political – democracy and the rule of law, human rights and the protection of minorities, regional issues and international obligations, interim civilian administration and civil society dialogue and development
• economic – competitiveness, cooperation with international financial institutions, education and youth
• assumption of membership obligations – alignment of legislation and standards with the EU, in particular on the free movement of goods, intellectual and industrial property, veterinary issues, transport, energy, customs and taxation, statistics, environment, TAIEX, nuclear safety and radiation protection