Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)

From January 2007 onwards, the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) replaces a series of European Union programmes and financial instruments for candidate countries or potential candidate countries, namely PHARE, PHARE CBC, ISPA, SAPARD, CARDS and the financial instrument for Turkey.

The IPA 2007-2013 ("IPA I") is made up of five different components:

• Assistance for transition and institution building;
• Cross-border cooperation (with EU Member States and other countries eligible for IPA);
• Regional development (transport, environment, regional and economic development);
• Human resources (strengthening human capital and combating exclusion);
• Rural development.

The IPA beneficiary countries are divided into two categories:

• EU candidate countries (Turkey, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and the Republic of North Macedonia) are eligible for all five components of IPA;
• Potential candidate countries in the Western Balkans (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244/99) are eligible only for the first two components.

The IPA 2014-2020 ("IPA II") legal framework and financial assistance are under the responsibility of DG Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, with the exception of cross-border cooperation between Member States and IPA countries.

EU pre-accession assistance for rural development (IPARD)