Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance – IPA

Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) is part of the package of activities for External Relations of European Union (EU). IPA, such as other support of that package provided an opportunity for rationalisation and simplification of the European Commission procedures and promotion of the coherence and coordination of EC activities.

Main objective in the course of establishment and functioning of IPA was to improve the entire Pre-Accession Assistance under a single framework, and to bring together under same regulation both the candidate countries for membership (Croatia, Turkey and Republic of North Macedonia) and the potential candidate countries for membership (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro).

Therefore, IPA replaced the previous instruments: Assistance for Restructuring their Economies Programme for Poland and Hungary (PHARE), the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession (ISPA), the Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD) and the Instrument for Pre-accession of Turkey, as well as Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stability (CARDS).