Optimizing Instruments For Pre-Accession Assistance To Candidate Countries

Optimizing Instruments For Pre-Accession Assistance To Candidate Countries Presented by: Dr. Frumarová Date: April 23, 2025 Pre-accession assistance: What and Why - The process of new countries accession to the European Union is a complex and longterm process that involves meeting a number of political, economic and legal conditions set by the EU (Copenhagen Criteria, Madrid criteria) - Meeting these requirements often entails major institutional and legislative changes - These changes are demanding in terms of time, finance and personnel, professional and technical resources - The support within the candidate country itself is important BUT - Also "external" assistance and support during the accession process is necessary - Pre-accession assistance: • The support provided by the EU to the candidate countries • Legal support x financial x technical support • Different instruments Pre-accession assistance: Research Questions - How should support be distributed among the candidate countries? - Which support instruments are the most effective, i.e. In what specific forms should support be provided? - Effective mechanisms to control the use of support and to monitor and evaluate progress? - How to learn from developments and optimize the pre-accession support system? History - The EU enlargement process has been going on for several decades, with enlargement taking place in successive waves. - If we look back to the 1970s and 1980s: • In the early stages of EU enlargement, the candidate countries (e.g. Greece, Spain, Portugal) did not have any comprehensive instrument for pre-accession assistance. Support was mainly provided through bilateral trade and economic cooperation agreements. Thus, during this period it was more of an ad hoc assistance rather than a systematic assistance. - The situation began to change in the 1990s: • The EU was preparing for its largest enlargement. During this period, preaccession assistance is gradually developing and, above all, becoming institutionalized. Support is beginning to focus on key areas of reforms (= to meet the entry criteria). Key instruments of pre-accession assistance was the PHARE, SAPARD or ISPA. IPA - Comparison Of IPA Instruments In Terms Of Budget Tool IPA IPA II IPA III Periods 2007-2013 2013-2020 2021-2027 Amount (Euros) EUR 11.5 billion EUR 12.8 billion EUR 14.162 billion IPA III Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III) IPA III programming framework - Window 1: Rule of law, fundamental rights and democracy - Window 2: Good governance, acquis alignment, good unneighborly relations and strategic communication • - Window 3: Green agenda and sustainable connectivity • - - Including Erasmus program (EAC) Including budgetary guarantees and other financial instruments Window 4: Competitiveness and inclusive growth • Including budgetary guarantees and other financial instruments • Including IPA rural development (AGRI) Window 5: Territorial and cross-border cooperation • Including cross-border cooperation programs (REGIO) IPA III - IPA III can finance a wide range of projects, following the 5 thematic priorities - Beyond the five thematic windows of the instrument, there is also a significant priority given to horizontal themes such as environmental protection, the fight against climate change, support for administrative reforms and the fight against corruption, support for the rule of law, civil society and gender equality. - Funding is managed by the European Commission together with Member States, IPA III beneficiary partner countries or other implementing partners. - Control mechanism: Again, the European Commission plays a central role. It carries out regular assessments of the progress of IPA III funded projects and is responsible for preparing annual reports on the implementation of the program and its impact on the candidate countries. In addition, the European Court of Auditors and the European Parliament are involved in the evaluation. Other EU Instruments Providing Financial And Technical Assistance To Candidate Countries - In addition to the IPA III, candidate countries can benefit from other funds and through other EU instruments to finance specific areas of development or cooperation. Often these are instruments that benefit both member and candidate countries. - Each of these instruments applies to support in a different area and under different conditions. - Nevertheless, it can be stated that a basic condition applies to all of them = the supported activity must be in line with the values and principles on which the EU is built. - The first instrument to be mentioned is undoubtedly the Neighborhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument - Global Europe (NDICI). The NDICI is the EU's main tool to contribute to eradicating poverty and promoting sustainable development, prosperity, peace and stability. For example, support is used by the Western Balkan countries to finance cross-border cooperation, public administration reforms or economic and infrastructure support. Ukraine and Moldova are also benefiting from NDICI, in particular to support stabilization, rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure and development of democratic institutions. - The EU Humanitarian Aid Instrument = instrument for providing humanitarian aid in crises such as natural disasters, armed conflicts or humanitarian emergencies. EU humanitarian aid focuses mainly on food and nutrition, shelter, healthcare, water and sanitation, and education in emergencies. Support has been used, for example, by Turkey (especially in the context of the migration crisis and Syrian refugees), or Serbia and North Macedonia (especially in 2015-2016 during the migration crisis and refugee influx). Ukraine in particular is currently benefiting from it, in the context of Russian aggression since 2022. - Another (long-standing) EU support mechanism for dealing with various crises and disasters is the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and rescue EU. In addition to the EU countries, there are currently 10 participating States in the Mechanism (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine). For example, in 2023, the mechanism was activated in 66 cases, with the most important actions including assistance to Ukraine in the context of the ongoing war there, dealing with forest fires in Europe or the earthquake in Turkey. The coordination of assistance to Ukraine represents one of the largest activations of the Mechanism. - In the field of science, research and education, candidate countries can also benefit from support through several key EU instruments and funds. - Horizon Europe should undoubtedly be mentioned first. Horizon Europe is the EU's flagship program for research and innovation funding (for the period 2021-2027). The indicative amount of funding for Horizon Europe for the period is EUR 93.5 billion Euros. Candidate countries can be granted Associated Country status, which allows them to participate in the program at the same level as EU Member States. - The Erasmus+ program, which supports education, training, youth and sport, is also well known. - Candidate countries participate in the program as partner or program countries, allowing their institutions to engage in exchange programs, cooperation projects and mobility. Program countries (Northern Macedonia, Serbia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey) have full participation through agreements with the EU. - Under EU policy, candidate countries can also benefit from various cross-border cooperation instruments that promote regional integration, improve relations between neighboring countries and strengthen economic and social development. - The main instruments available to candidate countries include the Interreg program. Interreg is a European Union program aimed at promoting cross-border, interregional and transnational cooperation. This instrument support the exchange of good practices and policy learning among European regions in 36 countries the EU27 Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Ukraine (so most candidate countries are therefore involved). - EU candidate countries also have access to several EU instruments aimed at protecting the environment. These instruments support their efforts in the areas of environmental sustainability, emissions reduction, natural resource protection and adaptation to climate change. One example is the LIFE Program. Candidate countries can receive funding if they have signed a LIFE cooperation agreement. Environmental support can also be obtained from IPA III or the Interreg program Legal Assistance To Candidate Countries - The European Union also provides comprehensive legal assistance to candidate countries. This assistance is primarily aimed at harmonizing candidate countries' legislation with the EU acquis Communautaire. - One of the most important tools in this area is TAIEX. TAIEX (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange) is a technical and legal assistance instrument provided to candidate countries to facilitate the transfer of know-how and the harmonization of the candidate country's national legislation with EU law. - TAIEX supports public authorities in the approximation, application and enforcement of European legislation, as well as in the sharing and transfer of "EU best practices". By its nature, it is a short-term, non-financial, legal and technical assistance provided by experts from Member States (not only) to candidate countries. This support takes several typical forms: professional workshops and training, study visits and missions or expert missions. - The example of this assistance to candidate countries: TAIEX workshop on designing entry exams for judges, prosecutors and legal advisors in Albania (March 2023). Through TAIEX, experts from Belgium and Italy provided practical guidance on tools and methodologies ahead of the School of Magistrates' review of its entry exams. - Twinning is another support tool that should undoubtedly be mentioned. Twinning is an instrument aimed at supporting institutional capacity building in candidate countries through partnerships with EU Member States' institutions. - It supports all long-term cooperation between institutions. The cooperation typically involves the exchange of experts, the transfer of best practices and know-how or training of the persons who have to apply the law (officials, judges, prosecutors and others). - The example: The EU support to capacity building and gradual Union acquis alignment in phytosanitary sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina (2020-2023) can be mentioned first. This project, implemented by Italy and Poland, contributed to boosting rural economy and modernizing the agri-food sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It played a crucial role in aligning national legislation with the EU acquis by facilitating the implementation of new phytosanitary standards. Legal Assistance To Candidate Countries - - TAIEX • Peer-to-peer institution building instrument • Mobilizing public sector expertise from EU Member States • EU-funded & results-oriented • Short activities • Available to public administrations around the world, also in EU Member States • All activities are organized by European Commission headquarters Twinning • Peer-to-peer institution building instrument • Mobilizing public sector expertise from EU Member States • EU-funded & results-oriented • Medium to long-term projects (up to 3 years) • Available to public administrations in countries and territories covered by the EU's neighborhood and enlargement policies (NEAR) as well as the international partnership and development policy (INTPA) • Individual projects are jointly managed by EU Member States & partner countries Legal Assistance To Candidate Countries - Another important legal support is that candidate countries are gradually being integrated into European legal mechanisms such as Eurojust. - EU candidate countries can also participate to some extent in Europol (the European Police Office) and Frontex (the European Union Border and Coast Guard Agency), even if they are not full EU members. - Candidate countries can also benefit from training and exchange programs under the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN), which support the improvement of the skills of judges and prosecutors. - The possibility to participate in the programs implemented by the European AntiCorruption Network (EPAC) is also very important. Legal support is also provided under the already mentioned instruments such as NDICI and IPA III. Conclusions And Recommendations - The pre-accession assistance = very important element for successful accession to the EU. - The assistance has evolved significantly from informal instruments to sophisticated and complex mechanisms. - The scope and volume of funding is changing, with the budget and the number of areas supported gradually increasing - A move away from simple project funding towards funding based on the assessment of results achieved and the impact of reforms implemented. - A gradual shift from basic infrastructure projects to advanced themes such as the rule of law, environmental protection or digitalization. - The current system of the assistance relies primarily on the key instrument, IPA III. In addition to IPA III, the pre-accession assistance is implemented through other instruments and programs that complement it and focus more on sub-areas of support (agriculture, migration, education and science, environment, etc.). While this targeted assistance is of course effective and is directed towards the development of specific areas in the candidate countries, this "fragmentation" makes the pre-accession assistance system quite difficult and sometimes opaque. - Solutions? a gradual integration of each candidate country into the EU governance structures prior to full membership. • It can contribute to consolidating the candidate country's preparations by training its institutions to function as if it were a member state • The candidate country could be included in discussions on EU governance and policy on the basis of real progress in meeting its membership commitments. • Candidate countries should be involved in discussions on further EU (institutional) reforms - It can therefore be concluded that, although the pre-accession assistance to candidate countries is still being improved and increased, work will need to continue to increase its effectiveness and correct targeting for these countries, as well as the process of enforcing the conditions for its use and monitoring progress.