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Pre-accession assistance

Pre-accession assistance helps candidate countries and potential candidates for European Union (EU) membership to satisfy the accession conditions (the Copenhagen criteria). Considerable investment is required if these countries are to bring their institutions and standards in line with the EU acquis and to be able to meet their obligations as member countries.

Pre-accession financial assistance is a key element of the EU’s pre-accession strategy and is provided by means of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).

For the period 2021-2027, IPA III has a provisionally agreed financial envelope of €14.162 billion (in current prices) — to be confirmed (IPA II covered the 2014-2020 period and IPA I covered the 2007-2013 period). Its beneficiaries are: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey.

Assistance under IPA III is based on the draft programming framework, the strategic document of the European Commission for the use of EU funds assisting the IPA III beneficiaries.

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.

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