The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) enables the European Union to help candidate and potential candidate countries identified in the Regulation establishing the Instrument (Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo) to adopt and implement the reforms necessary to respect the Union’s values and for progressive alignment with EU rules and standards, with a view to joining the Union.
Established in 2007 and endowed with a total of over 14 billion Euros for the period 2021-2027, the Instrument is now governed by Regulation (EU) 2021/1529, in continuity with the previous instruments IPA I (2007-2013) and IPA II (2014-2020).
The key areas of financial assistance include: Rule of law, democracy and fundamental rights; public administration reform; migration and border management; reconciliation and good neighbourly relations; gender equality; economic and social development, including ecological transition and digital transformation; territorial and cross-border cooperation.