IPA-III | Technical Assistance Project “Strengthening of an integrated strategic approach to increase the efficiency and productivity of IPA funds during the third period (2021-2027)

The project’s overall objective is to increase and consolidate the administrative capacity of the Turkish public administration for more effective and efficient management and absorption of EU Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) funds.

The project’s purposes include strengthening the capacity of the National IPA Coordinator (NIPAC) and other relevant institutions in the area of i) strategic planning and programming, ii) proper and sustainable project pipeline development and prioritisation, iii) provision of support in tendering phase, iv) boosting monitoring and evaluation (M&E) stages covering reporting requirements, v) provision of assistance to NIPAC for coordination of Union Programmes (UP), and vi) contribution to the preparation of Cross-border Cooperation (CBC) Programmes (at Programme level).

The European Union (EU) provides assistance to countries in the process of preparing for EU membership through pre-accession funds to support their political, institutional, social and economic reforms towards membership and to help them achieve Union standards. Initially offered through different Union programmes and financial instruments, these funds were brought together in 2007 under a single instrument and legal framework, the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA). Since then, IPA has become the main financial and technical assistance instrument for the candidate and potential candidate countries to help them attain Union standards. In this framework, IPA serves the purposes of harmonizing the legislation and standards of the countries in the process of preparation for EU accession with the EU legislation and standards, improving the capacity of institutions of the countries in the preparation process to exert such harmonization efforts and implement reforms during the accession process, and finally preparing them for the rights and obligations EU membership brings along.

Turkey is the largest beneficiary of EU support among countries aiming for EU membership.

IPA funds are planned to cover 7-year periods in line with the European Union budget period. Accordingly, IPA I, the first IPA implementation, was conducted during the European Union’s budget period covering the years 2007-2013. For the 2014-2020 period following the first implementation period, the IPA II period was designed with a strategic perspective by considering the experience and outputs achieved during IPA I.

Since 2002, Türkiye, which became a candidate country after the Helsinki Summit in 1999, has been benefiting from EU funds for accession to the Union. From 2002 to 2020, Türkiye has benefited from a total of EUR 9.2 billion in funding resources, with a share of 48.2% in the IPA I period and 25% in the IPA II period, gaining Türkiye the highest share as a beneficiary country out of the total allocation made in this context to countries in the process of preparing for EU membership. Nearly 900 projects have been implemented through this funding, contributing to Türkiye’s administrative and institutional capacity in the process of preparing for EU membership.

IPA continues to provide project-based grants to candidate and potential candidate countries.

The total budget for IPA III for 2021-2027 is set at €14.2 billion. All beneficiary countries benefit from this budget under the “fair share principle”.