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Commission adopts multi-annual planning of financial assistance to the Western Balkans and Turkey The Commission has completed today the strategic planning of EU financial support for 2008-2010 to the candidate countries and potential candidates: Croatia, Turkey, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and Kosovo[1]. This financial assistance aims to enhance political and economic reform and development to realise their European perspective. For 2008-2010, the overall indicative amount of EU financial assistance under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) is €4.471 billion.

Auf dieser Seite Beitrittspartnerschaften/europäische Partnerschaften PHARE SAPARD und ISPA CARDS Finanzhilfen nach Staaten: 2007 ein einziges Instrument: IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance)

Commission President José Manuel Barroso has presented an "indicative timetable" for concluding EU membership talks with Croatia by November next year, with 2010 as the likely entry date.

"In this autumn's enlargement package, the Commission will present an indicative timetable for the technical conclusion of the negotiations in 2009, provided a number of conditions are met by Croatia," said the Commission President. He said these included: Complying with all legal obligations under the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA), including cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); "urgently" improving the management of EU financial assistance under the PHARE and IPA programmes, and; suspending all aspects of Croatia's Ecological and Fisheries Protection Zone, which had blocked Slovenian and Italian vessels from fishing in Croatian waters.

Links EU official documents Commission: Speaking points of Commission President Barroso following his meeting with Croatia's PM Sanader Commission: Croatia - Country profile Commission: Croatia - Key documents

ZAGREB -- The European Commission (EC) has temporarily frozen Croatian Phare projects. It has also reduced the funds allocated to the country via the IPA program by EUR 5mn because of weaknesses in creating a decentralized system of management of projects backed by EU funds.

In its 2007 progress report on Croatia, the EC said that the country had shown great weaknesses last year in implementing a decentralized system for management of pre-accession assistance, said Nagy and warned that Zagreb had to deal with these weaknesses as soon as possible.

Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Božidar Ðelić said yesterday (24 March) that the EU had gone "a bit too far" by giving five billion euro for the stimulus plan to its member states, and "not a single euro cent to any of the south-east European countries".

Many of the Western Balkan countries have already been exposed to the effects of the crisis. Industrial production and foreign direct investment are slowing down, and most countries are resorting to international loans that will put an additional burden on their balances of payments. A few weeks ago, the Serbian Central Bank (NBS) governor still hoped that growth could reach 1.5 -2% in 2009. But the government of Serbia was last week forced to negotiate a new agreement with the International Monetary Found (IMF) for a loan worth around €3bn ($3.88bn).

According to the deputy PM, "there is too much difference between being in or out" of the EU. "If you are in, like Latvia or Hungary, you get 10 billion, but if you are a clear future member but still not formally in, it is very difficult to access resources, to go around the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) limitations, to go around the European Central Bank regulations or even the structural funds in the area of infrastructure and social cohesion," he said (EurActiv 10/02/09).