EU Pre-accession Support to Candidate Countries: Financial Mechanisms and Funds, and Support Projects

2004 In may of 2004 the biggest enalargment process the EU had ever undertaken began. – Twelve countries joined – Most from East Central Europe, including the Czech republic Before this the usual procedure had around 3 countries joining at a time

Pre-accession Instruments White Paper and accession Partnerships – These were tools used by the EU to help countries in their adaptations to EU standards, and also gave them a basis for the commissions overview of the Copenhagen requirements These were mostly used for Eastern European countries, because most industrialized countries already fit the requirements for accession

Early efforts In 1988 the Luxemburg accord led to the initiation of bi-lateral trade talks with CMEA member states The European community removed long standing import quotas and instituted the GSP The TCA (trade and cooperation agreement) along with CEFTA were signed by former members of the Warsaw pact to help free up trade The visegrad declaration was used to turn Hungary, Poland, and The Czech republic into one single economic zone In 1989 the G7 summit helped by rescheduling debt, provision of aid to tackle fiscal problems, and giving aid to economic development – Committed 45 billion dollars over a 3 year period to help CEE states reform – Only received about 15% of this figure Overall the Eastern European states were not getting enough money to help them integrate, and were getting far less than other accession states received

Phare In 1989 the G24 conference committed to helping CEE states restructure its economies – Came to be known as Phare The primary missions for Phare were: – Supporting the process of economic restructuring – Focused on industry, agriculture and energy – Providing financial support for CEE to help them transform and rebuild Also included food and humanitarian aid Gave access to European Investment Bank loans Biggest assistance program in CEE Some concerns were that it still was not enough assistance in comparison to the ambitions of the project The recipient countries did not control the funds After the Copenhagen European council meeting Phare transformed from a economic project to a more political project

EIB and EBRD The European Investment bank and the European Bank for reconstruction and development The EIB made project based loans for infrastructure investment and gave competitive interest rates The EBRD was designed to give support for balancing payment problems, currency convertibility and aid in instituting programs in technology, training and development

The Europe Agreements Developed out of the already existing association agreements – These were used to manage lesser countries since the inception of the EU The EU knew it needed a solid institutional framework to work with the CEE states in both political and economic areas. The first agreements were signed by Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic in 1991 The EC defined the agreements as “ a legal, political and economic framework for the relationship of a signatory CEE countries with the EU. – Opened up Bilateral relationships Hoped to reduce economic disparities between CEE Countries and member countries “ They covered trade, political dialogue, legal approximation other areas of cooperation, including industry environment transport and customs” Wanted to establish free trade areas One area of concern was that it favored already inducted members and did not work with the new countries to compromise

Copenhagen Requirements Part one is political – Their must be stability of institutions that guarantee democracy, rule of law, human rights, and protection of minorities Part two is economic – The country must have a functioning market economy that can cope with the competitive pressure and market forces within the EU Part three is legal – The country must be able to take on the legal obligations of membership – It must harmonies its national law with around 8000 pages of aquis These are the community laws of the EU The European Council also stated that the “ future cooperation with the associated countries shall be geared to the objective of membership” – This established a link between cooperation and accession that did not exist during the European Agreement This was a multilateral framework for strengthened dialogue and consultation on matters of common interest The EC also committed itself to more financial assistance and help in approximation of laws by providing training in EU laws and procedures

Capacity Building Instruments The Instrument For Structural Policies for Pre Accession – Provided support for the emerging regional entities in CEE and closely paralleled the existing EU structures supporting structural and cohesion funding The Special Accession Program for Agriculture and Rural Development – Oversaw the delegation of substantial responsibility to the candidate states themselves regarding the management of EU funds for rural development The Twinning Project – Aimed to help the candidate countries in their development of modern and efficient public administrations, with the structure, human resources, and management skills needed to implement the aquis communitarian – Made it so that the newer countries and organizations and administrations to work with member countries