‘Pre-accession assistance as a mechanism of Europeanisation: the effects of CARDS/IPA on administrative capacity in Croatia’ Eleftherios Antonopoulos PhD student, UACES scholar, European Policies Research Centre, University of Strathclyde

Source: European Communities, Regional Cooperation in the Western Balkans, 2005

Europeanisation What is Europeanisation? – The domestic impact of Europe – A two way (top-down, bottom-up) process (Börzel 2002). Other definitions (Risse 2001; Radaelli 2003; Bache 2008). Does Europeanisation theory apply in the following cases: – Public Administration (Olsen 2003; Trondal 2007; Knill 2004; Goetz 2001; Esmark 2008) – Enlargement, CEECs Western Balkans and Croatia (Schimmelfenig, Sedelmeier, Dimitrova) – Pre-accession financial assistance (Grabbe 2003; Hughes, Sasse and Gordon 2005)

Europeanisation and domestic change Source: Caporaso (in Vink and Graziano 2008:28)

Europeanisation’s influence on administrative capacity Administrative capacity (Dimitrova 2002) – Absorption capacity (Molle 2007: 196; Hughes, Sasse, Gordon 2005:23) – Administrative absorption capacity (ibid.) Sectoral, horizontal, capacity to implement the acquis. Disaggregation for measurement – Structures – Human and financial resources – Systems and tools (based on NEI/ECORYS 2002)

Research design Qualitative desk research and fieldwork with use of available quantitative data for triangulation. Case study: Croatia (time and budget constraints, first in the queue for membership) 30 Semi-structured interviews with policy-makers, academics and consultants. Convenience sampling, snowball-chain referral sampling. Process tracing: post 2000 EU-WB and EU-Croatia relations, strategy, policy, programme, project, documents, regulations, laws, evaluation reports (EU & Croatian documents) and interview transcripts. Budget: UACES fieldwork grant 2009

Assessing administrative capacity building under CARDS/PHARE/IPA Instrument Goodness of fit/ institutional misfit Adaptational pressure CARDS ( in Croatia) Initially centralised and focusing on postwar reconstruction Limited pressure related to the project-based model. Misfit on the eve of decentralisation of assistance to Croatia High in the case of the CFCU/Ministry of Finance. Medium in general PHARE ( ) Similar management with later phase of CARDS therefore similar degree of fit/misfit High in the case of the CFCU/Ministry of Finance and later CFCA. IPA ( ) Institutional misfit particularly in relation to components II-IV High pressure in the case of the line ministries, coordination authority, operational structures etc. Cohesion Policy and Structural Instruments (future) Institutional misfit. Better chances of goodness of fit if administrative capacity is improved through the influence of IPA. Very high but potential pressure at the sectoral level depends on the successful implementation of IPA.

CARDS allocations to Croatia Sector [1] [1] TOTAL JUSTICE & HOME AFFAIRS ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY BUILDING ECONOMIC & SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT, NATURAL RESOURCES DEMOCRATIC STABILISATION TOTAL ALLOCATION [1] The table is available online at

CARDS allocations to Croatia

IPA allocations to Croatia Component Transition Assistance and Institution Building49,645,345,639,439,940,8 Cross-border Co-operation9,614,715,816,216,516,8 Regional Development45,047,649,756,858,259,3 Human Resources Development11,312,714,215,716,0 Rural Development25,525,625,826,026,527,2 TOTAL141,2146,0151,2154,2157,2160,4 Source: DG Enlargement website

CARDS Structures Competent bodies The National Aid Coordinator (for EU assistance) (NAC) The state secretary in charge of CODEF. The National Authorising Officer (NAO A state secretary in the Ministry of Finance heading the National Fund (NF). Senior Programme Officer (SPO) An official in a line ministry/agency in charge of technical implementation, Project Implementation Units (PIU) are answerable to him. Implementing Agencies The Central Financing and Contracting Unit (CFCU) is headed by the Programme Authorising Officer (PAO). Other within ministries. Final beneficiaries Bodies of central administration, regional and local self-government, public institutions, civil society. European Commission European Commission central services European Commission Delegation

IPA Structures Source: European Funds for Croatian Projects. A handbook on Financial Cooperation and European Union Supported programmes in Croatia, CODEF, Zagreb 2009.

Summary & Conclusion Conceptual issues of Europeanisation and administrative capacity. Research methodology and design. The cases of CARDS and IPA in Croatia Some early results based on the fieldwork, show a differentiated, mixed picture of Europeanisation in the fields of Pre-accession assistance and preparation for Cohesion Policy.