COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Background document Accompanying the document Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee Annual Report on Financial Assistance for Enlargement in 2014
Date: 2015-10-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission
Subjects: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, EU financing, Iceland, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye, Yugoslavia, pre-accession aid

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 30.10.2015  
SWD(2015) 201 final 

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT 

Background document 

Accompanying the document 

Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the 
European Economic and Social Committee 

Annual Report on Financial Assistance for Enlargement in 2014 

{COM(2015) 548 final} 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
 
  
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1 -  INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 4 

2 - POLICY DEVELOPMENTS53  -  THE  STRATEGIC  FRAMEWORK  FOR  PRE-
ACCESSION ASSISTANCE ............................................................................................. 8 

4 - ACTIVITIES FINANCED, RESULTS AND IMPACTS ........................................... 11 

ALBANIA......................................................................................................................... 11 

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 11 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING .................................................. 11 

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE.................................................................... 14 

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES ..................................... 18 

5. SUCCESS STORIES .................................................................................................... 18 

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA..................................................................................... 20 

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 20 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING .................................................. 20 

3 IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE..................................................................... 22 

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES ..................................... 24 

5. SUCCESS SORIES....................................................................................................... 25 

CROATIA ......................................................................................................................... 26 

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 26 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING .................................................. 26 

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE.................................................................... 26 

4. SUCCESS STORIES .................................................................................................... 30 

THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA 2015.............................. 32 

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 32 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING .................................................. 32 

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES ..................................... 39 

5.- SUCCESS STORIES ................................................................................................... 40 

KOSOVO .......................................................................................................................... 41 

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 41 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING .................................................. 41 

3.  IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE................................................................... 43 

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES ..................................... 46 

5.- SUCCESS STORIES ................................................................................................... 46 

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MONTENEGRO............................................................................................................... 48 

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 48 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING .................................................. 48 

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE.................................................................... 50 

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES ..................................... 53 

5. SUCCESS STORIES .................................................................................................... 54 

SERBIA............................................................................................................................. 56 

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 56 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING .................................................. 56 

3 IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE..................................................................... 58 

4 IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES ...................................... 61 

5 - SUCCESS STORIES ................................................................................................... 61 

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 63 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING .................................................. 63 

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE.................................................................... 66 

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES ..................................... 69 

5. SUCCESS SORIES....................................................................................................... 70 

MULTI - COUNTRY........................................................................................................ 71 

1. SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 71 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING .................................................. 71 

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE.................................................................... 75 

4. SUCCESS STORIES .................................................................................................... 76 

5 – EVALUATION FINDINGS ....................................................................................... 81 

6 – FINANCIAL DATA ................................................................................................... 83 

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1 -  INTRODUCTION 

The  policy  objectives  of  the  Commission  in  the  field  of  enlargement  are  supported  by  the 
Instrument  for  Pre-Accession  Assistance  (IPA)1.  IPA  is  the  means  by  which  the  EU  supports 
reforms  in  the  'enlargement  countries'  with  financial  and  technical  help.  It  accompanies  the 
accession policy, as set out by the European Union, with a view to implementing Article 49 of the 
Treaty  on  European  Union  which  offers  the  prospect  of  EU  membership  to  all  European 
countries that respect the fundamental values of the EU and  are  committed to  promoting them.  
The IPA funds build up the capacities of the countries throughout the accession process, resulting 
in progressive, positive developments in the region. For the period 2007-2013 IPA had a budget 
of some EUR 11.5 billion. In 2014 its successor, IPA II2, was introduced. It builds on the results 
already  achieved  by  dedicating  EUR  11.7  billion  for  the  period  2014-2020.  Beneficiaries  of 
assistance  in  2014  were:  Albania,  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Croatia,  the  former  Yugoslav 
Republic  of  Macedonia, Iceland,  Kosovo, Montenegro,  Serbia, and Turkey. Since its  entry into 
the  EU,  in  July  2013,  Croatia  is  no  longer  an  IPA  beneficiary,  but  still  benefits  from  the 
Transition Facility.  

EU pre-accession funds are a sound investment into the future of both the enlargement countries 
and  the  EU  itself.  They  help  the  beneficiaries  make  political  and  economic  reforms,  preparing 
them  for  the  rights  and  obligations  that  come  with  EU  membership.  Those  reforms  should 
provide their citizens with better opportunities and allow for development of standards equal to 
the ones enjoyed by the citizens of the EU. The  pre-accession funds also help the EU reach its 
own  objectives  regarding  a  sustainable  economic  recovery,  energy  supply,  transport,  the 
environment and climate change, etc. 

Since IPA II was only recently introduced, implementation of programmes in 2014 still fell under 
its  predecessor  IPA.  The  present  Staff  Working  Document  accompanies  the  Communication 
presenting an overview of the achievements of IPA in 2014. 

1 Regulation 1085/2006 establishing an Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) 
2 Regulation 231/2014  

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2 - POLICY DEVELOPMENTS 

The EU’s enlargement policy contributes to mutual benefits of peace, security and prosperity in 
Europe. It reinforces the EU’s political and economic strength and has a powerful transformative 
effect on the countries concerned. For the countries of the Western Balkans, the clear perspective 
of  EU  membership  granted  by  the  EU’s  Member  States  is  a  key  stabilising  factor.  It  supports 
progress towards fulfilment of the necessary conditions, including those of the Stabilisation and 
Association Process. 

The accession process is rigorous, built on strict but fair conditionality, established criteria and 
the principle of own merit. This is crucial for the credibility of enlargement policy, for providing 
incentives to enlargement countries to pursue far-reaching reforms and for ensuring the support 
of EU citizens.  

The Commission is increasing the focus in the enlargement process on addressing "fundamentals 
first". This approach prioritises reforms related to rule of law and fundamental rights, economic 
governance and improving economic competitiveness, and strengthening democratic institutions 
including public administration.  

The rule of law and fundamental rights:  The rule of law is a fundamental value on which the EU 
is founded and is at the heart of the accession process. Countries aspiring to join the Union need 
to  establish  and  promote  from  an  early  stage  the  proper  functioning  of  the  core  institutions 
necessary  for  securing  the  rule  of  law.  This  work  is  extensive  and  in  addition  to  the  necessary 
national support requires considerable technical and financial support from the European Union 
The  rule  of  law  is  crucial  for  a  stable  business  environment,  providing  legal  certainty  for 
economic  operators,  supporting  consumers  and  stimulating  investment,  jobs  and  growth.  Three 
aspects of the rule of law are the subject of particular attention:  Judicial reform, the fight against 
corruption and the fight against organised crime. In all three areas work is progressing across the 
board.  

Concerning  fundamental  rights,  the  Commission  carefully  monitors  the  situation  in  the 
enlargement countries as regards civil, political, social and economic rights, as well as the rights 
of  persons  belonging  to  minorities.  Fundamental  rights  are  largely  enshrined  in  law.  However, 
more needs to be done to ensure they are fully respected in practice.  

Economic governance and competitiveness:  The Commission has been strengthening its support 
to improving economic governance and competitiveness in enlargement countries. This is key to 
addressing  concerns  of  citizens  in  a  persistently  difficult  economic  environment,  with  high 
unemployment  and  low  investment.  It  is  also  particularly  important  for  the  Western  Balkan 
countries since none of them is yet considered to be a functioning market economy. Commission 
support  will  build  on  the  experience  of  EU  Member  States  in  the  European  Semester  with  an 
increased emphasis on structural reforms which are sectoral in nature.  

Public  administration  reform:  Together  with  rule  of  law  and  economic  governance,  public 
administration reform (PAR) is a pillar of the enlargement process. All three ‘pillars’ are closely 
linked,  cross-cutting  issues  of  fundamental  importance  for  success  in  political  and  economic 

5 

 
 
 
reforms and building a basis for implementing EU rules and standards. A well-functioning public 
administration  is  necessary  for  democratic  governance.  It  also  directly  impacts  governments’ 
ability to provide public services and to foster competitiveness and growth.  

The current enlargement agenda covers the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey3. 2014 
was a significant year for a number of the countries of the Western Balkans: 

Montenegro:  took  further  steps  in  accession  negotiations.  Twelve  chapters  were  opened. 
Implementation of rule of law reforms had started. 

Serbia:  The  opening  of  accession  negotiations  in  January  was  a  turning  point  in  the  country's 
relations  with  the  EU,  with  the  focus  turning  to  the  need  to  deliver  on  reform  priorities  in  a 
sustained manner, notably on rule of law and the normalisation process with Kosovo4 

Albania: was granted candidate status in June as recognition for its reform efforts and progress 
made in meeting the required conditionality.  

Kosovo:  The  initialling  of  a  Stabilisation  and  Association  Agreement  in  July  was  a  major 
milestone  in  EU-Kosovo  relations  and  sharpened  the  focus  on  delivering  on  key  reforms,  in 
particular the rule of law. 

As  regards  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia,  the  EU  accession  process  is  at  an 
impasse. 2014 saw instances of backsliding, notably as regards freedom of expression and of the 
media and the independence of the judiciary.  

Bosnia and Herzegovina remained at a standstill on its European integration path. Elections late 
in the year offered the prospect of a fresh impetus to tackle urgent socio-economic reforms and to 
progress on its European agenda. 

Implementation of certain reform commitments by Turkey continued. However, there have also 
been grounds for serious concerns regarding the independence of the judiciary and the protection 
of fundamental freedoms.  

Good  neighbourly  relations  and  regional  cooperation  are  essential  elements  of  the  Stabilisation 
and  Association  Process  and  of  enlargement  policy.  In  2014  these  were  strengthened  through 
intensified  cooperation  and  contacts  at  bilateral  level,  including  in  sensitive  areas  such  as  war 
crimes,  refugee  return,  including  through  implementation  of  the  regional  housing  programme 
under the Sarajevo process5,  with  housing construction  now underway, and on  organised crime 
and  police  cooperation.    Further  steps  have  also  been  taken  to  increase  connectivity  and  boost 
infrastructure investments across the region, including through the Western Balkans Investments 
Framework.  

In all the areas outlined above the EU is supporting progress in the enlargement countries through 
the  provision  of  EU  technical  and  financial  assistance.  This  contributes  to  a  well  prepared 

3 Following a decision of Iceland’s government in 2013, accession negotiations continued to remain on hold. 

4  This  designation  is  without  prejudice  to  positions  on  status,  and  is  in  line  with  UNSCR  1244/99  and  the  ICJ 

Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence. 

5 Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. 

6 

 
                                                            
accession process, which not only helps the countries concerned to meet the necessary conditions, 
but also ensures that enlargement is not at the expense of the effectiveness of the Union.  

7 

 
 
3 - THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK FOR PRE-ACCESSION ASSISTANCE 

The  EU  closely  assists  candidate  countries  and  potential  candidates  with  dedicated  financial 
programmes.  This  assistance  helps  create  stable,  prosperous  and  well-functioning  democratic 
societies and put them on a steady path towards EU integration.  

The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) 

EU financial assistance is channelled mainly through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance 
(IPA).  IPA  was  launched  in  2007,  replacing  a  range  of  EU  Programmes  and  instruments 
including  PHARE6,  ISPA7,  SAPARD8,  and  CARDS9.  IPA  became  the  sole  instrument  fully 
dedicated to assistance to pre-accession countries, simplifying the assistance process. 

Between 2007 and 2013, IPA included five different components: 

Assistance for transition and institution building; 

Cross-border cooperation (with EU Member States and other countries eligible for IPA); 

Regional development (transport, environment, regional and economic development); 

Human resources development (strengthening human capital and combating   discrimination); 

Rural development. 

Components  I  and  II  were  under  the  responsibility  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Enlargement 
(DG  ELARG),  now  DG  NEAR,  and  open  to  all  beneficiary  countries.  The  other  components, 
aimed at preparing the beneficiaries for the implementation of structural funds after joining the 
EU,  and  were  only  accessible  to  candidate  countries  and  are  managed  under  the  responsibility, 
respectively,  of  the  Directorate-General  for  Regional  Policy  (DG  REGIO),  the  Directorate-
General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (DG EMPL) and the Directorate-General 
for Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI). 

The  IPA  beneficiaries  were  divided  into  two  categories.  EU  candidate  countries  at  the  time  - 
Croatia,  Turkey  and  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia  -  were  eligible  for  all  five 
components. Potential candidates - Albania (which became a candidate country in 2014), Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Montenegro (which became a candidate country in 2010), Serbia (which became a 
candidate country in 2012) and Kosovo - were only eligible for the first two components10. 

IPA  intervened  both  at  country  level  and  at  a  regional  level,  via  national  programmes,  multi-
beneficiary programmes, and cross-border cooperation. 

6 Poland and Hungary: Assistance for Restructuring their Economies 
7 Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession 
8 Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development 
9 Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation 
10 Candidate countries could implement programmes under Components III to V only after receiving accreditation 
for  the  Commission  to  manage  assistance  themselves.  Serbia  and  Albania  have  not  received  accreditation  yet. 
Montenegro received accreditation for components III and IV in 2014.  

8 

 
 
 
                                                            
From 2011 to 2013, IPA also supported Iceland, addressing mainly institutional capacity building 
issues. After the Icelandic government’s decision to suspend accession negotiations in May 2013, 
the Commission decided to end its support for Iceland. 

Policy goals and priorities 

Respect of the rule of law emerged as the top priority early in the implementation period of IPA. 
In  most  enlargement  countries,  the  Commission  found  combating  organised  crime,  corruption 
and  dysfunctional  justice  systems  were  essential  goals.  Public  administration  reform  also 
remained a constant area of need in all EU enlargement processes. As the initial IPA term came 
to a close, economic governance emerged as an area that needed improvement - not least because 
of  the  economic  and  financial  crisis  in  the  EU  itself,  whose  impact  was  heavily  felt  in  the 
Western Balkans. 

All  throughout  the  2007-2013  period,  a  special  effort  was  made  to  link  political  priorities  with 
assistance programmes and funding, with the aim of concentrating assistance where it was most 
critical for the EU integration process.  

Programming documents 

IPA  assistance  was  based  on  the  broad  political  guidelines  set  out  in  the  Commission's 
enlargement  package.  Planning  and  programming  was  based  on  “multi-annual  indicative 
planning documents”, or MIPDs, which covered a three-year period and were updated annually. 

Annual or multi-annual programmes were then adopted by the Commission and implemented in 
three ways:  

•  directly by the Commission, mainly via the EU Delegation on the ground;  
•  by the beneficiary countries, applying the so-called “decentralised management system”;  
•  via EU Member States, known as “shared management.” 

Decentralisation of financial management 

Decentralised management, now referred to as “indirect management,” was the preferred method 
of  implementation  under  IPA.  It  implied  that  authorities  in  the  beneficiary  countries  were 
responsible for managing IPA funds. Beneficiary countries were the contracting authorities, and 
they were also responsible for managing the tenders and paying contractors. This was a way to 
prepare  the  candidate  countries  and  potential  candidates  to  handle  EU  Structural  and  Cohesion 
Funds in the future. Before transferring management responsibilities to beneficiary countries, the 
Commission  thoroughly  assessed  the  countries'  capacities  through  a  number  of  system  audits. 
Croatia,  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia,  and  Turkey  were  the  countries  that 
managed funds under the decentralised implementation system. 

IPA II 

In  2014  IPA  II  was  launched.  It  covers  the  period  2014-2020  and  represents  the  renewed 
commitment  to  enlargement.  IPA  II  focuses  on  democracy  and  rule  of  law,  as  well  as 

9 

 
 
 
 
competitiveness and growth. IPA II also introduces a sector approach, incentives for delivery on 
results,  budget  support  and  prioritisation  of  actions.  Coordinated  investments  along  the  main 
infrastructure  corridors  and  cooperation  with  international  financial  institutions  (IFIs)  are  also 
important parts of IPA II. Assistance under IPA II is implemented by DG NEAR in all sectors 
apart from Agriculture and rural development in candidate countries, which are covered by DG 
AGRI. 

Indicative Strategy Papers all countries were adopted in 2014. They cover the entire period 2014-
2020 although a midterm review is foreseen. The programming process has been rendered more 
sector focused and sector planning documents form the basis of the process. 

Other forms of EU support 

While  IPA  unified  many  of  the  instruments  for  pre-accession  assistance,  enlargement  countries 
continued  to  benefit  from  other  forms  of  EU  support.  Particularly  noteworthy  are  instruments 
with worldwide coverage, such as the European  Instrument  for  Democracy  and  Human  Rights, 
the Instrument for Stability, and the Common Foreign Security Policy missions and operations. 
The  EU  also  extended  the  coverage  of  certain  internal  instruments  to  the  enlargement  area: 
enlargement countries had access to research programmes and selected educational programmes, 
such as Erasmus Mundus. 

The  EU  also  provided  assistance  to  the  enlargement  countries  through  bilateral  aid  from  EU 
Member  States  and  investment  loans  delivered  by  the  European  Investment  Bank  (EIB).  EU 
Delegations worked to ensure coherence between IPA support and other sources of EU support. 

10 

 
 
 
 
4 - ACTIVITIES FINANCED, RESULTS AND IMPACTS 

ALBANIA  

1. SUMMARY  

The  granting  of  candidate  status  to  Albania  by  the  European  Council  in  June  2014  was  a 
recognition  of  the  fundamental  reforms  undertaken  by  the  country  to  improve  governance, 
enhance  rule  of  law  and  expand  the  protection  of  human  rights.  IPA  assistance  has  widely 
contributed to this EU integration mile-stone achievement with a number of successful projects to 
advice  on  key  reforms  (e.g.  judiciary)  and  facilitate  their  implementation,  as  well  as  capacity 
building projects to strengthen public administration and service delivery.  

2014 has been a transitional year for EU assistance. The Commission has undertaken an intensive 
dialogue with the Government to present the new strategic framework of IPA II and the emphasis 
on sector support to facilitate the implementation of national strategies, maintaining at the same 
time a strong focus on the country priorities for EU accession. As a result, a new IPA II country 
strategy paper for 2014-20 has been devised and the IPA 2014 programme includes a first sector 
budget  support  operation,  which  aims  at  supporting  the  Albanian  public  finance  management 
reform strategy.  

EU  financial  assistance  continues  to  play  a  strategic  role  for  the  development  process  of  the 
country,  deploying  a  portfolio  of  projects  amounting  to  approximately  EUR  216  million  and 
covering a number of sectors (e.g. transport, agriculture, SMEs, vocational education) with direct 
links to competitiveness and economic growth. Cooperation with IFIs continues to be productive 
with IPA operations able to leverage considerable amounts in loans, particularly for infrastructure 
development. Consequently, the EU remains by far the first donor in Albania. 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING  

Indicative Strategy paper: 

A country strategy paper (CSP) has been established for the duration of the multiannual financial 
framework, defining the priorities towards meeting the strategic objective of EU accession. The 
design  of  the  CSP  is  the  result  of  extensive  consultation  with  the  Albanian  Government, 
development partners and civil society organisations in order to identify the main priorities EU 
assistance  should  tackle  over  the  period  2014-20.  The  rounds  of  consultation  have  taken  place 
during the first semester of 2014 at different levels, both political and technical, and have focused 
on the analysis of the most advanced national sector strategies. The CSP is designed on a sector 
by  sector  basis  since  IPA  II  assistance  will  be  predominantly  channelled  via  sector  support 
programmes, possibly budget support. Therefore, the CSP spells out a range of priorities for each 
of the following sectors:     

•  Democracy and governance: creation of a professional and de-politicised public civil service; 

sound public finance management; empowerment of civil society. 

11 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Rule of law  and  fundamental rights:  creation  of an independent and efficient justice system; 
fight  against  organised  crime;  eradication  of  corruption;  protection  of  human  rights  in  line 
with international conventions.  

•  Environment  and  climate  action:  alignment  of  polices  and  legislation  with  EU  standards; 
functioning infrastructures for waste and water treatment; air pollution control; mechanisms to 
respond to natural disasters. 

•  Transport:  functioning  infrastructures;  connectivity  with  regional  networks;  road  safety; 

interoperability across transport modes.    

•  Competitiveness and innovation: access to finance for SMEs; enabling business environment; 

trade integration with neighbouring countries; tourism development. 

•  Education, employment and social policies: effectiveness of vocational education and training; 
labour  market  policy  and  functioning  employment  services;  inclusion  of  vulnerable  groups; 
efficiency of social and health services.  

•  Agriculture  and  rural  development:  competitiveness  of  agro-food  producers;  application  of 

food safety standards; quality of life in rural areas. 

Indicative allocation per year/sector: 

Albania (EUR million)  2014  2015  2016  2017 

2018-
2020 

Total 

2014-
2020 

Democracy and 
governance 
Rule of law and 
fundamental rights 
Environment and 
climate action 
Transport 
Competitiveness and 
innovation 
Education, employment 
and social policies 
Agriculture and rural 
development  

TOTAL 

157.2 

66.3 

223.5 

69.0 

34.0 

18.0 

16.0 

19.0 

40.0 

28.0 

97.0 

34.0 

68.0 

38.0 

56.0 

28.0 

44.0 

50.0 

69.0 

52.0 

92.0 

83.7

86.9

89.7

92.9

296.3 

649.4 

Programming exercise:  

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The IPA 2014 action programme mainly focuses on reforms in the broad sector of democracy and 
governance,  more  specifically  public  finance  management  (PFM)  and  public  administration 
reform (PAR). 

In coordination with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the Commission has 
decided  to  assist  the  country  in  the  reform  process  of  its  PFM  institutions.  The  Albanian 
Government has acknowledged that the current system requires a substantial review, considering 
the  high  stock  of  budget  arrears,  the  underperformance  of  the  tax  administration,  the  weak 
internal  controls  for  the  execution  of  the  budget  and  the  limited  supervision  of  the  budgetary 
process by the external audit institution and the Parliament.  

The  Commission  is  already  providing  assistance  in  key  PFM  sub-policy  areas,  such  as  the 
functioning  of  the  treasury  management,  strategic  budget  planning  and  financial  management 
control  systems,  and  has  envisaged  capacity  building  support  for  the  external  audit  institution. 
One  of  the  limits  of  the  on-going  support  is  the  absence  of  an  overarching  comprehensive 
framework for PFM reforms, which can provide long-term and systemic solutions for the current 
array of weaknesses. Therefore, the Ministry of Finance has devised a PFM strategy for 2014-20, 
the implementation of which will ensure an efficient process of budget planning, execution and 
oversight in view to enhance quality of public spending and achieve more savings and revenues 
for the national budget. 

Under  the  IPA  2014  programme,  the  Commission  plans  to  support  the  implementation  of  the 
PFM strategy with a sector reform contract of budget support, which will link the disbursement 
of tranches against a performance assessment framework of general criteria and indicators related 
to key PFM measures and reforms.  

In the area of PAR, the Commission has devised two major interventions to further improve the 
efficiency of the overall public sector. (i) The EU Integration Facility will provide sector advice 
to  prepare  credible  strategies  and  action  plans.  This  support  will  facilitate  the  move  towards  a 
more systematic use of sector budget support,  as envisaged under the IPA II CSP. The Facility 
will also prepare the Albanian administration for future accession negotiations and will support 
the effective translation and implementation of the EU acquis. (ii) The action 'Support to Public 
Administration  Reform'  will  facilitate  the  application  of  transparent  procedures  for  selection  of 
officials based on open competitions and will establish an impartial human resource management 
system  for  merit-based  careers  of  civil  servants.  The  support  will  also  include  information  and 
communication technology (ICT) development for e-governance and public services delivery. 

With  regard  to  fundamental  rights,  the  IPA  2014  programme  includes  an  action  for  the 
integration of minority groups in the labour marker, notably Roma and Egyptian communities.  

In  view  of  the  sector-based  programming  exercise  related  to  IPA  2015-16,  the  Commission  is 
facilitating the restructuring of the sector working groups to be led by the Albanian Government 
for  policy  planning  and  donor  coordination.  The  review  is  covering  four  pilot  sectors:  (i) 
integrated  water  management,  (ii)  competitiveness  and  innovation,  (iii)  employment  and  social 
policies and (iv) public administration reform. Under the new approach, sector working groups 
will  actively  contribute  to  the  policy  making  process  by  drafting  sector  strategies  and  actions 
plans and monitoring EU acquis-related reforms for the different sectors.  

Allocation by sectors and management modes for the IPA 2014 Programme  

13 

 
Sector 1 - Democracy and Governance: 

Direct Management  

Amount EUR 

Sector  Reform  Contract  for  Public  Finance 

42,000,000.00

Management 

Project  preparation  component  of 

the  EU 

3,446,389.00

integration facility (see action 3) 

Sub-total 

Indirect Management with the Albanian 

Government 

EU integration facility 

Support to public administration reform 

Support to participation in Union Programmes  

Sub-total 

45,446,389.00

Amount EUR 

10,300,000.00

6,000,000.00

1,000,000.00

17,300,000.00

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

Total per sector (direct + indirect management) 

62,746,389.00

Sector 2 - Rule of law and fundamental rights: 

Indirect Management with the United Nations 
Development Programme (UNDP) 

Amount EUR 

6 

Economic  and  Social  Empowerment  of  Roma 
and Egyptian Communities 

Total per sector 

4,000,000.00

4,000,000.00

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE  

Transition Assistance and Institution Building (IPA component I): 

The  implementation  of  on-going  IPA  assistance  is  in  first  instance  driven  by  the  priorities 
identified  in  the  Enlargement  Strategy  and  in  the  annual  Progress  Report,  notably  the  five  key 
priorities  in  view  of  opening  accession  negotiations,  i.e.  (i)  establishing  a  professional  and 
depoliticised  administration;  (ii)  enhancing  the  efficiency  and  impartiality  of  the  judiciary;  (iii) 
strengthening  the  fight  against  corruption;  (iv)  increasing  the  fight  against  organised  crime;  (v) 
reinforcing the protection of human rights.  

14 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The on-going assistance has been designed on the basis of the strategic orientations of the Multi-
annual  Indicative  Planning  Document  (MIPD)  2011-2013,  which  has  identified  six  priority 
sectors:  

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 

Justice and Home Affairs; 
Public Administration Reform; 
Transport; 
Environment and Climate Change; 
Employment and Social Inclusion; 
Agriculture and Rural Development. 

Projects under each priority sector are in turn aligned with the objectives spelled out under sector 
strategies and action plans defined by the Albanian Government. 

Justice and Home Affairs 

Main  areas  of  actions  are  the  structural  reforms,  including  the  Constitution,  regarding  the 
independence  and  efficiency  of  the  Judiciary,  the  Criminal  Code  and  the  Criminal  Procedure 
Code  to  be  achieved  in  line  with  the  recommendations  of  the  Council  of  Europe  Venice 
Commission and EU peer assessments. The Commission is accompanying these reforms with the 
EURALIUS  IV  technical  assistance  mission  to  the  Ministry  of  Justice,  a  pool  of  experienced 
international and national judges and experts on judiciary matters.  

The EURALIUS team is also advising on changes to improve the case management capabilities 
of  the  Albanian  courts.  In  parallel,  the  Commission  has  completed  the  design,  testing  and 
deployment  of  a  computerised  case  management  system  for  the  General  Prosecutor  Office. 
Increased  capacity  and  modern  IT  infrastructure  will  lead  to  an  acceleration  of  the  average 
duration of trials, for which the Albanian business community, as well as common citizens, have 
advocated since long time.   

Other  important  developments  in  the  sector  driven  by  EU  assistance  relate  to  penitentiary 
infrastructure.  The  new  pre-trial  detention  centre  in  Berat  and  the  new  penal  institution  in  Fier 
have  been  inaugurated.  These  facilities  will  ensure  better  living  conditions  for  detainees,  thus 
contributing to the respect of their rights. The Commission has also financed the upgrading of the 
Police Education Centre in Tirana. 

Public Administration Reform 

Public  Finance  Management  (PFM)  is  one  of  the  core  areas  of  cooperation.  A  number  of 
operations are on-going to tackle the weaknesses of key elements of the system, starting from the 
accumulation of budget arrears. In the framework of macroeconomic stability programmes with 
the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, the Government is clearing the stock of unpaid 
bills  to  contractors  of  the  administration.  For  its  part,  the  Commission  is  financing  an  external 
audit  to  ensure  that  all  bills  paid  by  the  Government  reflect  effective  delivery  of  procurement 
service, supply and works. The external audit has also identified modalities to improve the arrears 
clearance process, as well as numerous systemic weaknesses for mid-term follow up, which will 
be addressed by the upcoming IPA 2014 PFM sector reform contract of budget support.  

Another  important  operation  covers  the  area  of  public  internal  financial  controls,  including 
financial  management  and  internal  audit  function  in  line  ministries,  as  well  as  financial 

15 

 
centralized  inspections.  Training  and  coaching  activities  are  regularly  taking  place  to  increase 
capacities  and  ensure  effective  financial  controls.  The  Commission  is  also  contributing  to  the 
World  Bank-managed  multi-donor  trust  fund  to  roll  out  the  integrated  planning  system,  which 
aims at linking sector policy interventions with the medium-term budget plan of the Government.  

Transport 

The Commission is providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure 
to align the regulatory framework with the EU acquis, as for example the implementation of the 
European  agreement  concerning  the  international  carriage  of  dangerous  goods  by  road  and  the 
agreement  on  the  international  carriage  of  perishable  foodstuffs.  Practices,  procedures  and 
standards related to maritime safety, security and environmental protection are also addressed. In 
addition,  the  staff  of  the  Albanian  Civil  Aviation  Authority  is  benefiting  from  training  and 
coaching to enforce air traffic standards.  

The  Commission  is  also  financing  the  construction  of  key  segments  of  the  road  network.  The 
works  for  the  Rogozhina  bypass  have  started  while  those  for  the  Vlora  bypass  are  in  pipeline. 
These segments have been identified by the South East Europe Transport Observatory (SEETO) 
as strategic investments to increase regional connectivity.  

Environment and Climate Change 

As a result of EU support, the Ministry of Environment has been re-organized both at headquarter 
and  field  levels  and  is  now  better  placed  to  enforce  national  environmental  legislation.  The 
National Environment Agency has been relocated in more suitable premises, thus increasing its 
visibility and facilitating the accreditation of its laboratory. In addition, the staffs of both the State 
Environmental Inspectorate and the Agency have increased. 

The  Commission  is  also  financing  key  infrastructures  to  develop  the  sewage  system  and  treat 
waste  water.  The  water  plants  in  the  area  of  Durrës  and  Velipoja  are  now  completed  and  in 
operation,  thus  protecting  the  sea  and  the  coast  from  untreated  waste  water  and  increasing  the 
quality of life for citizens and season tourists. The Government is now expected to build a proper 
secondary  and  tertiary  sewerage  network  in  both  Durrës  and  Velipoja  in  order  to  increase  the 
connection  rates.  Additional  sewerage  projects  are  ongoing  in  Vlora,  Ksamil,  Kavaja  and 
Shëngjin.  

Employment and Social Inclusion 

Important institutional, legal and governance achievements have achieved through an EU project 
for the Ministry of Social Welfare: (i) finalisation of  the employment and skills strategy 2014-
2020,  which  is  likely  to  receive  EU  budget  support  for  its  implementation  under  the  IPA  2015 
programme; (ii) better alignment of the legal framework to the EU Regulations and Directives on 
occupational  health  and  safety;  (iii)  improvement  of  services  offered  by  the  administration 
through  training  of  labour  inspectors  and  dissemination  of  EU  good  practices  for  active  labour 
market policies. 

The Commission has accompanied the design process of relevant planning documents for social 
inclusion, i.e. the strategy on social protection and the action plan for Roma and Egyptian (R/E) 
communities.  The  design  process  was  done  in  a  very  participatory  manner  with  continuous 

16 

 
involvement  of  civil  society,  international  organisations  and  other  development  partners.  The 
Commission has also contributed to a number of practical results to improve living conditions of 
the  Roman  and  Egyptian  communities:  new  infrastructures  for  social  services,  preparation  of 
local community development plans and small grants for fifteen Roman and Egyptian NGOs. 

Agriculture and Rural Development 

The Commission has provided advice on the design of the inter-sectorial strategy for agriculture 
and  rural  development,  whose  implementation  will  enhance  the  productivity  of      the  agro-
processing  industry,  increase  the  compliance  of  products  with  sanitary  standards  and  improve 
living standards and income opportunities in rural areas. 

The  Commission  has  worked  together  with  the  National  Food  Authority  to  improve  consumer 
protection,  enhance  the  inspection  function  and  expand  the  database  for  food  establishments' 
registration.  Besides  technical  assistance,  significant  support  was  provided  to  upgrade  the 
laboratory infrastructure of the Authority. Nine regional offices  and laboratories, as well as the 
central veterinary laboratory in Tirana, have been restructured. The veterinary laboratory has also 
been  nominated  for  the  European  Union  Prize  for  Contemporary  Architecture  –  Mies  van  der 
Rohe Award 2015.  

The Commission is also providing assistance to the veterinary sector with the aim of establishing 
an improved animal disease surveillance system and eradicating zoonotic diseases. Two massive 
aerial vaccination campaigns against rabies in foxes have been launched, as well as a vaccination 
campaign against brucellosis (a bacterial infection spreading from animals to people).  

Cross-border Co-operation (IPA component II) 

Albania is participating in three bilateral CBC programmes with other candidate countries or 
potential candidates (Montenegro and fYRoM since 2007, Kosovo since 2010) and in one 
bilateral CBC programme with one EU Member State (Greece since 2007). The three CBC 
programmes with candidate countries and potential candidates are mostly focused on specific 
measures to promote economic development with an emphasis on tourism, protect environment, 
and enhance social cohesion through "people-to-people" actions. The CBC programme with 
Greece provides measures to promote entrepreneurship, foster sustainable tourism, facilitate 
border accessibility through small scale infrastructure, as well as to protect environmental and 
cultural heritage along the border area. 

The four current CBC programmes have so far been implemented via calls for proposals, which 
led to funding a number of small-scale projects across the border regions of Albania. The projects 
have  been  generally  successful,  thanks  to  an  increase  of  contacts  and  cooperation  among  local 
stakeholders coming from neighbouring countries. However, the impact related to the objectives 
of  economic  development,  environment  protection  and  tourism  promotion  has  been  lower  than 
expected.  Therefore,  during  the  last  two  years  of  the  programmes'  lifespan,  i.e.  2012-13,  the 
Commission and the beneficiary countries have decided to switch from call for proposals to joint 
bigger scale/strategic projects. 

17 

 
 
 
4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES  

Coordination  meetings  with  the  Ministry  of  European  Integration  are  taking  place  on  a  regular 
(i.e.  monthly)  basis  in  order  to  monitor  progress  in  the  implementation  of  assistance  and  solve 
outstanding  problems.  The  most  important  issues  are  also  discussed  in  detail  during  the  yearly 
IPA Monitoring Committee, which was held on 19 March 2014 and co-chaired by the Minister of 
European Integration and the relevant Director of the Commission. Overall, the Ministry is taking 
a  more  pro-active  and  proficient  approach  in  monitoring  implementation  and  addressing 
outstanding  issues,  which  often  refer  to  complex  infrastructures  projects.  On  its  part,  the 
Commission  is  devising  monitoring  maps,  which  will  serve  to  establish  a  detailed  operational 
plan based on the risk assessment carried out for each project/contract.  

With  respect  to  indirect  management,  in  March  2014  the  Commission  conferred  powers  to  the 
Albanian  Government  to  manage  funds  under  IPA  Component  I.  The  total  amount  of  projects 
programmed  under  the  decentralised  implementation  system  (DIS)  stands  at  EUR  30  million. 
Decentralized projects are part of the IPA 2012 and 2013 programmes and cover different types 
of implementation modalities (twinning, service, supply and works contracts, etc.) and a number 
of  sectors  (justice,  agriculture,  transport  etc.).  The  capacity  of  the  Central  Finance  and 
Contracting  Unit  (CFCU)  within  the  Ministry  of  Finance  to  procure  EU  funds  has  been 
strengthened via a technical assistance project. The CFCU has developed a procurement planning 
system,  including  detailed  rules  and  procedures  to  be  followed  by  all  actors  involved  in  the 
implementation of projects (inputs from line ministries to define terms of reference and technical 
specifications; monitoring  of  projects;  closure of contracts etc.). Procurement  procedures are in 
the pipeline and are going to take place in the course of 2015.  

5. SUCCESS STORIES 

Consolidation of law enforcement capacities in Albania - PAMECA IV assistance mission 

The mission has deployed a team of fifteen senior international and national police officials and 
prosecutors, who are working with the Albanian State Police (ASP) to improve its organisational, 
administrative, technical and resource management capacities and increase the coordination with 
the General Prosecutor's Office and other relevant law enforcement agencies.  

With regard to prosecutions, the mission has identified the main critical areas of concerns and has 
provided  important  inputs  to  shift  attention  from  low/medium  to  high  profile  cases,  including 
pro-active high level anti-corruption investigations. As a result of training and coaching activates 
on road traffic management, the ASP is now strongly and consistently enforcing traffic laws. The 
PAMECA team has also advised the ASP border and migration department on the application of 
the Schengen Code, with particular regard to green and blue border surveillance.  

In  operational  terms,  the  mission  was  directly  involved  in  the  preparatory  works  leading  to 
successful anti-drug operations, such as the intervention in June 2014 to dismantle the marijuana-
producing  centre  in  the  village  of  Lazarat  near  the  Greek  border.  The  operation  gave  a  clear 
signal to drugs smugglers that the time of impunity and passivity in countering drugs production 
has ended.   

18 

 
 
 
 
 
The team has also worked on the re-definition of the container handling procedures in the port of 
Durrës,  which  is  a  junction  point  for  smuggling  activities  and  where  increased  controls  are 
required to check containers. PAMECA was also involved in the preparation of the agreement on 
operational  and  strategic  cooperation  with  Europol  (ratified  in  May  2014),  as  well  as  in  the 
formulation of the new ASP Law. 

The day-to-day high level advice provided by the team leader to the Minister of Interior and the 
Director General of the State Police is likely to generate additional pro-active measures to fight 
organized  crime  and  its  links  with  cross-border  criminal  networks  and  to  increase  strategic 
cooperation with police and intelligence forces of neighbouring countries.    

The Commission improves access to rural areas in Albania 

With EU funds 250 km of secondary road connections have been rehabilitated. The Commission 
has allocated an overall amount of EUR 51.5 million to this endeavour, being able at the same 
time to leverage additional EUR 200 million in loans from the European Bank for Reconstruction 
and  Development  (EBRD),  the  Council  of  Europe  Development  Bank  (CEB)  and  the  German 
Development Bank (KfW). 

Considering the country’s mountainous landscape, almost half of the population lives in remote 
areas,  where  agriculture  remains  the  prime  source  of  employment  and  over  a  third  of  residents 
live  in  poverty.  By  upgrading  the  local  road  network,  the  Commission  has  opened  up  new 
employment opportunities and access to a wider range of public and social services to some of 
the poorest regions in the country.  

Better  roads  are  already  making  it  easier  –  and  cheaper  –  for  farmers  to  reach  urban  markets. 
Patients can get to regional hospitals faster and emergency services can reach outlying villages. 
With  upgraded  infrastructures,  traffic  accidents,  a  major  concern  in  Albania,  are  likely  to 
decrease. Finally, improved access to urban area gives the chance to young generations to more 
easily attend schools and universities.  

Remote places have been connected to national traffic arteries, rehabilitating roads where entire 
sections  were  often  unpaved.  Indeed,  the  programme  for  secondary  road  connections  seeks  the 
objective  to  establish  a  unified  network,  linking  rural  communities  to  the  main  national  and 
regional transport lines, notably the east-west axis from Durres to Pogradec (Corridor VIII) and 
the  north-south  axis  from  Shkoder  to  Tepelene-Gjirokastra  (Blue  Corridor).  Access  to  historic 
cities – notably Lezhe, Shkoder and the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Gjirokaster and Berat 
– has also been facilitated and ad hoc road-signs have been set up to attract foreign travellers.  

As a result of this programme, according to statistics, 600,000 Albanians have now access to all-
season roads; traffic volumes are up by 21 % and public transport costs are down by 8.5%. These 
are  all  encouraging  signs  of  the  improvements  that  road  infrastructure  is  bringing  to  living 
conditions in rural Albania. 

19 

 
 
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 

1. SUMMARY  

Programming  and  implementation  of  IPA  assistance  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  continued  in 
2014 in a challenging political environment and were heavily influenced by the disastrous floods 
that hit the country in May 2014.  

The  preparations  for  IPA  II  restarted  after  they  had  been  interrupted  in  2013  and  led  to  the 
adoption of the IPA II Indicative Strategy Paper for Bosnia and Herzegovina in December 2014. 
However,  the  Paper  covers  only  2014-2017  and  in  the  absence  of  a  comprehensive  EU 
Coordination mechanism, funds will only be allocated in four sectors where agreed strategies and 
sufficient coordinating structures exist.  

Widespread,  citizen-led  protests  in  early  2014  underlined  the  fragility  of  the  socio-economic 
situation. The Commission launched three initiatives to shift the focus towards reforms and issues 
of direct concern to citizens, among them a joint EU- Bosnia and Herzegovina Working Group to 
accelerate  the  implementation  of  EU  funded  projects.  The  group  made  only  limited  progress, 
despite involvement at Prime Ministers’ level. 

Following  the  floods  of  May  2014  the  paramount  challenge  became  to  assist  Bosnia  and 
Herzegovina  fast  and  effectively  in  addressing  the  impact  of  the  flooding.  The  EU  reallocated 
immediately EUR 42 million of IPA funds to assist recovery and reconstruction. Further EUR 41 
million was allocated before the end of the year.  

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING  

Indicative Strategy paper 

The  Indicative  Strategy  Paper  (2014-2017)  was  prepared  in  partnership  with  the  authorities  of 
Bosnia  and  Herzegovina.  The  State  level  and  Entity  Prime  Ministers,  the  National  IPA 
Coordinator  (NIPAC),  line  Ministers  at  State  and  Entity  level  and  representatives  of  the  civil 
society as well as other donors contributed to the preparation of this strategy.  

A  lesson  learned  from  the  programming  and  implementation  of  previous  and  on-going  EU 
assistance is that political commitment and ownership of the reform process is an indispensable 
precondition for success. In view of this lesson, and in accordance with the Paris declaration on 
aid  effectiveness,  support  will  be  based  on  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina's  own  sector  reform 
strategies.  Where  such  strategies  do  not  exist  (e.g.  energy,  transport,  environment),  IPA  II  will 
support the development, the adoption and the implementation of the strategies.  

The Indicative Strategy Paper foresees support to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the following four 
sectors:  Democracy  and  governance,  Rule  of  law  and  fundamental  rights,  Competitiveness  and 
innovation: local development strategies, Education, employment and social policies. 

In  order  to  benefit  from  support  through  a  sector  approach,  strategies  should  be  based  on  a 
budget,  a  medium  term  expenditure  and  performance  management  framework,  should  address 
sector and donor coordination and should facilitate a countrywide harmonised implementation of 

20 

 
 
 
 
 
 
the EU acquis. None of the sectors envisaged for support appears at present suitable for support 
through a sector approach. However, the EU will continue to support the preparation and gradual 
implementation of suitable strategies. In particular, EU assistance aims to create the capacities for 
strategic planning and the preparation for sector support.   

Indicative allocation per year/sector 

Bosnia and Herzegovina   

2014 

2015 

2016 

2017 

a. Reforms in preparation for Union 
membership 
Democracy and governance 

Rule of law and fundamental rights 

b. Socio-economic and Regional 
development  
Competitiveness and innovation: local 
development strategies 
c. Employment, social policies, education, 
research and innovation, promotion of 
gender equality, and human resources 
development  
Education, employment and social policies 

11 

17 

18 

18 

31 

33 

24.7

11.7 

13.7 

13.7 

63.8 

4 

1111 

111 

121 

38 

Total 
2014-
2017 

64 

31 

33 

63.8 

63.8 

38 

38 

TOTAL 

39.7 

39.7 

42.7 

43.7 

165.8 

Programming exercise  

The  IPA  2014  programming  was  launched  on  7  May  with  a  kick-off  meeting  with  the  BiH 
authorities and representatives of civil society. 

Following the floods of May 2014, EUR 15 million from the BiH IPA 2014 envelope (total: EUR 
39.7 million) were reserved for flood recovery and flood risk management. EUR 2.1 million were 
allocated  to  the  Civil  Society  Facility  under  the  Multi-Country  IPA  programme  2014.  The 
remaining  EUR  22.6  million  were  programmed  focusing  on  local  integrated  development.  In 
addition, the programme includes support in the following areas: indirect taxation system, anti-
corruption,  identification  of  missing  persons,  transformation  of  care  institutions  and  support  to 
participation in EU programmes.  

Country Action Programme Bosnia and Herzegovina 2014 

11 In addition, EUR 18 million for both 2015 and 2016, and EUR 12 million for 2017 are indicatively allocated to the 
Regional Housing Programme, which is implemented within the framework of the IPA multi-country programme. 

21 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
 
 
Sectors 
Democracy and Governance 
Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights 
Competitiveness and innovation: local development strategies 
Education, employment and social policies 
PROGRAMME TOTAL 

EUR
5 831 834
1 750 000
14 000 000
1 000 000
22 581 834

In addition to the Country Action Programme for Bosnia and Herzegovina 2014 the Commission 
adopted a special measure for flood recovery and flood risk management. This special measure 
includes support to all IPA beneficiaries to develop flood prevention, preparedness and response 
but  the  majority  of  the  funds  are  allocated  to  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  (EUR  26  million  in 
addition to the EUR 15 million mentioned above) and Serbia for flood recovery, re/construction 
of  embankments  of  different  sections  of  the  Sava  and  Drina  rivers  and  improvements  to  the 
hydrological forecasting systems.  

Special Measure for flood protection and flood risk management  

Action No + Title  
Support to flood protection and water management 
Housing interventions 
Strengthening SMEs' competitiveness 
Support to civil protection 
Support to civil society in awareness raising, advocacy and recovery assistance 
to flood affected areas   
TOTAL 
Multi-country  
Regional reconstruction and improvement of flood protection infrastructure in 
the Sava River Basin in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia 
Prevention,  preparedness  and  response  to  floods  in  the  Western  Balkans  and 
Turkey, Lot 2 
TOTAL 

EUR
15 000 000
12 500 000
9 000 000
2 500 000 
2 000 000

41 000 000

20 000 000

4 000 000

24 000 000

3 IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE  

BiH and its political leadership continued to lack a common vision regarding the overall direction 
of  the  country.  Disagreements  about  the  division  of  responsibilities  between  different  levels  of 
governments  remained  the  main  obstacle  to  an  effective  implementation  of  EU  financial 
assistance.  

The  failure  of  the  authorities  to  address  long  standing  social  and  economic  concerns  led  in 
February 2014 to violent street demonstrations. The fragile economic situation was aggravated by 
massive floods that hit the country in May 2014. IPA supported in 2014 especially the recovery 

22 

 
 
 
 
 
 
following  the  floods  (see  section  "success  stories").  In  addition,  the  following  were  among  the 
results achieved in 2014: 

The main achievements of the EU Support to law enforcement over 2014 were the agreement on 
a road map for improvement of data protection; a practical solution for covert identity developed 
and tested; the Europol Serious and Organised Crime Threat Assessment (SOCTA) Methodology 
adapted for BiH and used for the first BiH SOCTA; changes to the Law on Prevention of Money 
Laundering  and  Financing  of  Terrorist  Activities  (adopted  in  June  2014)  elaborated  and 
implementation  capacities  further  developed  through  a  holistic  financial  investigations  training 
programme; institutional appraisals in view of preventing corruption were carried out in selected 
law  enforcement  agencies  in  cooperation  with  the  Agency  for  Prevention  of  Corruption  and 
the  Fight  against  Corruption  as  well  as  capacity  building  on 
Coordination 
detection/investigation of corruption cases; a review of the Criminal Procedure Code was carried 
out  and  further  analysed  aiming  to  identify  future  improvements  of  the  police-prosecutor 
cooperation. 

in 

In light of the significant backlog of war crimes cases throughout BiH, extraordinary IPA budget 
support is provided from 2014 to 2018. As a result of the 142 additional prosecutors, judges and 
relevant  legal  support  staff  recruited  to  work  alongside  the  domestically-financed  staff, 
significant  progress  was  noted.  By  the  end  of  2014,  nationwide  war  crimes  cases  with  known 
suspects  were  reduced  by  23%  in  the  prosecutors'  offices.    Such  progress  is  unprecedented  in 
BiH,  and  indicates  that  IPA  support  not  only  produced  results  but  created  also  a  positive  case 
processing momentum. 

In  the  SME  and  tourism  sectors,  the  project  “Support  to  introduction  of  Quality  Management 
Systems  (QMS)  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina”  enabled  100  pilot  SMEs  to  participate  in  the  free 
preparation  process  for  the  certification  of  quality  management  system  in  accordance  with  ISO 
9001  standards.  Overall,  the  QMS  certification  performed  with  EU  assistance  is  expected  to 
create a long term positive impact on the business sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by reducing 
operational  costs,  better  trained  and  educated  employees,  increased  efficiency,  better  customer 
satisfaction and improved product quality. 

“EU  technical  assistance  to  Support  Tourism  industry  in  BiH”  (EU  Tourism  Project)  delivered 
important  recommendations  on  how  to  improve  strategic  and  legislative  framework,  prepare 
investment  projects  and  promote  tourism  development  country-wide.  The  project  also  provided 
marketing  support  to  the  cities  of  Sarajevo  and  Eastern  Sarajevo  in  their  preparation  for  the 
European Youth Olympic Festival in 2017.  

In  the  field  of  education,  the  project  “Strategic  Development  of  Higher  Education  and 
Qualification  Standards”  developed  for  the  first  time  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  a  set  of 
qualification standards and occupational standards for higher education. 

The  project  “Promoting  Competiveness  through  Higher  Employment  Capacity  of  Human 
Resources”,  implemented  in  Gorazde  Canton  can  be  used  as  a  model  for  good  cooperation 
between  education,  labour  and  employers  parties.  197  unemployed  persons  were  trained  and 
certified  (61  of  them  found  a  job  already  during  the  project  implementation)  and  131  workers 
already employed without adequate education were trained and certified. 

23 

 
As regards social inclusion and social protection, several ongoing projects are showing very good 
results so far. For example, the project “Socio-economic empowerment of mine victims and their 
families through provision of business trainings and employment opportunities in BiH” addresses 
the socioeconomic exclusion of 240 mine victims and improvement of living conditions of their 
families through provision of preparatory business training and business grants for job creation.  

In  the  environment  sector,  the  project  "Strengthening  of  BiH's  environmental  institutions  and 
preparation for pre-accession funds" (ENVIS) developed  strategic  documents  which  can  ensure 
the harmonised implementation of the EU environment acquis throughout the country. There is 
still  a  risk  that  the  outputs  delivered  will  not  be  adopted  or  maintained  if  there  is  no  political 
endorsement.  

In  the  area  of  food  safety,  veterinary  and  phyto-sanitary,  the  twinning  light  project 
“Strengthening of the capacities of the phyto-sanitary services in BiH” increased the capacities of 
the  phyto-sanitary  service  in  BiH  to  control  plant  health  and  food  safety  by  introducing 
internationally  recognised  methods  and  procedures  for  the  phyto-sanitary  sector  in  laboratories 
and  by  developing  a  Monitoring  Programme  for  BiH  priorities  relating  to  crops  and  harmful 
organisms. 

Campaigns  of  oral  vaccination  against  rabies  continued  to  be  efficiently  implemented  in  BiH. 
Since  autumn  2011,  the  declining  trend  of  reported  cases  of  rabies  has  been  pertained.  In 
comparison to 47 cases reported in 2011 or 27 in 2012, in 2014, there was not a single case of 
rabies reported. 

In the sector of culture, the works on the building Vijecnica in Sarajevo were completed in June 
2014.  The  renovated  building  was  intensively  visited  by  BiH  citizens  and  tourists.  A  similar 
example is the completion of the interventions on the Stolac cultural heritage. 

The  Cross-border  co-operation  (CBC)  project  between  Croatia  and  BiH  "It  started  with  the 
sport…"  allowed  the  construction  and  equipment  of  a  sport  field,  and  rehabilitation  and 
equipment of school facilities in Dobretici. The project “Mobile Library Services for Life Long 
Learning  (LLL)  in  Rural  Communities”  established  the  first  mobile  library  in  the  Una-Sana 
Canton which serves as a platform to support the LLL in remote country-side communities.  

The  CBC  Serbia-BiH  project  "Beekeeping  -  Activity  for  the  Future"  supported  the  beekeeping 
and  horticulture  development  in  Gorazde  area.  The  project  "Development  and  Promotion  of 
Health  Tourism  Spas  in  Cross-border  Area  of  BiH-Serbia  -  CROSS  SPA"  resulted  in  the 
development  and  placement  of  a  new  joint  health  tourism  product.  The  "Agriculture  Forecast-
Reporting  System  (AFRS)  in  the  Cross  Border  Region"  established  an  innovative  concept  of 
integrated agriculture production based on IT weather forecasting and reporting. 

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES  

IPA funds continue to be implemented by the EU Delegation to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia 
and  Herzegovina's  institutions  have  made  no  progress  towards  the  establishment  of  a 
decentralised implementation system. 

24 

 
 
 
 
The CFCU (Central Finance and Contracting Unit) and the National Fund (NF) have maintained 
their  staff  levels  but  -  in  the  absence  of  progress  towards  indirect  management  -  without  being 
able to play a role in the implementation of IPA programmes. The CFCU has continued however 
to  perform  the  function  of  the  First  Level  Control  for  the  Cross-Border  and  Transnational 
Programmes  implemented  in  shared  management  for  the  projects  under  IPA  Adriatic  CBC 
Programme, South-East Europe Programme and Mediterranean Programme. 

Politically  it  does  not  appear  realistic  to  achieve  progress  towards  indirect  management  of  IPA 
funds prior to the establishment of a functioning EU coordination mechanism. 

5. SUCCESS SORIES 

Floods recovery 

The implementation of the Floods Recovery Programme (EUR 43.52 million, out of which EUR 
42.24 million provided by the EU) launched in July 2014 has produced a whole range of tangible 
results  in  gradually  restoring  normal  living  conditions  in  local  communities  and  ensure  the 
provision  of  aid  to  the  most  vulnerable  people  affected  by  the  May  floods.  The  Programme, 
implemented by UNDP, in cooperation with UNICEF and IOM focused on the rehabilitation of 
public services and infrastructure, housing units for the most vulnerable people and for social and 
economic recovery of local communities.  

In the first six months of the implementation the following results were achieved: 671 dwellings 
rehabilitated,  337  in  progress;  66  public  buildings  rehabilitated,  with  additional  31  in  progress 
and 19 in different stages of procurement or project design; 32 communal infrastructure projects 
completed  and  26  ongoing;  surveying  of  additional  municipalities  completed,  with  new 
infrastructure  projects  to  be  selected  to  continue  implementation.  As  concerns  the  economic 
recovery component, 48 bank guarantees were received and accompanying payments amounting 
to total of EUR 1.27 million were made.  

Waste water treatement 

The  project  “Construction  of  the  waste  water  treatment  plant  in  Zivinice  Municipality"  (Tuzla 
Canton) was successfully completed in September with IPA assistance of EUR 3 million out of 
an  overall  investment  of  EUR  7.2  million.  The  plant  will  contribute  to  approximate  local 
environmental  standards  to  EU  standards  to  the  benefit  of  the  42000  citizens,  allowing  the 
implementation  of  the  Drinking  Water  and  Urban  Waste  Water  Treatment  Directives  and  the 
improvement of environmental protection through wastewater collection systems. In addition, it 
will promote a significant improvement in the water quality by reducing pollution, in particular 
through the treatment of wastewater from the settlements. 

25 

 
 
 
CROATIA 

1. SUMMARY 

During  2014  Croatia  continued  actively  to  implement  the  measures  to  further  strengthen  its 
capacity in order to meet the obligations of membership to the EU. Since 1 July 2013, Croatia is 
an EU Member State. 

Under IPA component I and II, an adequate institutional set up for decentralised management of 
IPA funds already established in 2013 was consolidated over 2014 with the further development 
internal  rules  of  procedure,  and  with  functioning  implementing  and  operational  agreements 
between  the  NAO  and  the  Head  of  the  Operating  Structure  and  among  bodies  and  responsible 
persons  within  the  Operating  Structure.  Manuals  of  procedures  were  developed  for  each  body 
within the system, with a clear description of all processes and procedures and with audit trails 
developed. The IPA management and control systems continued to be fully functional.  

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING 

As all programmes have been adopted in the previous years and no strategic programming was 
done over 2014. DG NEAR however involved in the approval of the requests for modifications of 
Project Fiches and in the approval of the projects financed from the Flexible Facility under IPA 
and Transition Facility programmes.  

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE  

Croatia continued throughout 2014 to implement the measures to further strengthen its capacity 
to meet the obligations of EU membership and to go well beyond the sheer transposition of the 
acquis. All national programmes have been adopted in the previous years, therefore the country 
focused  on  implementing  the  IPA  component  I  2008,  2009,  2010  and  2011  programmes  in 
support of Croatia's preparation for the management and implementation of post-accession funds 
and for completing the reforms and building up capacity in the following areas:  

•  Justice, Freedom and Security,  

•  Environment, Transport and Energy,  

•  Internal Market and Economy, Public Administration Reform,  

•  Public Finance and Public Procurement,  

•  Cohesion Policy and Labour and finally  

•  Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Veterinary and Phytosanitary  

A particular attention has been given over 2014 to ensuring the sustainability of outcomes once 
the EU funded projects are completed.  With regard to impact of the IPA national programmes, 
the  programmed  EU  pre-accession  support  has  provided  the  necessary  assistance  to  Croatia  in 
meeting  the  requirements  for  accession.  The  IPA  assistance  was  better  designed  in  later  years, 
generally  better  structured,  and  often  built  on  outputs  and  recommendations  of  previous 

26 

 
 
 
 
 
 
assistance.  As  a  result,  key  improvements  in  legislative  and  administrative  structures,  systems, 
infrastructure and resources as a result of the provided IPA support have been noted. 
With regard to administrative capacities, measures continue to be delivered in order to enhance 
administrative  capacities  of  the  bodies  dealing  with  EU  funds.  During  2014  administrative 
capacities have been strengthened in a number of institutions and recruiting of new staff has been 
under way. 

Justice, Freedom and Security 

The Implementation of Judicial Development Strategy (2013-2018) is in progress. The Ministry of 
Justice together with the judicial authorities and national and international experts is continuously 
and intensively working on the achievement of its strategic goals, in particular to develop actions 
aimed  at  further  reducing  the  total  number  of  pending  cases,  to  reduce  the  duration  of  court 
proceedings  and  to  increase  the  overall  efficiency  of  judicial  bodies.  The  efforts  for  the  courts 
rationalization  and  reorganization  processes  will  continue,  in  line  with  the  Judicial  Development 
Strategy.  

In parallel to supporting the judiciary, IPA also strengthened the capacity of the prosecutor's office 
and co-operation among various related agencies, particularly the Office for Combating Corruption 
and Organised Crime. As a result, the sector fight against corruption and organised crime has been 
strengthened, including the adequate legal and institutional framework. 

As  regards  the  Schengen  Facility,  of  which  the  Ministry  of  Interior  is  one  of  the  beneficiaries 
since July 2013 when Croatia became a Member State, after having received the total allocation 
of EUR 120 million, significant progress was reached in contracting.     

As regards the general programme Solidarity and Management of Migration Flows (SOLID) out 
of  four  funds  which  are  available  under  this  programme,  Croatia  is  using  the  European  Return 
Fund  and  the  European  Refugee  Fund.  As  for  the  European  Return  Fund,  in  2014  the  EC 
approved the multi-annual and the annual programme and co-financing for 2013. 

Public Administration Reform, Public Finance and Public Procurement Sector 
The  implementation  of  projects  proved  a  positive  impact  on  the  overall  public  administration 
reform  and  the  assistance  contributes  to  Croatia’s  fulfilment  of  Political  Criteria  in  the  field  of 
Democracy  and  the  Rule  of  Law  and,  in  particular,  to  fully  implement  public  administration 
reform measures on administrative procedures. 

In  respect  of  administrative  procedures  the  goals  were  to  simplify  the  General  Administrative 
Procedures Act (GAPA), to reduce the number of special administrative procedures, to speed up 
and simplify procedures as well as increase the efficiency of public administration. The GAPA is 
now shorter, simpler, regulates administrative contract, actions of the providers of public services 
and  any  other  actions  taken  by  public  authorities  in  the  field  of  administrative  law,  guarantees 
legal  protection  against  all  forms  of  administrative  action.  Its  better  use  was  ensured  with  the 
support  of  an  IPA  2008  contract  meant  to  support  Croatia  in  further  enhancement  of  reliable, 
open, transparent and client-oriented public administration. 

27 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The  project  IPA  2010  FF  RAC  Support  to  Strengthening  the  Administrative  Capacity  through 
Development  of  the Competency  Framework in Civil Service finalised in 2014 developed civil 
servants  competency  framework  in  order  to  define  which  competencies  (knowledge,  skills, 
abilities,  attitudes,  behaviours)  should  civil  servants  have  on  specific  posts  as  precondition  for 
administrative capacity building in civil service.  

The  assistance  in  the  area  of  Public  Finance  contributed  to  the  strengthening  of  competence  of 
public internal auditors for auditing Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund, to provide support to 
Croatian Customs Administration (CCA) for the prevention of illegal traffic of goods, to ensure 
the  adoption  of  EU  standards  and  best  practices  in  the  field  of  customs  laboratory  analysis. 
Extensive support has been provided to the Croatian Tax Administration´s (CTA) for aligning its 
procedures with EU procedures in the field of VAT and to strengthen its institutional capacity. 
The IPA 2010 project Enhancement of the CTA Administrative and Institutional Capacity in the 
Field  of  Application  of  VAT  EU  Common  System    (completed  in  April  2014)    increased 
effectiveness of VAT function on the whole and provided the tax officials and tax payers with a 
more  organised  and  more  efficient  way  of  implementing  VAT  procedures.  Also,  the  CTA´s 
project  IPA  2010  FF  RAC  Supporting  the  Capacity  of  CTA  for  Further  Development  of  EU 
Information  Exchange  Systems  enabled  further  development  of  EU  information  exchange 
systems through improvement of relevant procedures, establishment of more efficient monitoring 
and managing system and strengthened capacity of relevant CTA employees.  
Other two project completed in 2014 supported the Central Harmonisation Unit (CHU) within the 
Ministry of Finance in upgrading methodology for internal auditors in order to ensure effective 
and efficient internal auditing of Structural Funds and Cohesion Fund, respectively to ensure the 
adoption of EU standards and best practices in the field of customs laboratory analysis. 

Transport 

For  the  Transport  sector  projects,  the  main  goal  was  to  complete  the  alignment  with  the  EU 
acquis. Furthermore, the goal is to enhance administrative capacity in the area of road transport, 
aviation  and  maritime  transport  and  in  the  area  of  inland  waterway  transport.  In  the  Pre-
Feasibility Study project the goal was to assess which are the best options for possible connection 
of  two  separated  parts  of  Croatian  (EU)  territory  in  Dubrovnik-Neretva  County.  The  Roadside 
Inspections  project  directly  improved  road  safety  by  implementation  of  digital  tachograph 
database, harmonised road safety legislation with the acquis and use of equipment. The capacities 
of the Ministry of the Maritime Affaires, Transport and Infrastructure and the Ministry of Interior 
were improved in order to conduct required checks and to use the established database in order to 
keep the register of checks and infringements.  

Also, a Croatian Maritime Strategy has been developed under the Maritime Strategy project. IPA 
2009 equally contributed to the improvement of the air traffic safety. After having received the 
IPA assistance the data collection in transport sector has been improved as a crucial element for 
strategic planning, cost-benefit analysis and feasibility studies. 

Environment and Climate Change 

In  the  sector  of  Environment  the  projects  continue  to  contribute  to  the  transposition  and 
implementation of the EU acquis with particular emphasis on waste management, water quality 
and flood protection, nature protection, integrated pollution prevention and control, strengthening 

28 

 
 
 
of administrative capacity in order to implement the environment acquis and ensure integration of 
environmental  concerns  into  horizontal  issues  (access  to  justice,  strategic  environmental 
assessment, ecological network impact assessment).  

Cohesion Policy and Labour  

The  EU  assistance  has  made  an  important  contribution  to  building  up  Croatia’s  capacity  for 
managing  post-accession  funding  in  the  cohesion  sector,  including  through  learning  by  doing. 
The  projects  assisted  the  Croatian  administration  and  relevant  state  bodies  to  prepare  for  the 
implementation of the common EU cohesion policy post-accession.  

The actions within the Cohesion Policy projects support the relevant Croatian institutions in the 
fields of programming, development and fine-tuning of the NSRF and specific sectorial OPs to be 
implemented within the framework of the EU structural funds, preparation for the waiving of ex-
ante controls (EDIS), ex-ante evaluations of programming documents for both the EU financial 
perspective 2007-2013 post-accession and relating to the next period 2014-2020, strengthening of 
the  overall  institutional  capacities  in  the  area,  relevant  programme  audit  and  setting  up  of  the 
future SF audit system, adequate SF project pipeline and numerous other related activities.  

Internal Market and Economy  

The  assistance  covers  a  variety  of  sub-sectorial  components  such  as  Statistics,  Consumer  and 
Health Protection (Freedom to provide  services) and Competition. A  strong emphasis is  put on 
institutional capacity building and enforcement of harmonised legislation. 

Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Veterinary and Phytosanitary Policies  

Significant  progress  is  met  in  connection  to  preparation  Croatian  administration  for  the  use  of 
EAFRD  funds.  The  procedure  related  to  the  Strategic  Environmental  Assessment  (SEA)  of 
Croatian  Rural  Development  Programme  2014-2020  (RDP)  was  finalised.  SEA  Report  was 
finished  in  July  2014  providing  the  assessment  of  possible  environmental  impacts  of 
implementation of the Rural Development Programme for Croatia.  

The  system  approach  to  control  and  eradicate  the  rabies  in  Croatia  that  was  supported  by  IPA 
2008  and  IPA  2010  projects  starting  from  2011,  continued  with  the  implementation  of  oral 
vaccination of foxes in the multiannual programme (2014-2018) by which additional two years of 
oral vaccination are secured. The 2014 spring campaign of oral vaccination has been successfully 
conducted, and the results of testing show that until September 2014 only one sample out of 1772 
was positive to rabies. 

Cross-border Co-operation (IPA Component II ) 
IPA  Component  II  contributes  to  regional  development  activities,  which  aim  to  encourage  the 
creation  of  cross-border  networks,  partnerships,  development  of  joint  cross-border  operations, 
capacity  building  of  local  and  regional  units  in  implementing  European  Union  programmes,  as 
well as preparing them to manage operations within cross-border cooperation programmes over 
2014-2020. 

29 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IPA Component II provides funding for three types of cross-border co-operation programmes: 

1. 
CBC  with  neighbouring  non-EU  Member  States  -  Serbia,  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina  and 
Montenegro. All three programmes share the same overall objective of building the capacity of 
local,  regional  and  national  institutions  to  manage  EU  programmes  and  preparing  them  to 
manage future cross-border programmes under objective 2 of the EU Structural Funds. 

2. 
CBC with Member States (MS) - Slovenia, Hungary and IPA Adriatic, designed to create 
a  dynamic  cross-border  area,  facilitation  of  culture  and  knowledge  based  development  on  the 
basis  of  successful  management  of  natural  and  cultural  heritage  and  intense  socio-economic 
interactions  between  the  two  sides  in  the  eligible  area  and  the  strengthening  of  the  sustainable 
development capacity of the Adriatic Region. 

3. 
CBC  in  the  framework  of  transnational  programmes  –  South-East  Europe  (SEE)  and 
Mediterranean  Programme  (MED),  focused  on  facilitation  of  innovation  and  entrepreneurship, 
Protection and improvement of the environment, Improvement of accessibility and Development 
of transnational synergies for sustainable growth areas. 

The  Operating  Structure  is  fully  operational  and  well  set  up.  The  readiness  of  the  Croatian 
structures  do  deal  with  the  overall  management  of  IPA  II  Component,  is  proven  by  successful 
management of the Programmes in the covered period. The absorption capacity and the interest to 
participate in CBC Programmes continue to be high on the local and regional level. 

4. SUCCESS STORIES 

Reorganisation and rationalization of the courts 

One of the most important reform measures relates to the implementation of reorganisation and 
rationalisation of court network, which is currently under way.  As the part of the given process 
and to serve as a ground for reorganisation and rationalisation, in October 2014 the new Law on 
the  areas  and  the  seats  of  the  courts  was  adopted  in  the  Croatian  Parliament,  which  is  to  be 
applied  as  of  1  April,  2015  on  municipal  and  county  courts,  and  as  of  1  July  2015  on 
misdemeanour courts. According to the Law, Croatian area is divided into 15 judicial areas, in a 
way that establishes 15 district courts, 24 municipal courts and 22 misdemeanour courts, which is 
43  municipal  courts  and  39  misdemeanour  courts  less.  This  new  organisation  opens  up  the 
possibility  of  specialisation,  greater  mobility  and  more  balanced  workload  of  judges  and  the 
harmonisation of the court practice.  

Also, this way the number of judicial managerial staff is reduced, which will enable cost savings 
as well as better functioning of the judiciary (i.e. more even workload, shortening the duration of 
the judicial proceeding, backlogs reduction, etc.). However, citizens will continue to be provided 
with  access  to  municipal  and  misdemeanour  courts  identical  to  what  they  had  before  the  new 
Law.  The  current  municipal  and  misdemeanour  courts  that  cease  operating,  as  well  as  current 
services  of  the  municipal  and  misdemeanour  courts,  will  become  a  full-time  offices  of  new 
municipal and misdemeanour courts.  

Support for children from institutional care 

30 

 
 
 
Facilitation of transition of children from institutional care to independent living or reintegration 
in  the  family  is  an  area  where  progress  has  been  achieved  and  where  IPA  had  an  important 
contribution. The project “Improving experts’ capacities for the protection of rights and interests 
of children and youth placed in homes for children and youth with behavioural disorders” is an 
example.   

New  procedures  and  processes,  ensuring  that  all  children  receive  support  and  follow  up  in 
transition from institutional care to independent living or reintegration, have been developed and 
implemented  as  part  of  the  activities  of  the  working  groups  during  the  project  IPA  2009  FPP 
RAC Improving experts' capacities for the protection of rights and interests of children and youth 
placed in homes for children and youth with behavioural disorders.  This is done through adopted 
Procedures  Protocol  made  in  order  to  enhance  collaboration  between  relevant  institutions 
responsible for protection of rights and interests of children and youth with behavioural disorders. 
Data on the number of children successfully integrated in the community by 2014, the number of 
recidivists by 2014 and the number of complaints to the Ombudsman for Children by 2014 is yet 
to be obtained as statistical data on the above mentioned issues is still being processed. 

De-mining 

The implementation of the IPA 2010 De-mining project was completed during 2014. The project 
purpose  was  to  create  a  safe  environment  and  security  pre-conditions  for  sustainable  return  of 
refugees  and  displaced  persons  and  also  socio-economic  development  in  war  affected  areas  in 
Republic of Croatia, by the removal of mine threat from war affected areas. 

De-mining  operations  were  performed  under  the project  in  Osijek-Baranja  and  Vukovar-Srijem 
County areas; in the Town of Osijek and Vukovar and Municipalities Draž, Stari Jankovci and 
Markušica. Under this project demining operations were be performed in Vukovar-Srijem County 
and  Osijek-Baranja  County  on  the  area  of  3  444  930  m2.  As  a  result,  an  area  of  3,4  km2  was 
declared safe.  

31 

 
 
 
THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA 2015 

1. SUMMARY  

IPA assistance has continued to play an important role in meeting the general objectives set in 
the  DG  Enlargement  Annual  Management  Plan  as  regards  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of 
Macedonia.  
With regard to IPA II, the Indicative Strategy Paper for the country was adopted on 19 August 
2014. The 2014 IPA II programme was adopted on 17 December 2014. The programme consists 
of one annual action programme and one multi-annual action programme. 
The  annual  programme  covers  three  sectors:  democracy  and  governance;  rule  of  law  and 
fundamental rights; competitiveness and innovation, for a total amount of EUR 52.7 million.  
The  multi-annual  programme  covers  the  first  three  years  of  the  implementation  of  Sector 
Operational Programmes for environment and climate action and transport for a total amount of 
EUR 81 million.  
The Rural Development Programme under IPA II for the years 2014-2020 was also approved in 
December 2014. The budget for the 7 years is EUR 60 Million with modest allocations for the 
first four years and increasing amounts towards the end of the period. 
As regards implementation of financial assistance under IPA I, de-commitments of funds and 
the  future  risks  of  loss  of  funds  from  programmes  under  the  Decentralised  Implementation 
System  (DIS)  have  remained  a  source  of  concern.  The  contracting  situation  has  worsened  in 
comparison  to  2013.  In  2014,  EUR  41.6  million  were  lost  under  all  IPA  Components.  The 
Operating Structures in the country are facing numerous structural problems which negatively 
impact  on  their  performance  and  ultimately  on  the  timely  absorption  of  IPA  funds.  The 
contracting of the remaining National Programmes for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 did not 
start in 2014.  

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING  

Indicative Strategy Paper 

The  Indicative  Strategy  Paper  covers  the  duration  of  the  Multiannual  Financial  Framework, 
defining  the  priorities  for  accession-related  actions  for  the  benefit  of  the  former  Yugoslav 
Republic of Macedonia. The Indicative Strategy Paper was adopted on 19 August 2014, paving 
the way for programming assistance under IPA II.  
The  elaboration  of  the  Indicative  Strategy  Paper  has  been  an  intensive  and  inclusive  process. 
Numerous  consultations  have  been  conducted  with  development  partners,  government 
stakeholders,  non-state  actors  and Member States. The Strategy Paper  focuses  on  seven  sectors 
and  addresses  notably  (i)  democracy  and  governance,  (ii)  Rule  of  law  and  fundamental  rights, 
(iii) competitiveness and innovation, (iv) transport, (v) environment, (vi) education, employment 
and social policies and (vii) agriculture and rural development.  
The  consultation  process  identified  key  areas  of  intervention.  As  regards  strategic  priorities, 
reforms in the area of rule of law and fundamental rights are crucial for the overall development 

32 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of  the  country  and  its  democratic  institutions,  by  providing  quality  justice  to  the  citizens, 
accountability  and  a  favourable  environment  for  economic  growth.  Support  for  strengthening 
inter-community relations in line with the Ohrid Framework Agreement will also be important. 
Reforms in the field of democracy and governance, particularly public administration reform and 
public finance management, will be vital to the country's accession process.  
As regards competitiveness and growth, efforts will focus on achieving inclusive growth in line 
with the Europe 2020 priorities. In the field of transport, assistance will be provided to develop  
the  main  Trans-European  Corridors.  Assistance  will  further  help  to  increase  access  to  quality 
education  and  to  the  labour  market  for  all  citizens.  Assistance  in  the  environment  and  climate 
action sector will seek to support more sustainable growth, an energy-efficient economy, and to 
reduce  the  high  levels  of  pollution  in  the  country.  Assistance  will  further  address  local 
governance,  local  economic  development  and  private  sector  development  with  a  view  to 
supporting  social  cohesion  and  the  country's  democratic  development.  Lastly,  assistance  in 
agriculture, one of the country's most significant economic sectors, will support a more balanced 
territorial development of rural areas, better food safety and a more competitive agri-food sector. 

Indicative allocations (million EUR)  per policy areas and sectors 

2014 2015 

2016 2017 2018-2010 

Total 
2014-
2020 

climate 
change 
relevant 
(%) 

a. Reforms in preparation for 
Union membership    
Democracy and governance 
Rule of law & fundamental rights 
b. Socio-economic and Regional 
development 
Environment and climate action 
Transport 
Competitiveness and innovation 
c.  Education, employment, and 
social policies 

39.7 

17.9 

35.6  26.9 

85.8 

205.9 

66.1 
54.0 

41.0 

38.7 

38.0  46.0 

61.3 
56.4 
46.0 

0.0 

14.0 

13.0 

0.0 

56.8 
29.0 
135.1 

51.6 
56.5 
27.0 
26.2 

122.9 
83.0 
298.8 

112.9 
112.9 
73.0 
53.2 

100% 
60% 

Education, 
social policies 
d.  Agriculture 
development 
Agriculture 
development 

employment 

and 

27.0 

26.2 

53.2 

and 

rural 

5.0 

18.3 

5.0 

22.0 

56.0 

106.3 

and 

rural 

50.3 

56.0 

106.3 

10% 

TOTAL 

85.7 

88.9 

91.6  94.9 

303.1 

664.2 

33 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Programming exercise  

With the aim of concentrating IPA II financial assistance on a limited number of key priorities, 
the Annual Action Programme adopted in 2014 covers three sectors identified in the Indicative 
Strategy Paper: democracy and governance; rule of law and fundamental rights; competitiveness 
and innovation.  
The  democracy  and  governance  sector  will  be  addressed  through  two  actions  –  the  EU 
Integration  Facility  and  participation  in  Union  Programmes.  Sector  selection  has  been  agreed 
upon  with  the  national  authorities  on  the  basis  of  the  priorities  set  in  the  Indicative  Strategy 
Paper.  The  key  objective  is  building  up  capacity  for  further  developing  the  sector  approach  in 
selected  sectors,  preparing  project  pipelines,  supporting  EU  acquis  alignment,  and  financing 
studies  and  other  short-term  assistance  aiming  at  increasing  the  administrative  capacity  of  the 
beneficiary. 
The  sector  rule  of  law  and  fundamental  rights  will  be  addressed  through  three  actions: 
"Support  for  justice  sector",  "Home  affairs:  implementation  of  business  continuity  and  disaster 
recovery  system"  and  "Home  affairs:  further  development  of  the  capacities  for  crime  scene 
investigation".  Financial  assistance  will  contribute  to  improving  the  independence,  efficiency, 
accountability, professionalism and competence of the judiciary and prosecution with a view to 
ensuring  a  more  accessible  justice  system,  more  efficient  and  fair  criminal  investigation, 
prosecution  and  trial  and  more  efficient  and  effective  criminal  system.  These  issues  feature 
prominently  in  the  Commission's  2014  Progress  report  and  have  been shown,  by  events  during 
2015,  to  be  key.  Assistance  will  further  focus  on  the  fight  against  organised  crime,  through 
improved capacities for forensic expertise. Furthermore, the establishment of Business Continuity 
and Disaster recovery centre will be supported as a follow-up of a project started under IPA I.  
Finally, the sector competitiveness and innovation will be addressed through one action in the 
area  of  local  and  regional  competitiveness.  The  main  objective  of  is  to  improve  economic 
competitiveness  of  the  country's  regions  and  municipalities  and  to  stimulate  job  creation.  The 
action will focus on enhancing local competitiveness and integrated local development including 
through unlocking economic potential in the tourism sector. 

34 

 
 
 
INDICATIVE BUDGET TABLE IN EUR - COUNTRY ACTION PROGRAMME 2014  

Indirect Management with the IPA II beneficiary 

Other management modes   

EU 
Contribution 

Beneficiary 
Co-financing 

Total 
expenditure 

EU 
Contribution 

IPA II beneficiary 
Co-financing 

Total 
expenditure 

Management 
mode 

Total EU 
contribution 

6,717,811 

2,604,603 

9,322,414 

13,000,000 

2,293,000 

15,293,000 

5,950,000 

1,050,000 

7,000,000 

1,050,000.00 

0 

1,050,000.00 

Sector 1 Democracy 
and Governance  
Action 1 EU 
Integration Facility 
Action 2 Participation 
in Union Programmes 
Sector 2  
Rule of Law and 
Fundamental Rights 

Action 3 Justice Sector 
Programme 

Action 4 Home Affairs: 
Implementation of 
business continuity and 
disaster recovery 
system-phase 2 
Action 5 Further  
development of the 
capacities for crime 
scene investigation 

Sector 6 
Competitiveness and 
Innovation 

Action 6 Local and 
Regional 
Competitiveness 

1

e
v
i
t
c
e
j
b
O

2

e
v
i
t
c
e
j
b
O

8,000,000 

8,000,000 

14,717,811 

Direct 

Indirect  with 
beneficiary 
country 

Indirect  with 
beneficiary 
country 

Indirect  with 
beneficiary 
country 

Indirect  with 
International 
Organisations 

 20,000,000 

 18,000,000 

18,000,000 

3,176,471 

21,176,471 

  TOTAL 

26,717,811 

5,947,603 

32,665,414 

26,000,000 

3,176,471 

29,176,471 

52,717,811 

35 

 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Multi-annual Action Programme 

This programme covers two sectors identified in the Indicative Strategy Paper for the former 
Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia,  2014-2020,  namely  environment  and  climate  action  and 
transport. Assistance to both sectors will be provided within  the framework  of  multi-annual 
operational programmes with split commitments. 

The  overall  objective  of  assistance  under  the  environment  and  climate  action  sector 
programme  is  to  contribute  to  a  cleaner  environment  and  improved  quality  of  life  through 
sound  management  of  natural  resources  and  reduction  of  pollution.  The  IPA  II  contribution 
amounts  to  EUR  44.4  million  for  the  period  2014-2016.  Support  will  focus  on  three  core 
areas:  approximation  of  environmental  and  climate  change  legislation,  investment  in  water 
and waste management and sustainable development. 

for 

sustainable  development 

The  overall  objective  of  assistance  under  the  transport  sector  programme  is  to  support  the 
conditions 
transport 
infrastructure.The Operational Programme has three core priorities: road, rail and horizontal 
measures. IPA II support in the period 2014-2016 will focus on two of them: road transport 
infrastructure (Action 4 in the Multi-annual programme), horizontal sector assistance (Action 
5 in the Multi-annual programme). 

improvement  of 

through 

the 

Sector: Environment and Climate Action 

INDIRECT MANAGEMENT 
WITH THE IPA II beneficiary 

OTHER IMPLEMENTATION 
ARRANGEMENTS 
(INDIRECT MANAGEMENT DELEGATION 
AGREEMENT) 

Action 1  
Approximation of 
environmental and climate 
change legislation in 
priorities areas 
Action 2 
Investments in water and 
waste management  
(except for Activity 2.1) 
Action 3 
Support to sustainable 
development – energy 
efficiency 
(except for Activity 3.1) 
TOTAL 

EUR  
6,470,000.00 

./. 

EUR 
33,895,000.00 

./. 

./. 

./. 

Action 3 / Activity 3.1: 
Implementation of pilot 
measures for 
sustainable use of 
natural resources 

EUR 
4,000,000.00 

EUR 
40,365,000.00 

TOTAL 

EUR 
4,000,000.00 

36 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Sector: Transport 

INDIRECT MANAGEMENT 
WITH THE IPA II beneficiary 

OTHER IMPLEMENTATION 
ARRANGEMENTS 

Action 4 
Road transport 
infrastructure 
Action 5 
Horizontal sector assistance 
TOTAL 

EUR  

35,400,000.00

EUR  

1,506,609.70

EUR 
    36,906,609.70 

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE  

The country continued to implement its commitments under the Stabilisation and Association 
Agreement (SAA). Regular political and economic dialogue between the EU and the country 
continued  through  the  structures  set  up  by  the  SAA.  Meetings  of  the  Stabilisation  and 
Association Committee and the Stabilisation and Association Council took place in June and 
July  2014,  respectively.  The  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia  is  engaging  in  the 
reinforced multilateral economic dialogue with the Commission and with EU Member States, 
in  order  to  prepare  for  participation  in  multilateral  surveillance  and  economic  policy 
coordination under the EU’s Economic and Monetary Union. No meetings of the High Level 
Accession Dialogue took place in 2014. 

IPA assistance has continued to play an important role in meeting the general objectives of 
the  DG's  Management  Plan  as  regards  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia.  With 
regards  to  IPA  I,  while  the  contracting  and  disbursement  of  funds  under  centralised 
management is largely on track, there were substantial de-commitments of funds managed by 
the beneficiary country under the Decentralised Implementation System (DIS). For the IPA 
2010 national programme, the contracting deadline fell within the reporting period and 12 out 
of 31 procurement procedures did not succeed, leading to overall financial de-commitments 
of  EUR  11.3  million.  The  main  reason  for  de-commitment  is  the  late  start  of  procurement 
preparations.  To  date,  no  significant  contracting  achievements  can  be  reported  on  national 
programmes 2011, 2012 and 2013 and further losses of funds are likely. 

The  implementation  of  EU  financial  assistance  under  (DIS)  often  faces  problems  of 
commitment,  planning  and  sustainability.  Many  beneficiary  institutions  do  not  have  the 
necessary  human  and  material  resources  to  successfully  implement  and  follow  up  on  the 
projects.  This  results  in  a  situation  where  technical  assistance  often  substitutes  for  the 
national administration instead of accompanying it. Several systemic challenges on the side 
of  the  national  authorities,  reported  previously,  persist.  This  also  compromises  the 
sustainability, impact, visibility and monitoring and evaluation of EU financial assistance. 

The  contracting  and  implementation  of  EU  assistance  under  direct  management  is  smooth, 
except  for  cross-border  cooperation  programmes.  The  complex  type  of  procedures  for 
selection  and  contracting  of  projects,  as  well  as  the  lack  of  management  capacities  and 

37 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
commitment  by  national  counterparts,  cause  substantial  delays.  The  on-going  technical 
assistance contracts cannot compensate for the lack of staff in the national operating structure. 
Temporary  assignments  of  external  staff  do  not  ensure  sustainability  of  operations.  Despite 
some  improvements,  it  is  important  that  the  relevant  Ministry  further  strengthens  the 
coordination efforts and efficiency of the Joint Technical Secretariat. 

 Public Administration Reform 

Technical  Assistance  to  the  Ministry  of  Information  Society  and  Administration  and 
Strengthening the Implementation of the National System for Training Coordination (contract 
amount  EUR 1,095,000, of which IPA  EUR 985,500) 

The  Project  assisted  the  Ministry  of  Information  Society  and  Administration  in  developing 
nine pieces of implementing legislation related to the new laws on administrative servants and 
on  public  employees.  It  provided  administrative  training  in  various  areas  to  1,250  civil 
servants, of which about half were from the minorities - people being employed through the 
programme for equitable representation but not deployed to final institution of employment. It 
developed  ten  micro-learning  and  six  e-learning  modules.  The  project  increased  capacities 
through  trainings  for  various  administrative  purposes,  but  also  for  functional  analysis  and 
legislative drafting. 

Enhancing  the  administrative  capacities  of  telecom  and  media  authorities  for  efficient 
regulation of new digital and multiple play services (contract amount  EUR 854,900, of which 
IPA  EUR 769,410) – service contract 

The  project  helped  to  develop  implementing  legislation,  providing  the  regulators  with  tools 
for policy-making and enforcement of decisions. The staff of the beneficiary institutions were 
provided with valuable information and tools which will be used in their everyday work. The 
project also contributed to the development of a quality management system, for monitoring 
hate speech and effectively managing digital rights.  

Justice, Home affairs and Fundamental Rights  

Integrated  Border  Management  (total  contract  amount  EUR  4,598,595,  of  which  IPA  EUR 
3,568,736.25): 

The  project  helped  to  complete  the  existing  digital  radio  TETRA  communication  system. 
Within the frame of third phase implemented under IPA 2009 assistance programme, the full 
coverage  of  90%  was  reached  of  the  country  and  proper  lines  of  communication  were 
established between the police’s operational branches which are expected to provide support 
for  the  day-to-day  operation  of  the  Ministry  of  Interior’s  services,  optimising  coverage  in 
terms  of  population  and  territory,  including  main  highways,  green  border  lines  and 
international border-crossing points.   

 Agriculture and Rural Development 

Supply of rabies vaccines (contract amount EUR 1,700,000, of which IPA EUR 1,275,000): 

Three  vaccination  campaigns  were  successfully  implemented  between  2012  and  2014.  The 
project was completed successfully, contributing to the eradication of an animal disease which 
might have an impact on human health. 

38 

 
 
 
Transport 

During  the  reporting  period,  the  contracting  rate  increased  with  the  signature  of  eight 
contracts: Rehabilitation of the Railway Station Skopje, Rehabilitation of road section Veles-
Katlanovo, Reconstruction of the rail section Bitola Kremenica, Design study for rail section 
Kicevo-Lin  and  Road  Safety.  The  IPA  2009  national  programme  contract  for  strengthening 
the  administrative  and  operational  capacity  of  the  State  Transport  Inspectorate  has  been 
completed. 

Environment and climate change  

In  the  environment  sector,  progress  has  been  achieved  both  in  programming  and  in 
contracting.  In  2014,  ten  contracts  were  signed  including  the  contract  for  construction  of  a 
waste  water  treatment  plant  in  Prilep.  All  contracts  related  to  preparation  of  technical  and 
tender  documentation  for  the  investment  projects  to  be  constructed  within  this  OPRD  are 
currently ongoing.  

 Social development 

Social development sector has been addressed under the Operational Programme for human 
resource  development  (IPA  Component  IV).  In  the  area  of  labour  and  social  policy,  a 
twinning project supported the Employment Service Agency in designing and implementing 
active  labour  market  measures,  in  particular  targeting  youth  as  one  of  the  most  affected 
groups. 

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES  

Decentralised (indirect) management 

Under the decentralised implementation system (DIS), minor improvements were noted. The 
office  of  the  National  IPA  Coordinator  (NIPAC)  continued  its  effort  to  monitor  IPA 
implementation  and  secure  higher  commitment  of  involved  ministries.  The  central  finance 
and contracts department (CFCD) has, despite higher losses of funds, enhanced its autonomy 
and improved quality of procurement files, while relying less on the ex ante checks by the EU 
Delegation.  Lessons  learned  included  also  the  practice  of  earlier  nomination  of  evaluation 
committees than in 2013, which should speed up tendering procedures. 

Some  weaknesses  have,  however,  persisted.  The  administrative  capacity  remains  weak. 
Procurement plans were not realistic, leading to significant delays. Tender procedures take too 
long  and  the  time  before  contracting  is  excessive.  Despite  some  improvements,  there  is 
insufficient capacity in some line Ministries to ensure adequate quality of tender documents. 
Inter-institutional coordination needs to be improved to allow for the whole system to learn 
from common and very often repetitive mistakes in procurement documents. 

The  Commission  continues  to  address  the  challenges  in  a  constructive  manner  with  the 
national authorities, including training. The national authorities have prepared a DIS Action 
Plan  in  order  to  address  key  shortcomings  leading  to  the  reduced  absorption  of  financial 
assistance. Several trainings on procurement were provided by the EU Delegation to national 
authorities. 

39 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5.- SUCCESS STORIES 

TETRA project  

In its three phases, the project helped to set up a secure digital police radio system ("terrestrial 
Trunked  Radio  –  TETRA).  Approximately  5,500  radio  terminals  of  various  types  (fixed, 
vehicle installation, hand-held) have been supplied. The full coverage of 90% of the country 
was reached. Communication lines were established among the police's operational branches.  
It is envisaged that the Tetra system will be extended to all other emergency services, such as 
ambulances or fire brigades. 

TETRA phase 1 (contract amount IPA EUR 5,145,143 under CARDS 2004)  

TETRA phase 2 (contract amount IPA EUR 3,999,959 under IPA 2008)  

TETRA phase 3 (contract amount IPA EUR 2,849,996.25 under IPA 2009) 

Public Administratio Reform 

The  project  Strengthening  the  capacity  of  the  Customs  Administration  consists  of  three 
contracts  (total  EU  contribution  EUR  2,428,301.25).  The  project  encompassed  software 
development,  support  to  the  beneficiary  institution  in  managing  the  software  development 
project  and  establishing  the  required  procedures  and  organisational  set  up  in  the  area  of 
integrated tariff environment, as well as a supply of the necessary hardware to support the use 
of  the  software  application.  The  software  design  had  to  be  readjusted  and  developed  as  a 
unique  solution.  The  system  which  was  developed  will  serve  as  a  tool  both  to  the  Customs 
the  process  of  customs  clearance
Administration  and 

the  economic  operators 

in 

40 

 
 
 
 
KOSOVO  

1. SUMMARY  

In 2014 the Commission introduced IPA II and its programming process to the government of 
Kosovo  and  worked  closely  with  all  stakeholders  to  ensure  that  the  new  approach  is  well 
understood. Several meetings were organised to present and discuss the new framework for 
IPA II as well as the new financial regulation. The 2014 Annual Programme was prepared and 
approved by the IPA Committee in November 2014, and adopted in December 2014, with an 
allocation of EUR 66.05 million.  

In 2014 the implementation of IPA I programmes continued smoothly, including the roll out 
of  the  IPA  2013  programme  in  support  to  the  19  April  2013  dialogue  agreement  between 
Pristina and Belgrade. The Palace of Justice, a major infrastructure project in support to the 
improvement of the rule of law in Kosovo, was completed  at the end of 2014.  

With regard to Cross-border Cooperation (CBC) programmes, a number of difficulties were 
encountered during 2014 which resulted in a failure to contract the 2011 allocations reserved 
to  finance  projects  under  the  CBC  programme  Albania-Kosovo  and  the  2010  allocations 
reserved  to  finance  projects  under  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia  –  Kosovo 
programme.  Measures  have  been  introduced  to  prevent  and  to  mitigate  the  risks  related  to 
management  of  CBC  programmes.  Nevertheless,  the  other  allocations  for  the  two 
programmes have been successfully contracted, and the awarded projects will start in 2015. 
The  2014-2020  CBC  Programmes  between  Kosovo  and  the  former  Yugoslav  Republic  of 
Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro were adopted, as well as the respective allocations for 
the year 2014.   

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING  

Indicative Strategy paper 

In 2014 the preparation of the Indicative Strategy Paper for Kosovo 2014-2020 was finalised. 
The  Indicative  Strategy  Paper  was  developed  with  the  view  of  the  programming  and 
implementation  of  the  new  IPA  instrument  for  the  period  2014-2020.  The  paper  aims  to 
reflect  a  strategic  and  result  oriented  approach  in  delivering  IPA  assistance.  The  Indicative 
Strategy Paper for Kosovo was adopted on 20 August 2014. A select number of sectors were 
identified  in  close  cooperation  with  the  Kosovo  authorities  and  the  donor  community,  and 
were consulted with stakeholders, including civil society organisations. The sectors selected 
are: democracy and governance, rule of law and fundamental rights; energy; competitiveness 
innovation;  education,  employment  and  social  policies;  agriculture  and  rural 
and 
development.  

Objectives of the Democracy and Governance sector:  to support Kosovo in creating a de-
politicised,  reliable,  transparent  and  accountable  public  administration,  able  to  provide  an 
efficient service to the citizens and the business community, and in line with EU standards; to 
support the strengthening of the economic governance with a focus on strategic planning and 
preparation  to  the  indirect  management  by  Kosovo.  This  will  include  the  strengthening  of 

41 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
public finance management and the reinforcement of tax administration and tax collection. An 
additional objective is to reinforce civil society, in order to stimulate participatory democracy. 

Objectives  of  the  Rule  of  Law  and  fundamental  rights  sector:  to  support  creation  of  an 
accountable,  independent,  and  efficient  judicial  system    aligned  to  EU  legislation  and  best 
practice;  to  enhance  the  capacity  to  prevent,  investigate,  prosecute  and  convict  cases  of 
organised crime and corruption; implementation of the legal framework for the protection of 
human  rights  and  protection  of  minorities,  including  creating  sustainable  livelihoods  and 
durable integration into society for returnees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees 
who want to settle in Kosovo. 

Objectives in the Competitiveness and innovation sector: to improve the capacity to design 
and implement competitiveness related policies, increase the competitiveness of the Kosovan 
economy,  including  services  sector,  manufacturing  as  well  as  provision  of  public  services 
related to the needs of the private sector. 

Objectives  in  the  Energy  Sector:  to  support  Kosovo  ensuring  a  reliable  energy  supply  to 
citizens  and  enterprises,  and  aligning  its  legislation  to  the  EU  energy  standards.  Regarding 
energy  production,  the  objective  is  to  contribute  to  the  reduction  of  its  environmental  and 
health impact. 

Objectives in the Education, employment and social policies sector: to support Kosovo in 
implementing the employment and welfare strategy and improving the institutional capacities 
to design and implement effective policies and active labour market measures. In education, 
within  the  Kosovo  Education  Strategic  Plan  2011-2016,  Kosovo  identified  the  reduction  of 
the number of shifts in schools as a key objective. 

Objectives in the Agriculture and Rural Development sector: to increase substantially the 
competitiveness of Kosovo agriculture and food production; to raise the food safety standards 
of Kosovo products; to improve the living standards of Kosovo's rural population. 

Kosovo   

2014 

2015 

2016 

2017

a. Reforms in 
preparation for EU 
integration 
Democracy and 
governance 
Rule of law and 
fundamental rights 
b. Socio-economic 
and Regional 
development  
Energy 
Competitiveness 
and innovation 

37 

34 

31 

36 

66 

72 

20 

38 

33 

30 

117 

45 

76 

42 

55 

63 

2018-
2020 

99 

48 

51 

Of 
which climate 
change 
relevant (%) 
(**) 

0 

0 

0 

80 

Total 

2014-
2020 
(*) 

237 

115 

122 

238 

100 

138 

 
 
 
 
 
  
  
c. Employment, 
social policies, 
education, 
promotion of 
gender equality, 
and human 
resources 
development  
d. Agriculture and 
rural development   
TOTAL 

Programming exercise  

15 

7 

10 

16 

46 

94 

0 

12 

84 

7 

86 

15 

89 

10 

92 

36 

294 

80 

645 

20 

In  2014  the  Annual  Programme  IPA  2014  has  been  developed  and  it  was  adopted  on  11 
December 2014. The overall envelope of the programme is EUR 66.05 million, covering five 
sectors:  democracy  and  governance;  rule  of 
law  and  fundamental  rights;  energy; 
competitiveness and innovation; agriculture and rural development.  
The  actions  included  in  the  Annual  Programme  IPA  2014  will  contribute  to  the 
implementation of existing sector strategies and help Kosovo address the challenges it faces in 
the  respective  policy  areas.  IPA  2014  also  allocates  funding  to  the  creation  of  a  project 
pipeline  for  future  sectorial  investment  and  includes  an  allocation  for  political  priorities  to 
support  the  continuing  normalisation  of  Kosovo-Serbia  relations.  The  programme  is  to  be 
implemented partially in direct management and partially through indirect management with 
international organisations.  
In  2014  Kosovo  also  started  developing  its  first  Sector  Planning  Documents,  working 
documents used to steer the introduction of a fully-fledged sector approach, which will be the 
basis for mid-term programming of IPA assistance.  

SECTOR 
Democracy and Governance 

BUDGET 
EUR 17 300 000 

Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights 

EUR 20 600 000 

Energy 

Competitiveness and innovation 

EUR 5 500 000 

EUR 12 150 000 

Agriculture and Rural Development 

EUR 10 500 000 

3.  IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE  

In  2014  the  implementation  of  the  IPA  I  programmes  went  smoothly.  During  the  reporting 
period  the  EU  Office  signed  212  contracts  for  a  total  of  EUR  79.3  million.  This  88.3% 
achievement represents a nominal 15% increase on the 2013 figures. 
During  the  same  period,  for  the  contracts  allocated  to  Kosovo,  a  total  value  of  EUR  91.1 
million was disbursed, 15% more than in 2013.  

43 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
Part  of  the  progress  achieved  in  2014  can  be  explained  by  achieving  full  staffing  of  the 
Finance  and  Contract  Section  although  the  situation  towards  the  end  of  the  year  is  more  or 
less back at the end-2013 level with three posts vacant. The main reason is greater efficiency, 
improvement of procurement methodology and efficient use of resources. The main hurdle in 
procurement  remains  the  delays  experienced  in  the  preparation  of  tender  files:  mitigation 
measures  have  been  introduced,  in  particular  by  increasing  cooperation  between  task  and 
procurement managers at the earliest stage, contributing to speed up the process. 

Justice and Home Affairs  

IPA  project  support  Kosovo  in  the  process  of  strengthening  the  judiciary  and  its  efforts  in 
fighting corruption and organised crime, including in areas such as civil justice. The IPA 2013 
intervention  "Support  to  Civil  Code  and  Property  Rights"  aims  at  strengthening  the  rule  of 
law and approximate domestic legislation of Kosovo with the European standards in the area 
of  civil  law  and  property  rights.  The  project  is  focussing  in  particular  on:  (a)  conduct  an 
overall analysis of the existing civil code related laws in Kosovo and, on the basis of that, to 
draft a comprehensive civil code in compliance with EU acquis, and to (b) conduct an overall 
analysis  of  property  rights  in  Kosovo  and,  on  the  basis  of  that,  to  start  the  process  of 
improving  the  overall  coherency  of  the  regulatory  framework  on  property  rights.  The 
implementation  started  in  July  2014,  and  started  already  delivering  positive  results,  despite 
the political stalemate that characterised Kosovo during most of 2014. 

The  visa  liberalisation  dialogue  continued  in  2014  with  the  Commission  issuing  its  second 
report  on  Kosovo's  progress  in  July,  following  expert  missions  in  the  spring.  Despite  the 
political stalemate, work at technical level has continued also through IPA support. 
IPA  2012  "Strengthening  criminal  investigation  capacities  against  organised  crime  and 
corruption" project aims strengthening criminal investigation capacities on central and local 
level in order to effectively fight organised crime and corruption, including strengthening of 
the Kosovo Police internal oversight mechanisms as well as facilitating regional cooperation. 
The  project  directly  addresses  some  of  the  key  issues  identified  under  Block  3  of  the  visa 
liberalisation dialogue.  

Private Sector Development  

the  IPA  2008  project  "Extension  of  Water  Treatment  Plant  at  Shipol, 
In  2014 
Mitrovicë/Mitrovica"  was  finalised,  for  a  total  value  of  EUR  10  million.  The  project  has 
managed  to  improve  the  potable  water  supply  for  approximately  250,000  inhabitants  in 
Mitrovicë /Mitrovica region, both in the South and in the Northern part. 

One of the main focuses of IPA assistance in the sector in 2014 has been the support to North 
of Kosovo, in particular to its socio and economic development.  
“Support  to  Young  Farmers  and  Semi-Subsistence  Farms”  in  Northern  Kosovo,  through  an 
allocation of EUR 0.25 million, contributed to improve the conditions of primary agriculture 
production  for  9  small  farmers,  particularly  in  beekeeping,  cattle  breeding  and  vegetable 
production.  Additional  EUR  0.5  million  allocated  to  “Support  to  dairy,  meat,  fruit  and 
vegetables  processing  sub-sectors  of  agriculture”  improved  the  overall  capacities  of  2  agri-
food  processing  establishments  of  regional  importance,  in  municipality  of  Leposavic  and 
Zubin Potok.  

44 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Improvements are already evident in increased primary production, higher commercialization 
and income generation. Processing potential of the region is increased as well, particularly in 
enhanced capacities and better food quality and safety standards.   
Moreover  in  2014  the  EU  Office  signed  67  grants  contracts  as  part  of  the  IPA  2013  part  II 
programme, with a total of EUR 8.5 million in the areas of basic municipal infrastructure and 
support to private sector development. These grants will have a direct impact on alleviation of 
unemployment,  strengthening  agriculture,  environment,  business  and  civil  society  sector, 
improving economic situation, social cohesion, integration and cooperation.  

Public Administration Reform 

One of the major achievements in the relations between Kosovo and the European Union has 
been the completion of the negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) 
between the Commission and Kosovo early in May 2014. Initialling of the SAA took place on 
25 July 2014. 
IPA supported and continues  to support  Kosovo  in introducing  the EU  the standards and in 
preparing  to  implement  future  obligations  stemming  from  the  SAA.  A  number  of  projects 
have been implemented in 2014, in particular in the areas of strengthening human resources 
capacities  of  Kosovo  public  administration,  public  finance  management,  trade,  and 
competitiveness. 
The IPA 2013 "Support to Kosovo's policy and strategic planning" project has the precise aim 
to strengthen the capacities of the Strategic planning Office of the Prime Minister Office, in 
developing  meaningful  public  policies  and  contributing  to  effective  Government  decision-
making 
the  European 
integrates  Kosovo's  overall  development  agenda  with 
approximation  agenda  and  available  resources.  The  activities  under  implementation  are  in 
particular supporting the Strategic Planning office and the other relevant stakeholders in the 
Kosovo administration in developing a Kosovo Development Strategy, which shall underpin 
the overall policy planning of Kosovo in the years to come. 

that 

Kosovo needs to address systematically public finance management reforms, in particular by 
improving  the  link  between  strategic  planning  and  the  budget  preparation  process.  In  this 
respect  IPA  is  supporting  Kosovo  in  addressing  these  key  issues  through  a  number  of 
interventions,  including  the  IPA  2012  projects  "  Support  to  the  Ministry  of  Finance"  and  " 
Public  Finance:  Strengthened  budget  planning  process".  The  support  to  the  Ministry  of 
Finance,  under  implementation  since  2013,  is  contributing  to  the  improvement  of  Kosovo's 
participation in more integrated economic and fiscal surveillance and to the improvement the 
fiscal  decentralisation  process  in  Kosovo,  by  ensuring  a  closer  link  between  budget  and 
service delivery at local level. 
The  support  to  the  budget  planning  process  on  the  other  hand  strengthen  the  budgeting 
process  through  supporting  the  systems'  sustainability  and  improving  the  use  of  the  Public 
Investment  Programme  (PIP)  and  Budget  Development  Management  Systems  (BDMS)  by 
budget organisations.  

45 

 
 
 
 
 
4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES  

In  Kosovo  all  IPA  assistance  is  delivered  through  direct  management  and  indirect 
management with international organisations, International financing institutions and Member 
States Agencies.  

Monitoring 

Kosovo  was  included  in  the  target  area  of  the  Result  Oriented  Monitoring  (ROM)  project 
managed by DG Enlargement's Regional and Horizontal Programmes Unit. Accordingly, all 
ongoing  contracts  with  a  value  of  more  than  EUR  1  million  are  subject  to  ROM  which 
provides  an  independent  opinion  on  the  effectiveness,  efficiency  and  the  impact  of  project 
implementation.  
During  the  reporting  period  20  projects  (corresponding  to  20  contracts)  of  a  total  value  of 
approximately  EUR  29.44  million  were  subject  to  ROM.  Overall,  the  performance  of  these 
projects has been assessed as high. In particular, 7 out of 20 projects achieved above-average 
ROM grades and were in ROM category I, while 4 projects were in ROM category IIa. 
The EUO ensures that the ROM recommendations are taken on board. 

Evaluation 

Two evaluations were completed in 2014: 

All projects in the energy sector funded under IPA I since 2007 were evaluated in terms of the 
effectiveness of the support provided to the capacity building pertaining to the 
implementation of the Energy Community Treaty. 

Evaluation of the contribution of the IPA assistance provided to the regional development 
structures (Regional Development Agencies and Association of Regional Development 
Agencies) and through Regional Economic Development Grant Schemes to the economic 
development of Kosovo regions. 

Both evaluations provided information and recommendations on the support given until now, 
the  impact  delivered  and  what  further  steps  to  undertake  in  the  two  relevant  sectors.  The 
Commission  has  taken  on  board  these  recommendations  as  the  future  assistance  in  these 
sectors is programmed. 

5.- SUCCESS STORIES 

IPA  2011:  EU-Community  Stabilisation  Programme  Phase  II  (EU-CSP  II)      -  (EUR  3.0 
million) 

The project is towards its final stage of implementation and it specific objective of the action 
was  to  strengthen  the  socio-economic  sustainability  and  integration  of  ethnic  minority 
communities by supporting viable income and employment creation within the wider Kosovo 
economy and society. Under this intervention until now 284 community based projects have 
been  supported,  of  which  220  were  individual  businesses  and  64  community  development 
projects, which resulted in creating/securing almost 800 jobs in community areas.   

46 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
IPA 2008: Improving District Heating in Pristina - (EUR 14,0 million) 

This project is part of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), a joint initiative 
of  the  European  Commission  and  IFIs  to  support  investments  for  socio-economic 
development of the Western Balkans through combined grant and loan financing. This is one 
of  the  biggest  projects  in  the  energy  sector  in  Kosovo  and  has  pulled  together  funds  from 
different donors including the EU contribution of EUR 14 million, contribution of the German 
Government and the KfW Development Bank with EUR 15 million, Pristina municipality and 
government  of  Kosovo  with  EUR  5  million,  and  the  Swedish  Internationl  Cooperation 
Develpopmet Agency (SIDA) and Luxembourg with EUR 3,4 million.   

The  project  has  linked  the  district  heating  network  of  Pristina  with  the  cogeneration  unit 
installed at Kosovo B power plant. The project became operational in November 2014. In the 
past the district heating plant used to burn heavy fuel oil in order to heat the water that was 
then circulated into the network to reach the consumers. The use of heavy fuel oil was very 
expensive;  it  increased  the  operating  cost  of  the  company  and  made  it  impossible  for  the 
company  to  invest  on  maintenance  and  on  expanding  the  system.  With  the  cogeneration 
project the company has reduced by half the operating cost. The environmental benefits are 
also evident because there is no longer air pollution in the city due to burning heavy fuel oil 
which contains sulphur.  

In 2015 the project will deliver rehabilitation of about 15% of the pipes and substations in the 
network.  The  network  is  very  old  and  over  60%  of  the  pipes  and  substations  need  to  be 
replaced  in  order  to  reduce  and  minimise  the  heat  losses.  The  networks  also  need  to  be 
extended to take benefit of the full heat production capacity available from the cogeneration 
(140MWth). The existing network covers only 23% of the heat demand in Pristina and with 
the extension up to available heat supply capacity the district heating company will serve over 
40% of the heat demand.  

This  project  is  not  only  important  for  Pristina,  it  has  a  much  bigger  impact  on  Kosovo's 
energy  outlook  and  security  of  supply.    The  project  has  an  impact  on  reducing  the  use  of 
electricity for heating, which has positive implications on the electricity balance of Kosovo.  

47 

 
 
 
 
MONTENEGRO  

1. SUMMARY  

In 2014 Montenegro made further progress in the accession negotiations. During the year, ten 
additional chapters were open, bringing the total to sixteen chapters opened, out of which two 
chapters  have  been  provisionally  closed.  The  programming  and  implementation  of  EU 
financial  assistance  for  Montenegro  during  2014  took  place  in  the  context  of  on-going 
accession negotiations and transition to the IPA II framework for the financial period 2014-
2020. 

As regards the programming of IPA, efforts during 2014 were focused on the finalisation of 
the Indicative Strategy Paper (ISP) for Montenegro 2014-2020 and on the preparation of the 
2014 Annual Action Programme.  Furthermore, steps were taken towards the implementation 
of the sector approach, with the preparation of planning documents for all IPA sectors, as well 
as with the launch of preparations for future sector budget support interventions.  

The  implementation  of  financial  assistance  under  IPA  I  continued  in  2014.  IPA  2007-2011 
Component I Programmes have been fully contracted and IPA 2012-2013 is well underway. 
IPA Component II also showed a high rate of implementation. At the end of 2014, there were 
212 ongoing IPA contracts for a value EUR 86.5 million.  

In  2014,  Montenegro  has  been  indicatively  allocated  an  amount  of  EUR  39.6  million.  The 
funds allocated  to  2014  Action  Programme amount  to  EUR  35.7  million,  while  the  rest  has 
been assigned to Civil Society Facility and Regional Housing Programme.  

During  2014,  Montenegro  made  good  progress  regarding  preparations  for  decentralised 
management  the  conferral  of  management  for  IPA  Component  III  and  IV  was  finalised  in 
April and July 2014 respectively.  

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING  

Indicative Strategy paper 

The Indicative Strategy Paper for Montenegro was finalized in the first half of the year and 
adopted by the Commission in August 2014. The document sets out priorities for EU financial 
assistance in the period of 2014-2020 with the aim to support Montenegro on its path to EU 
membership.  In  this  respect,  in  providing  financial  assistance  to  Montenegro  preference  is 
given  to those areas where reforms and investments are most needed to meet the accession 
criteria while taking into account the capacities of the country to meet these needs.  

Therefore, Rule of law and fundamental rights and Democracy and governance continue to be 
priorities  under  IPA  II.  In  these  sectors,  IPA  will  support  the  implementation  of  the  Action 
Plans  for  Chapters  23  and  24,  as  well  as  the  reform  of  the  public  administration,  the 
strengthening of civil society and improving public financial management.  

The  Montenegro  Strategy  Paper  also  reflects  the  recent  economic  experience  in  Europe.  In 
this  regard,  the  Strategy  Paper  sets  out  that  IPA  II  will  contribute  to  the  socio-economic 
development  and  implementation  of  structural  reforms.  The  assistance  to  the  sectors 
Competitiveness and innovation, as well as Education, employment and social policies will be 

48 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
of crucial importance for ensuring stable economic growth and convergence towards the EU 
development standards. Finally, the sectors Agriculture and rural development, Environment 
and climate action, as well as Transport are also key sectors for IPA II assistance not only due 
to their strong economic potential, but also because these sectors are investment intensive and 
technically demanding. 

Indicative allocation per year/sector 

Montenegro 

2014  2015  2016  2017 

Democracy and 
governance 
Rule of law and 
fundamental rights 
Environment and 
climate action 
Transport 
Competitiveness and 
innovation 
Education, employment 
and social policies 
Agriculture and rural 
development  

29.1 

31.6 

18.8 

20.2 

12.3 

15.3 

24.7 

2018-
2020 

Total 
2014-
2020 

17.8 

46.9 

20.7 

52.3 

18.7 

37.5 

11.8 

32.1 

8.9 

21.2 

12.8 

28.1 

27.7 

52.4 

TOTAL 

39.5

35.6

37.5

39.6

118.5  270.5 

Programming exercise  

Programming  activities  in  2014  focused  on  the  finalisation  of  the  Indicative  Strategy  Paper 
(ISP)  for  Montenegro  and  the  preparation  of  the  2014  Annual  Action  Programme.  The 
Commission  adopted  2014  Annual  Action  Programme  on  10  December  2014.  In  addition, 
initial  work  was  done  in  preparation  for  Sector  Budget  Support  (SBS)  Programme  in  2015 
and multi-annual Sector Planning Documents (SPDs).  

In  its  2013-2014  Enlargement  Strategy,  European  Commission  emphasised  the  need  to 
address fundamental reforms first. This policy priority guided the selection of sectors for 2014 
Action  Programme.  Therefore,  emphasis  was  placed  on  democracy  and  governance;  rule  of 
law  and  fundamental  rights  and 
improvement  of  economic  governance  and 
competitiveness.  In  the  2014  Action  Programme,  six  out  of  eight  sectors  identified  in  the 
Indicative  Strategy  paper  were  addressed.  The  programme  was  adopted  by  the  Commission 
on 10 December 2014. 

the 

The 2014 Programme includes actions in the Democracy and Governance sector that address 
the reform of the public financial management (PFM) system, which is an integral part of the 
public  administration  reform  (PAR).  Furthermore,  the  programme  supports  Montenegro  its 
efforts to align with the EU acquis in the areas of taxation, customs and procurement. In the  

49 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights sector, the programme will support the implementation 
of the Action Plans for Chapters 23 and 24 with a focus on the judiciary and the fight against 
organised crime and corruption as well as on anti-discrimination and gender equality policies.  

In the Environment and Climate Action sector, the programme will support the harmonisation 
of  the  national  legislation,  especially  in  relation  with  the  water  directive,  and  an  improved 
administrative  capacity  in  line  with  the  requirements  of  EU  acquis  on  environment.  The 
Transport  sector  will  aim,  on  the  one  hand,  at  improving  the  road  transportation  systems 
while, on the other hand, at promoting the connection Bar-Belgrade through the rehabilitation 
of a section of railways in Montenegro. The IPA II 2014 Action Programme will contribute in 
the  Competitiveness  and  Innovation  sector  to  improving  the  business  environment  and 
supporting  Montenegro  in  aligning  and  implementing  the  EU  acquis  related  to  financial 
services  and  internal  market.  Lastly,  in  the  Agriculture  and  Rural  Development  sector,  two 
actions will address the subsectors veterinary and fishery. 

Finally, EU integration Facility will support IPA II implementation and programming as well 
as  the  preparation  of  the  negotiation  process  in  the  sectors  not  otherwise  addressed  in  the 
Programme. 

In  addition  to  the  actions  included  in  this  Programme,  the  Regional  and  Territorial 
Cooperation  sector  will  be  supported  in  2014  through  multi-country  action  programmes, 
Cross-Border Cooperation Programmes and ERDF trans-national cooperation programmes. 

As  regards  Cross  Border  Cooperation  under  IPA  II,  2014  was  devoted  to  the  process  of 
programming of IPA II for three transnational programmes MED, Danube and the Adriatic-
Ionian  programme,  two  trilateral  programmes  (HR-ME-BiH  and  IT-ME-AL)  and  four 
bilateral  CBC  programmes.  Montenegro  will  manage  two  bilateral  programmes  as  single 
contracting Authority under indirect management. 

Allocation by sector according to 2014 Programme 

Indirect management 
By IPA II 
beneficiary  
EUR 9 827 920.00 

Other implementation arrangements  
(Direct management by the EU Delegation)  

EUR 4 604 080.00  

EUR 5 035 000.00 

EUR 935 000.00 

EUR 1 900 000.00 

EUR 5 175 300.00  
EUR 5 350 000.00 

EUR 2 880 000.00 

Democracy and 
Governance  
Rule of Law and 
Fundamental 
Rights  
Environment and 
Climate Action  
Transport  
Competitiveness 
and Innovation  
Agriculture and 
Rural 
Development  

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE  

Implementation  of  IPA  projects  advanced  well  in  2014:  IPA  2007-2011  Component  I 
Programmes  have  been  fully  contracted  and  IPA  2012-2013  is  well  underway.  IPA 

50 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Component II also shows a high rate of implementation. At the end of 2014, there were 212 
ongoing  IPA  contracts  for  a  value  EUR  86.5  million.  The  size  of  the  country,  the  limited 
absorption  capacity  of  individual  beneficiary  institutions  and  the  high  number  of  CBC 
projects are among others the reasons for a high number of contracts. 

IPA  financial  assistance  supported  the  preparation  and  implementation  of  the  Actions  Plans 
for  Chapters  23  and  24  which  is  the  key  policy  framework  for  the  negotiations  of  these 
Chapters.  The implementation of these funds also contributed to the opening of chapters in 
the accession negotiations during 2014, as most institutions involved in this process benefitted 
to some extent from pre-accession assistance. 

There  were  151  TAIEX  events  in  Montenegro  in  2014.  The  EU  Delegation  contracted  one 
twinning and three twinning light projects with Member States for a total value of EUR 1.75 
million.  IPA  also  contributed  to  pay  the  entry  ticket  to  five  Union  Programmes  in  which 
Montenegro  participated:  Europe  for  Citizens  2012-2013,  Lifelong  Learning  programme 
(2007-2013) for the year 2013, Creative Europe for the year 2014, Horizon 2020 (for the year 
2014) and ICT Policy Support Programme year 2013. 

Sector I: Justice and Home Affairs and Fundamental Rights 

During  2014,  IPA  financial  assistance  supported  the  preparation  and  implementation  of  the 
Actions  Plans  for  Chapters  23  and  24  and  specifically  contributed  to  strengthening  the 
administrative  capacity  of  the  law  enforcement,  judicial,  anti-money  laundering  and 
prosecutorial  authorities  which  resulted  in  the  consolidation  of  the  track  record  of 
investigations,  indictments,  prosecutions  and  convictions  of  organised  crime  and  corruption 
cases. Other key deliverables obtained with IPA support include feasibility studies and gap-
needs analysis for the adoption of the Schengen Action plan which is underway. In the area of 
fundamental  rights,  key  achievements  included  amendments  to  the  Laws  on  Anti-
discrimination  and  Ombudsman,  further aligning the national framework with EU standards 
and  the  strengthening  of  the  institutional  capacities  of  the  Ombudsman  and  Constitutional 
Court.  The Law on Gender Equality was also amended and activities in terms of combating 
violence  against  women  and  empowering  women  in  economic  and  political  life  continued. 
Coordinators for gender equality were appointed in 105 institutions in Montenegro. 

Sector II: Public Administration Reform / Market economy / Economic Governance 

In the area of Public Administration Reform (PAR), IPA support resulted in the improvement 
of  the  legislative  framework  through  adoption  of  the  Law  on  General  Administrative 
Procedures  and  the  development  of  an  awareness  and  training  programme  on  the  new  legal 
provisions. In public finance, IPA support resulted in the conferral of management powers for 
the  implementation  of  IPA  Components  III  and  IV  as  well  as  the  gradual  adaptation  of  the 
systems  to  the  requirements  of  IPA  II.    Special  focus  was  put  on  introducing  an  improved 
audit methodology of  the  Audit Authority. As regards state aid, IPA support resulted  in  the 
establishment of a modern state aid registry. Significant support was delivered in statistics to 
improve  the  national  accounts,  business  and  agricultural  statistics.  In  the  areas  of  economic 
governance and market economy IPA support was very successful in improving the capacity 
of  the  Agency  for  protection  of  competition  and  judiciary  to  work  on  anti-trust  and  merger 
cases, which resulted in a general improved enforcement record. The strategy and action plan 
for  free  movement  of  goods  were  adopted  with  IPA  support.  IPA  financial  assistance  also 
resulted  in  the  adoption  a  new  Law  on  General  Product  Safety  and  in  launching  the 
harmonisation process for transposition of the Services Directive. 

Sector III: Environment and climate change 

51 

 
 
The projects  implemented during 2014 in  the  area of  environmental protection  were  mainly 
related to preparation of National Waste Management Strategy and National and Local Waste 
Management  Plans.  A  project  related  to  construction  of  waste  water  treatment  station  in 
Pljevlja  is  still  ongoing.  Projects  related  to  design  of  an  Environmental  Information  System 
for  the  Environmental  Protection  Agency,  preparation  of  a  climate  change  strategy  and 
provision  of  technical  assistance  to  the  Operating  Structure  for  IPA  Component  III 
commenced implementation in 2014. 

Sector IV: Transport 

In the area of maritime safety, the Vessel Traffic Management Information System (VTMIS) 
and  response  to  marine  pollution  incidents  has  enhanced  the  administrative  and  technical 
efficiency  of  the  Maritime  Safety  Department  (MSD)  in  the  field  of  monitoring  of  vessels, 
with special regard to vessels carrying dangerous and polluting goods. This is the first phase 
of the VTMIS establishment in Montenegro, which will enable the country to fulfil the future 
obligation as a Member State to monitor the part of the Adriatic Sea between Montenegro and 
Italy  and  to  actively  participate  in  disaster  prevention  in  the  region.  Due  to  very  specific 
Montenegrin legislation in the area of water bound transportation, those activities led also to 
the first steps in the restructuration of the inland water ways legislation. 

Sector V: Social development 

The reform of the social protection system and development of the civil society sector have 
continued to be priorities under IPA in 2014 and concrete improvements have been achieved. 
Within the IPA financed Social Welfare System Reform project, the Institute for Social and 
Child  Protection  was  established  in  the  second  half  of  2014.  The  tasks  of  the  institute  will 
include  performing  advisory,  research  and  professional  activities,  monitoring  the  quality  of 
professional work and service provision in the area of social and child protection, providing 
supervisory  support,  organizing  capacity  development  activities,  licensing  professionals, 
advising the relevant Ministries on enhancing existing and introducing new quality standards 
and social policies.  The development of Local Social Inclusion Plans (LSIPs) with respect to 
social services and partnership building among different actors in the field of social protection 
on  local  level,  has  been  facilitated  in  15  (70%)  of  Montenegrin  municipalities.  The 
functioning of 23 community based social services in nine municipalities has enabled 3,000 
beneficiaries  to  access  social  services.  This  included  a  Day  Care  Centre  for  children  with 
disabilities  in  Podgorica  which  was  reconstructed  and  fully  equipped.  The  first  small  group 
home  for  children  without  parental  care  has  been  constructed  and  equipped  in  Bijelo  Polje.  
Support  was  also  provided  to  the  Public  Institution  “Komanski  most”  in  setting  up  a 
department  for  persons  with  heavy  autism  and  persons  with  behavioural  disorders  and 
education of personnel to work with autistic persons.  

Sector VI: Agriculture and rural development 

In  the  area  of  rural  development,  IPA  financial  assistance  continues  to  prepare  the 
Montenegrin administration for future decentralised management of EU pre-accession funds 
dedicated  to  rural  development.  In  the  veterinary  area,  IPA  is  providing  support  to  further 
align Montenegrin legislation with the EU legal and regulatory framework in areas of animal 
health  and  welfare,  identification  and  registration  of  animals,  import  requirements  for  live 
animals and animal products and the use of veterinary medicinal products. With IPA support, 
the Animal Identification and Registration System has been extended to include pigs besides 
bovines and small ruminants introduced within previous IPA supports and the fifth and sixth 
oral  rabies  vaccination  campaigns  were  successfully  implemented  thus  the  efforts  in 
eradication of this zoonosis have continued. 

52 

 
 
Cross-border Cooperation 

In Montenegro the implementation of the ongoing five bilateral CBC programmes, financed 
under  the  programming  period  2007-2013,  is  approaching  its  final  stage.  So  far  around  190 
bilateral  and  transnational  cross-border  projects  with  a  total  value  of  more  than  EUR  30 
million have been implemented in Montenegro. The strategic project under the Cross-border 
programme  Albania-Montenegro  aiming  to  improve  the  infrastructure  at  two  important 
border-crossing points was confirmed to have a significant impact for the cross-border traffic 
between two countries, specifically in terms of fostering economic relations, connectivity and 
reducing illegal border-crossing activities. The participating countries and EU Delegations are 
coordinating  closely  in  the  design  and  implementation  of  the  related  infrastructural  works. 
During  2014  several  bilateral  CBC  projects  established  fruitful  synergies,  either  between 
projects or between partners. Overall, the Cross-border programmes in Montenegro, although 
mostly dealing with limited funds, proved to be an important instrument of preparation for the 
future  management  of  structural  funds  due  to  its  accessibility  for  small  and  medium  size, 
public and private entities at local level. At programme level, the participating countries, on 
the other hand, achieved smooth cooperation schemes based on a joint political commitment 

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES 

The  Commission  Decisions  for  conferral  of  management  for  Component  III  Regional 
Development and IV Human Resource Development were adopted respectively in April and 
July  2014.  The  Financing  Agreements  between  the  Government  of  Montenegro  and  the 
European Commission on the Operational Programmes "Regional Development 2012 – 2013" 
and  "Human  Resources  Development  2012-2013"  were  signed  and  entered  into  force  in 
December  2014.  The  two  operational  programmes  "Regional  development"  and  "Human 
Resource Development" are under implementation and benefit from substantial IPA technical 
assistance  covering  subject,  technical,  institutional,  legislative  and  procedural  aspects.  The 
Sectorial  Monitoring  Committees  for  the  two  operational  programmes  took  place  in 
December 2014. The activities related to the preparation of projects are progressing well.  

For internal  reasons  the Commission took a  decision not to decentralise the management of 
the  EU  funds  under  Components  I:  Technical  assistance  and  Institutional  building  and  II: 
Cross-Border  Cooperation,  the  latter  regarding  the  last  two  annual  allocations  under  IPA  I, 
which are thus being managed by the EU Delegation.  

As regards IPA Component V, Rural development, the institutional set up is now complete. 
The capacity of the IPARD agency - Directorate for payments in the Ministry of Agriculture 
and Rural Development, was upgraded. The accreditation package was audited by an external 
audit company. The major findings for the IPARD Agency and the Managing Authority are 
related  to  human  resource  management.  IPA  support  is  provided  for  the  operating  structure 
and the national fund. The programme has not yet been adopted.  

In the reporting period, Results-Oriented Monitoring (RoM) missions were undertaken for 12 
projects for a total EU primary commitment of EUR 6.06 million. Out of 12 projects, 6 were 
under implementation, and 6 projects had been completed and were monitored ex-post. Two 
projects had a primary commitment in excess of EUR 1m. The average score of the ongoing 
projects'  performance  was  2.77  on  a  scale  from  1  (serious  deficiencies)  to  4  (very  good), 
while  the  average  score  of  the  six  ex-post  monitored  projects'  performance  was  2.94.  The 

53 

 
 
 
 
 
 
2014 RoM report indicates  that  the  projects monitored  had  good  relevance (project  design), 
efficiency and impact but lower potential sustainability.  

There have been 57 monitoring missions by Programme  Managers  outside  Podgorica  in the 
reporting  period.  In  addition  to  regular  ongoing  monitoring  by  Programme  Managers  and 
Joint  Technical  Secretariats,  three  external  monitors,  financed  under  the  EUD  ATA  budget, 
visited  and  completed  monitoring  reports  for  33  grant  projects.  No  major  problems  were 
reported.  

In  addition  to  this  in-depth  monitoring  of  the  financial  assistance,  supervision  by  the 
Commission  services  was  done  through  the  participation  in  an  IPA  Monitoring  Committee 
meeting on 11 December 2014. This meeting was used to monitor the implementation of IPA 
funds and to identify jointly with the national authorities mitigating strategies/solutions were 
problems  arose.  The  meeting  was  also  an  opportunity  to  take  stock  of  the  progress  in 
preparing for Conferral of Management for all IPA Components. 

5. SUCCESS STORIES 

IPA 2010 Rehabilitation of the Pump Station Duklo in Nikšić (EUR 431,539) 

This project aimed to improve the regularity of water supply for households and businesses in 
the upper part of the city. With the installation of a modern pumping station the project was 
successful in improving water supply. The project/This included procurement and installation 
of the Pump Station Duklo; works for replacement of existing roof construction, locks, floor 
and  wall  ceramic  sanitary,  replacing  wiring  and  lighting,  construction  of  electrostatics  floor 
and inner paintworks and procurement of tank meter, flow meter, chlorometer, turbidimeter, 
cooling  system,  and  two  compressors.  Furthermore,  the  project  raised  the  awareness  of 
citizens on rational use of water.   

IPA 2008-2009 MARUBI: a cooperative model for tourist promotion (EUR 423,504) 

The  goal  of  MARUBI  project  was  to  enhance  the  economic  development  of  the  Shkodra-
Ulcinj  cross-border  area  by  building  on  its  tourism  potential  and  emphasising  the  common 
cultural  heritage  and  natural  beauty  of  the  area.  The  project  sought  to  screen  and  classify 
famous  photographs  of  the  Marubi  family  and  to  design  a  concrete  route,  which  would 
connect  and  valorise  the  rich  artistic  and  historical  heritage  of  the  region,  to  add  to  the 
attraction  and  entertainment  for  tourists  and  visitors. The project has resulted in the Marubi 
path, and a permanent itinerant exhibition on the Marubi collection. In addition, it enhanced 
competences  of  local  economic  and  tourism  operators,  developed  instruments  for  tourism 
promotion and the Marubi patrimony was inserted within local and European networks. 

The  project  encompasses/contains  all  aspects  of  good  practice  in  cross-border  cooperation 
including partnership, impact, networking, visibility as well as sustainability. It has been seen 
as  particularly  innovative  and  efficient,  with  excellent  dissemination  and  fair  sustainability 
prospects.  As  a  whole,  the  project  has  been  recognised  by  the  cross-border  stakeholders  as 
extremely  important  for  the  economic  prospects  and  cultural  life  of  the  local  communities. 
Moreover,  there  are  indications  that  the  local  tourist  organisations  and  other  relevant 
stakeholders will ensure the sustainability of the results. 

IPA 2013 Development of quality infrastructure (QI) and metrology (EUR 637,500)  

The  project  has  strengthened  the  capacity  of  Montenegro  to  meet  the  EU  legislative, 
regulatory  and  technical  requirements  for  free  movement  of  goods  through  significant 

54 

 
 
 
 
 
improvement in the strategic and regulative framework for free movement of goods indicated 
by the Adopted Strategy for the Implementation of the Acquis in the Field of Free Movement 
of Goods 2014-2018, and a five-year Action plan with annexes containing 253 technical and 
non-technical national legal acts which could contain unjustified barriers to trade. The project 
has  also  provided  a  significant  improvement  in  the  understanding  of  the  free  movement  of 
goods  and  product  safety  through  training  of  380  public  servants,  market  surveillance 
inspectors and other stakeholders. Three laboratories (pressure, electrical quantities and time 
and  frequency)  have  been  prepared  for  accreditation  by  the  National  Accreditation  Body 
(ATCG) and an accreditation body that is a signatory to an EA MLA (Croatia). The project 
has also established capacites for meeting EU and WTO-related obligations. 

55 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
SERBIA 

1. SUMMARY 

After  being  granted  candidate  country  status  in  2013,  EU  accession  negotiations  have  been 
launched at an Inter Governmental Conference in January 2014. In August the Commission 
adopted  the  Indicative  Strategy  Paper  for  Serbia  for  the  period  2014-2020.  This  was  the 
results  of  an  important  consultation  process  to  identify  the  key  sectors  of  EU  financial 
assistance  for  the  financial  perspective.  In  parallel  the  IPA  2014  Programme  has  been 
prepared  and  adopted  in  December.  Serbian  authorities  continued  to  move  towards  sectoral 
approach  by  improving  sector  coordination  through  the  sectoral  working  groups  and  the 
improvement of sectoral strategic frameworks. In order to improve selection and preparation 
of  infrastructure  investment,  Serbian  authorities  adopted  a  methodology  for  developing  a 
Single Project Pipeline. 
In  2014,  Serbia  has  been  severely  affected  by  floods  in  May.  Important  funds  have  been 
allocated  for  recovery  and  reconstruction  from  reallocation  under  previous  programmes  and 
part of IPA 2014 allocation for Serbia. 
On management of EU funds, Serbia has been granted with conferral of management power 
in March 2014 and the financing agreement has been signed in June for the implementation of 
this  part  of  IPA  2013  under  de-centralised  management.  However,  reshuffling  of  the 
Government in July created delays in implementation. 

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING  

Indicative Strategy paper 
The  Indicative  Strategy  Paper  for  Serbia  for  the  period  2014-2020  has  been  adopted  on  19 
August.  The  Strategy  Paper  identifies  the  priority  sectors  for  EU  assistance  for  a  period  of 
seven  years.  After  intense  consultations  with  Serbian  authorities,  with  civil  society 
organisations as well as donors including International Financial Institutions, focus has been 
decided  on  eight  sectors:  democracy  and  governance;  rule  of  law  and  fundamental  rights; 
energy; environment and climate action, competitiveness and innovation, agriculture and rural 
development;  and,  education,  employment  and  social  policies.  The  Strategy  Paper  sets  for 
each sector the objectives, results, actions and indicators foreseen for EU assistance. 

Indicative allocations per policy areas and per sectors12 

Serbia  

2014  2015 2016 2017 2018-2020 

Total 
2014-2020 

a. Reforms in preparation for 
Union membership 

Democracy and governance 

Rule of law and fundamental rights 
b. Socio-economic and Regional 
development  

95.1 61.4  77.9  78.4 

230.2 

543.0 

177.8 

135.0 

100.2 

130.0 

85.0
13

75.0  85.0  80.0 

240.0 

278.0 

265.0 

565.0 

12 Indicative Strategy Paper for Serbia (2014-2020), COM(2014)5872, p. 40. 

56 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
Environment and climate change 

Transport 

Energy 

Competitiveness and innovation 

c. Employment, social policies, 
education, promotion of gender 
equality, and human resources 
development  
Education, employment and social 
policies 
d. Agriculture and rural 
development   
Agriculture and rural development 

85.0 

90.0 

80.0 

70.0 

75.0 

85.0 

45.0 

35.0 

160.0 

175.0 

125 

105.0 

15.0 40.0  20.0  27.0 

88.0 

190.0 

102.0 

88.0 

190.0 

0 

25.0  25.0  30.0 

130.0 

80.0 

130.0 

210.0 

210.0 

TOTAL 

195.1 201.4 207.9 215.4

688.2 

1508.0 

Programming exercise: 
During  2014,  further  efforts  have  been  made  by  Serbian  authorities  to  improve  the  sector 
strategic framework to ensure a more targeted and more focused EU co-financing of national 
strategies  and  reforms.  This  process  was  led  by  the  sectoral  working  groups  under  the 
leadership of the secretariat of the National IPA Coordinator (NIPAC). 
Based on the priorities identified in the Strategy Paper, the 2013 Progress report and taking 
into  account  already  planned  and  on-going  assistance,  it  has  been  decided  with  Serbian 
authorities  to  focus  the  IPA  2014  Programme  to  a  limited  number  of  sectors.  The  5  sectors 
covered  by  2014  Programme  are  democracy  and  governance  with  an  emphasis  on  public 
financial management and capacity building on EU acquis; rule of law and fundamental rights 
with  a  focus  on  home  affairs  and  border  management;  energy;  competitiveness  and 
innovation; and, education, employment and social policies. 
The programme and proposed actions for EU co-financing have been discussed and consulted 
with national stakeholders, civil society organisations, and main donors including IFIs. 

Allocations by sectors in the IPA 2014 National Programme for Serbia14 

Sectors 

Democracy and governance 

Rule of law and fundamental rights 

Energy 

Competitiveness and innovation 

Allocations 

50,888,000 

27,512,000 

12,650,000 

5,000,000 

Education, employment and social inclusion 

19,040,000 

% 

44% 

24% 

11% 

4% 

17% 

14 COM(2014)9422, 11/12/2014,. 

57 

 
 
 
 
                                                                                                                                                                                          
 
Total 

115,090,000 

100% 

In  addition  to  IPA  2014  National  Programme,  a  special  measure  programme  has  been 
prepared to support further the reconstruction and recovery efforts after the severe floods that 
hit  Serbia  in  May.  EUR  72  million  have  been  allocated  for  medium  to  long  term 
reconstruction  and  prevention.  Additional  support  will  continue  for  providing  housing 
solutions, repairing public buildings and local infrastructures, as well as providing support for 
recovery  of  small  and  medium  size  enterprises  including  farmers.  In  addition  to  recovery, 
funds have been allocated to support increase of capacity building and floods preventions to 
prevent and mitigate future disasters. 

3 IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE 

During  the  year  2014  the  EU  accession  negotiations  started  with  the  Inter-Governmental 
Conference  in  January  and  by  the  screening  process  of  the  35  Chapters  of  the  negotiations 
framework. The Enlargement Strategy established the negotiations process addressing first the 
fundamentals,  being  rule  of  law  and  fundamental  rights;  public  administration  reform 
including public financial management; and, economic development. 
Based on the fundamentals first approach, Serbian authorities have been intensively working 
on  the  development  of  action  plans  for  the  Chapter  23  and  24.  Serbian  authorities  also 
adopted in December a strategy for public administration reform and started to work on the 
first Economic Reform Programme to be submitted early 2015. In addition, Serbia adopted in 
end 2014 the new energy sector development strategy for 2025. 
This important effort to improve strategic framework for reforms constitutes a solid basis for 
future IPA co-financing. 
The programming of IPA 2014 already took into account these elements and allocated funds 
for financing first actions contributing to the improvement of the fundamentals first approach, 
including with financing of investments for contributing to economic development. 

Public administration reform 

During 2014, IPA helped the continued training and capacity building of the administration in 
particular  for  the  development  of  the  system  for  professional  training  of  civil  servants.  
Important support has been also provided to support administrative capacities within the local 
self-government,  through  training  and  exchanges  in  particular  for  the  improvement  of 
planning  and  financial  capacities.  Key  support  has  been  also  provided  to  supports  the 
statistical  office  to  further  upgrade  the  statistical  system  in  line  with  the  EU  standards, 
especially  by  upgrading  the  ICT  system,  improving  the  system  of  producing  National 
Accounts and developing a set of Sustainable Development Indicators. 

Justice and home affairs 

Continued  support  has  been  provided  in  2014  for  the  justice  and  home  affairs  sectors.  This 
included  in  particular  substantial  trainings  for  judges  and  prosecutors  to  improve  skills  and 
capacities.  Support  has  been  also  provided  to  develop  alternative  sanctions  and  better  adapt 
judicial sanctions applications and also decrease number of detainees within prisons. In home 
affairs, support has been provided to improve border crossing points thus allowing faster and 
more  efficient  controls.  Customs  administration  has  also  been  supported  with  a  new 

58 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
computerized  transit  system  which  helps  Serbia  in  its  preparation  to  join  the  European 
customs union. The new system has neutralised the occurrences of delays at crossing points. 
Electronic goods declarations are issued and a new system for authorised economic operators 
ensures  that  declarations  are  forwarded  electronically  thereby  also  improving  Risk 
Management  at  borders.  Due  to  efforts  of  the  customs  administration  of  Serbia,  at  this 
moment  all  customs  posts  are  using  the  new  computerised  transit  system,  100  forwarding 
companies  are  electronically  submitting  NCTS  transit  declarations  and  more  than  40.000 
trucks passed through Serbia using this system. 

Social development 

Important  support  has  been  provided  to  Serbia  in  2014  especially  for  education  and  health 
systems. IPA supported further a network of pedagogical assistants in about 180 schools, their 
role being to provide children with equal opportunities, children from marginalised groups in 
particular.  Education  support  was  also  provided  for  vocational  training  in  Serbia  detention 
facilities to help detainees to be better integrate labour market. In the health sector, support 
was  provided  for  the  further  development  of  community  based  services  for  children  with 
disabilities.  Several  schools  have  been  adapted  and  equipped  for  full  day  residence  for 
primary and secondary school children with disabilities. In total, this project allows providing 
better  quality  life  for  930  children  and  introduced  52  new  services  for  children  with 
disabilities.  EU  funds  also  allowed  the  purchase  of  252  ambulances  to  hospitals  in  areas 
populated  by  national  minorities,  Roma  and  other  unprivileged  groups,  whose  access  to  the 
health care system has often proven difficult in the past. 

Private sector development 

Through the EU project “Strengthening of the Serbian system of market surveillance for non-
food and food products” Serbia and EU jointly financed the development and application of 
new, sophisticated, two-part information management system. The first part is database that 
offers detailed information about inspections and economic entities. Second part of the system 
is in charge with dissemination of information regarding the not harmonised and/or dangerous 
products that should be prevented from entering the Serbian market, and/or withdrawn from 
it. This will allow enabling better consumer protection and ensuring fair competition free of 
unnecessary trade restrictions for the direct benefit of citizens. The EU also granted EUR 2,7 
million  for  co-financing  of  the  construction  of    a  technology  park  in  Vrsac.  This  attracted 
eight  companies  from  pharmaceutical  industry  thus  creating  jobs  and  developing  national 
economy. 

Transport 

Further  support  has  been  provided  for  the  transport  sector  mainly  for  capacity  building  and 
progressive alignment with the acquis and EU obligations. In particular, support was provided 
to advance the completion, modernisation and sustainable development of the Serbian railway 
transport system within the pan-European corridor X, in order to meet the required capacity 
levels and quality standards relevant to the TEN-T network. 

Environment, climate change and energy 

Through its Municipal Infrastructure Support Programme, the EU, with a donation of  EUR 5 
million, has supported Subotica’s waste water treatment plant, thus improving environmental 

59 

 
 
 
 
 
 
protection in Subotica and its surrounding.  The EU also supported the establishment of the 
EU  Eco-Management  and  Audit  Scheme  (EMAS)  for  companies  and  other  organisations  to 
evaluate,  report,  and  improve  their  environmental  performance,  its  benefits  and  initial  steps 
made to its introduction in Serbia. This will allow proper enforcement of the law in the field 
of industrial pollution control and prevention of chemical accidents. IPA also contributed to 
the energy sector by financing the reconstruction of electrostatic precipitators at the thermal 
power  plant.  This  has  for  effect  to  improve  the  living  environment  and  to  decrease  harmful 
gas emissions detrimental to the environment. 

Agriculture and rural development 
Continued support has been provided to raise capacity within national institutions. Important 
support  has  been  also  provided  to  farmers  in  order  to  increase  competitiveness  and 
employment  opportunities.  The  project  "Garden  of  Serbia"  helped  agricultural  producers 
strengthen  their  cooperation  within  the  region  in  order  to  improve  access  to  regional  and 
international  markets.  Improve  the  quality  of  existing  agricultural  products  and  make  them 
more competitive on both the domestic as well as international markets. 

Support for recovery and reconstruction after the floods 
The Country was hit by severe floods in May which had a significant negative impact on the 
economy. The EU responded within the first days to support the relief efforts through the EU 
civil protection mechanism and humanitarian support. In addition, to respond to the short term 
needs for reconstruction and recovery after the floods, EUR30 million have been reallocated 
from tender savings under IPA 2012. The reallocation of funds has been adopted at the end of 
June and all contracts signed by beginning of July. By the end of 2014, 50% of the funds have 
been  disbursed  for  activities  implemented  and  finalised.  This  very  efficient  implementation 
has  been  made  possible  thanks  to  the  support  of  all  actors  involved  and  also  a  very  strong 
support from civil society organizations and international specialised organisations. 

Component II: Cross-border Cooperation  

In 2014, Serbia participated to three CBC Programmes IPA-IPA (with Croatia, Montenegro, 
Bosnia  and  Herzegovina),  three  shared  management  programmes  (with  Hungary,  Romania 
and  Bulgaria)  and  two  transnational  programmes  (Adriatic  and  South  East  Europe).  The 
accession  of  Croatia  to  the  European  Union  in  July  2013  will  imply  the  transfer  of  this 
programme into shared management mode starting from the next financial perspective, while 
the  two  transnational  programmes  will  be  renamed  respectively  "Adriatic-Ionian"  and 
"Danube" and their geographical coverage will be slightly adjusted.  
The impact of CBC in terms of fostering dialogue and reconciliation is large. The bottom-up 
approach  and  joint  dialogue  at  grass-root  level  which  is  the  essence  of  the  CBC  produced 
direct positive effects on the relations between the countries. CBC programmes enjoy a high 
degree  of  visibility  at  the  local  level.  The  year  2014  was  focused  on  the  implementation  of 
grants selected under the second Calls for Proposals under IPA I, while the launch of the third 
Calls for Proposals, initially planned for summer 2014, was postponed for all three IPA-IPA 
Programmes.  
Two new Programmes have been prepared for the period 2014-2020 with respectively Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, and adopted in December with the first allocation of funds 
for 2014 yearly allocation. 

60 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4 IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES  

In 2014 the EU Delegation to Serbia continued to implement large part of EU funds allocated 
to Serbia, including through joint management with Member States agencies or international 
organizations. 
In March 2014 the Commission decided to grant Serbia the conferral of management power to 
implement part of EU funds under indirect management. In June, the Commission and Serbia 
signed the Financing Agreement related to the part of IPA 2013 to be implemented under de-
centralised management. However, due to resignations and reshuffling of the Government, the 
key  position  of  Competent  Accrediting  Officer  (CAO)  and  National  Authorising  Officer 
(NAO)  remained  vacant  until  December.  This  vacancy  in  high  level  responsibilities  created 
delays in the implementation of IPA 2013. The Commission continued to monitor closely the 
development  and  progress  and  conducted  in  December  an  audit  mission  to  support  national 
authorities in ensuring a smooth and sound implementation of EU funds. 

The Commission also continued to monitor the implementation of previous IPA Programmes 
in particular through the Sector Monitoring Sub-Committees (SMSCs) on regular basis, and 
in the context of the Joint Monitoring Committee held in October. This monitoring framework 
helped to ensure sound implementation of programmes as well as discussing projects facing 
difficulties and bottlenecks at a high level in order to identify operational conclusions. 

In  addition,  the  Results  Oriented  Monitoring  (ROM)  activities  continued  with  some  40 
independent  monitoring  reports  produced  covering  an  allocation  of  some  EUR  200  million. 
The reports confirmed the overall good implementation of projects as well as their efficiency. 
The  sustainability  being  in  some  cases  an  issue,  in  particular  due  to  high  turnover  in  the 
administration at national and local level.  

The EU Delegation to Serbia also conducted on-the-spot visits to monitor and audit projects. 
Some 45 projects have been monitored in 2014  

5 - SUCCESS STORIES 

EU flood relief response in Serbia 

In  May  2014,  Serbia  was  hit  by  devastating  floods  which  took  away  at  least  50  lives  and 
caused an estimated  damage  of  EUR  1,7 billion. The European Union, in an unprecedented 
show  of  solidarity,  provided  immediate  assistance  through  its  EU  Civil  Protection 
Mechanism.  A  total  of  16  EU  Member  States  offered  assistance  such  as  motor  boats, 
helicopters, pumps, humanitarian kits and deployed over 300 relief workers to Serbia. An EU 
Civil  Protection  team  was  sent  to  Serbia  to  help  with  the  coordination  of  relief  efforts  and 
assist rescue operations. The EU also released €  1 million in humanitarian aid to help the most 
vulnerable  population  in  Serbia.  Among  others,  the  funding  was  used  to  deliver  food  aid, 
provision of clean water, health and sanitation. 
While the EU civil protection teams were on the ground, the Delegation of the EU to Serbia 
and the European Commission in record time reallocated EUR 30 million worth of IPA funds 
for  an  EU  flood  relief  assistance  programme.  The  programme  was  kicked  off  in  July  2014 
with the aim to help the reconstruction of schools, kindergartens, private houses as well as the 
rehabilitation  of  public  buildings  and  roads  in  24  most  affected  municipalities.  Through  the 
programme, the EU is also providing economic grants to small and medium sized enterprises 
as well as seeds and livestock to farmers who have suffered from the floods.  
By the end of the year 93 new houses were built, 685 damaged houses repaired, 200 small and 
medium  size  entreprises  supported  to  restore  income  generation  activities,  13  schools 

61 

 
 
 
 
 
reconstructed  for  more  than  11,000  children  and  students,  9,600  farming  families  received 
wheat  seeds,  fertilisers,  fruits  seedlings  and  animal  feed;  and,  11,5  km  of  roads  have  been 
reconstructed used by more than 500,000 citizens. 
An additional package of EUR 72 million has been allocated in December to support medium 
term  reconstruction  and  recovery  efforts  and  long  term  capacity  building,  floods  prevention 
and defenses as well as river management. 
EU  assistance  for  flood  relief  is  the  most  recognisable  EU  funded  project  in  Serbia.  It 
increased visibility of EU assistance in general. A September poll showed that the number of 
people who are aware of some EU funded programme or donation rose to 26% from 9% in 
February.  EU  assistance  for  flood  relief  is  recognised  by  78%  of  respondents.  EU  and 
Delegation's effort have helped to maintain support for EU accession in Serbia stable at above 
50% despite the traditionally strong sympathy for Russia in Serbia.  

Construction of Substation 400/110 kV Vranje - 4 and Leskovac – 2 

In the Vranje area, electricity supply is both insufficient and unreliable as it consists of two 
very  long  and  old  overhead  lines.  In  this  region  of  South-east  Serbia,  there  has  been  an 
increase  in  population  accompanied  by  an  increase  in  local  demand  for  electricity  which  is 
met by local distribution facilities.  If the region’s local industries were to expand and future 
economic  investment  promoted,  adequate  power  supply  was  an  absolute  necessity.  In 
addition, further increases in electricity demand were anticipated for Corridor X finalisation 
(Salzburg-Ljubljana-Zagreb-Beograd-Nis-Skopje-Thessaloniki,  particularly  when  the  “C” 
branch from Nis to Sofia shall be included).   
This  project  is  part  of  the  southern  Serbia  electricity  development  network  which  provides 
improved and reliable power supplies  for  the region. It facilitates economic development in 
southern  Serbia  by  providing  power  access  for  investments  and  economic  activities  along 
Corridor 10.  
With  these  investments  the  hydro-power  plants  at  Vrla  (1/2/3/4)  shall  achieve  optimal 
capacity  and  efficiency.    Their  locations  (geographical  and  electrical)  are  at  a  midpoint 
between  Leskovac  and  Vranje,  so  both  facilities  have  equally  favourable  impact  on  the 
production regime of Hydro Power Plant Vrla. 
The  construction  of  the  Vranje  4  traffo  commenced  in  October  2012  and  was  completed  in 
November  2014,  all  along  according  to  plan.  This  was  a  joint  effort  of  the  EU  and  Serbian 
electrical  networks  –  totaling  in  EUR  21  million,  of  which  EUR  15.5  million  was  a  EU 
donation. "Serbia now has a final product – a completely equipped object which is the pride 
of the Electrical Networks Utility Company and the whole country", as stated by one of the 
key stakeholders at its opening in December 2014. 

62 

 
 
 
 
TURKEY  

1. SUMMARY  

Building  on  the  new  strategic  and  result-oriented  financial  instrument  for  pre-Accession 
assistance,  the  Indicative  Strategy  Paper  for  Turkey  covering  the  period  2014-2020  was 
adopted in August 2014. It provides a frame for the EU financial assistance to the country in 
line with the political priorities set out in the enlargement policy.   

The first annual Action Programme 2014 and four sectoral multiannual programmes were also 
adopted. With the aim of concentrating IPA II financial assistance on a limited number of key 
priorities, the proposed annual Action Programme 2004 focuses mainly on the enhancement 
of  democracy  and  governance,  rule  of  law  and  fundamental  rights.  The  sectoral  annual 
programmes have been designed to contribute to the socio-economic development of Turkey 
by  supporting  investments  in  the  areas  of  environment  and  climate  change,  transport, 
competitiveness, employment and social inclusion. The Rural Development Programme under 
IPA  II  for  the  years  2014-2020  was  also  adopted  in  December  2014.  The  budget  for  the  7 
years is EUR 801 million. 

The  implementation  of  ongoing  programmes  continued,  contributing  to  the  reform  process 
and  the  promotion  of  fundamental  rights  through  activities  such  as  supporting  the 
improvement  of  the  Turkish  criminal  justice  system  or  accompanying  the  development  of 
adequate schooling conditions for children with special needs. IPA also supported the socio-
economic development of Turkey and helped address regional disparities with a strong focus 
of  assistance  on  the  South-East  of  Turkey.  Equally,  IPA  has  been  instrumental  for 
encouraging  alignment  with  the  acquis,  providing  funding  in  a  wide  range  of  areas  such  as 
energy,  company  law,  enterprise  and  industrial  policy,  agriculture  and  rural  development, 
statistics, science and research. 

IPA is also playing an increasing role in helping Turkey to address the consequences on its 
territory of the crisis in neighbouring Syria and in Iraq. Turkey hosted more than 1.6 million 
Syrians  and  the  EU,  recognising  the  formidable  efforts  of  Turkey,  has  been  exploring  all 
possible  avenues  for  further  assistance.  In  that  context,  at  the  end  of  2014  a  new  additional 
IPA measure (EUR 40 million) was programmed in cooperation with the national authorities 
and  UN  agencies  to  support  the  authorities  in  responding  to  an  ever  growing  influx  of 
refugees,  which  seriously  impacts  on  Turkey's  migration  management  and  asylum  system, 
municipal infrastructure and services.  

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING  

Indicative Strategy paper 

The Indicative Strategy Paper for Turkey setting out the priorities for EU financial assistance 
for the period 2014-2020 was adopted in August 2014. It builds on the political priorities set 
out in the enlargement policy framework identifying key areas where financial assistance is 
most  needed  and  useful  in  helping  Turkey  meet  the  accession  criteria:  1)  rule  of  law  and 
fundamental  rights,  2)  democracy  and  governance  and  3)  competitiveness  and  growth.  Its 
the  national  authorities, 
preparation 

included  several  rounds  of  consultations  with 

63 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
international  financial  institutions  (IFIs)  and  international  organisations  (IOs),  EU  Member 
States and local NGOs. 

Reforms in the field of rule of law and fundamental rights continue to be strategic priorities in 
our  cooperation  with  Turkey  in  order  to  advance  political  reforms  and  democratisation. 
Judicial reform needs to deepen along the principles of independence, impartiality, efficiency 
and  effectiveness.  Fundamental  rights,  including  on  the  rights  for  different  minorities,  is  an 
area  that  will  also  receive  further  attention  under  IPA  II.  Progress  in  matters  related  to 
migration  and  border  management,  as  well  as  in  the  fight  against  organised  crime,  are 
particularly  relevant  for  implementing  the  roadmap  towards  visa  liberalisation,  not  least 
against the background of the Syrian crisis.  

Support  to  reforms  under  democracy  and  governance  will  also  continue,  in  order  to 
strengthen  the  participation  of  civil  society  in  policy  and  decision  making  mechanisms,  to 
increase people to people exchanges with the EU and to support participation of the country in 
Union  Programmes  and  Agencies.  Moreover,  anti-corruption  measures  and  targeted  public 
administration reform will be also pursued. 

Given  the  country's  internal  income  inequalities  and  need  for  socio-economic  development 
and social inclusion, investing in education, employment and social policies has been retained 
as a priority. This includes a more substantial support to efforts aiming to address the gender 
gap issue. Particular attention will be paid to regional disparities with a particular focus on the 
East and South-East of Turkey.  

In  the  areas  of  environment,  transport,  and  energy,  IPA  II  will  focus  on  promoting 
development of a resource-efficient, low carbon economy and on increasing inter-connectivity 
between Turkey and the EU.  

Under competitiveness and innovation, priority will be given to support to SMEs, with a view 
to  facilitating  their  access  to  finance  and  international  markets,  and  to  increasing  their 
productivity and innovation.   

Finally,  despite  rapid  urbanisation  over  the  last  decades,  agriculture  remains  an  important 
economic sector in need of modernisation, especially in the country's poorer East and South-
East. Agriculture and rural development will therefore continue to receive support until 2020. 

Turkey 2014-2020 -Indicative allocation per year/sector (in EUR millions) 

Turkey  

2014 

2015 

2016 

2017 

a. Reforms in preparation for 
Union membership 
Democracy and governance 
Rule of law and fundamental 
rights 
b. Socio-economic and 
Regional development  
Environment and climate 
action 

 Total 
2018-2020 

652.2 

416.3 

236.0 

355.1 

196.6 

240.3 

137.2 

540.2 

388.9 

155.8 

265.8 

247.0 

261.4 

595.3 

297.1 

347.5 

64 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Transport 
Energy 
Competitiveness and 
innovation 
c. Employment, social 
policies, education, 
promotion of gender 
equality, and human 
resources development  
Education, employment and 
social  policies 
d. Agriculture and rural 
development   
Agriculture and rural 
development 

386.0 
59.0 

187.8 

56.8 
34.4 

156.6 

37.4 

62.9 

65.9 

68.9 

199.9 

235.1 

199.9 

72.0 

100.9 

77.0 

158.1 

504.2 

408.0 

504.2 

TOTAL 

620.4

626.4

630.8

636.4 

1,940.0

Programming exercise  

Following  the  completion  of  the  Indicative  Strategy  Paper,  five  new  IPA  programmes  were 
adopted in December 2014, amounting to EUR 1.3 billion:  

•  The  Action  Programme  2014,  with  an  overall  budget  of  EUR  371  million,  focuses  on 
democracy and governance, rule of law and fundamental rights. It covers ten Actions and 
will  be  implemented  mostly  through  indirect  management  by  Turkey.  The  programme 
includes a specific Action on civil society, reflecting the importance the Commission gives 
to fostering effective pluralism and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms. 

•  The four multiannual Sectoral Operational Programmes over the 2014-2016 period cover 
respectively  the  areas  of  environment  (EUR190  million),  transport  (EUR295  million), 
competitiveness  and  innovation  (EUR136  million),  employment,  education  and  social 
policies (EUR174 million). It is foreseen to implement all those programmes under indirect 
management by the national authorities. 

Furthermore,  an  additional  measure  of  EUR  40  million  to  support  Turkey  in  addressing  the 
consequences  of  the  Syrian  refugee  crisis  was  programmed  within  few  weeks  at  the  end  of 
2014, following the approval of the National Temporary Protection Regulation issued on 22 
October 2014. The overall objective of this individual measure is to provide further support to 
Turkey  in  dealing  with  the  medium  term  impact  of  the  Syrian  refugee  crisis  on  migration 
management and the asylum system, municipal infrastructure, education and health services, 
as well as building resilience of affected Turkish institutions and host communities.  

Allocation by sector/action according to 2104 Action Programme 

Democracy and Governance 

INDIRECT MANAGEMENT 
WITH THE IPA II beneficiary (in EUR millions) 

Action 1 - Town Twinning between and Turkey and 
the EU  

4.05 

65 

 
 
 
 
Action 2 - Regulatory Reform and Acquis 
Alignment 
Action  3  -  Support  to  participation  in  Union 
Programmes and Agencies 
Action 4 - Civil Society  
Action 5 - Jean Monnet Scholarship Programme 
TOTAL 

32.40  

167.30 

20.19  
14.46  
238.40 

Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights 

INDIRECT MANAGEMENT 
WITH THE IPA II beneficiary  (in EUR 
millions) 

OTHER IMPLEMENTATION 
ARRANGEMENTS  (in EUR millions) 

Action 6 - Judiciary 
Action 7 - Fundamental Rights  

-
28.66 
8.23 Direct  grant  award 

with UNDP 

53.99  Two 

Delegation 
Agreements with IOM 
and UNHCR 

90.88  TOTAL 

INDIRECT MANAGEMENT 
WITH THE IPA II beneficiary  (in EUR millions) 

Action 8 - Home Affairs 

TOTAL 

Energy 

Action - 9 Energy 

- 
5.40  

15.27  

20.67  

13.09 

Agriculture and Rural Development 

INDIRECT MANAGEMENT 
WITH THE IPA II beneficiary  (in EUR millions) 

-  Agriculture  and  Rural 

2.99  

Action  10 
Development 

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE  

The assistance was provided in the priority sectors identified in the Multi-Annual Indicative 
Planning Document for the programming period 2011-2013: 

•  Justice, Home Affairs and Fundamental Rights; 

•  Private Sector Development; 

66 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
•  Environment; 

•  Transport; 

•  Energy; 

•  Social Development; 

•  Agriculture and rural development.  

Projects  under  each  priority  sector  are  in  turn  aligned  with  the  objectives  spelled  out  under 
sector strategies and action plans defined by the Turkish Government. 

Justice, Home Affairs and Fundamental Rights 

In  the  field  of  justice,  IPA  contributed  to  the  implementation  of  the  reforms  aiming  at 
building  an  independent,  impartial  and  efficient  judiciary  system.  The  assistance  notably 
consisted in reinforcing the role of the Justice Academy of Turkey as an independent training 
provider, the strengthening of the institutional capacity of civil enforcement offices, allowing 
for enhancing confidence in the judiciary system, as well as improving the implementation of 
human right standards and efficiency of the criminal justice system. Through this last project, 
implemented jointly with the Council of Europe, over 2500 key actors of the criminal justice 
in Turkey improved their awareness of human rights.  

The EU assistance also continued to support reforms in the penitentiary field. Projects focused 
on  the  individualisation  of  execution  of  sentences,  improvement  of  mental  health  care  and 
drug addiction treatment services in prisons, and design of specific intervention programmes 
for rehabilitation of inmates. 

As  regards  the  fight  against  corruption,  IPA  provided  technical  assistance  to  the  newly 
established Council of Ethics for Public Service.  

In  the  field  of  home  affairs,  actions  were  mainly  focused  on  border  and  migration 
management. 

Assistance in the area of border management concentrated on increasing the capacity of the 
surveillance of borders with the EU, setting up an electronic surveillance system, training of 
land  forces  in  combating  irregular  migration  and  strengthening  the  custom  enforcement 
capacity.  

The  EU  significantly  increased  its  support  in  the  area  of  migration  management,  including 
asylum, in order to accompany the implementation of the visa liberalisation road map, and in 
particular  the  signature  of  the  re-admission  agreement.  Major  and  complex  interventions 
worth  more  than  EUR  74  million  were  implemented,  consisting,  among  others,  in  the 
construction  of  reception  centres  for  asylum  seekers  and  removal  facilities  for  irregular 
migrants.  

Private sector development 

Although  Turkey's  preparation  in  the  area  of  enterprise  and  industrial  policy  principles  and 
instruments  are  advanced,  better  impact  of  the  various  interventions  could  be  achieved 
through an integrated and comprehensive approach. To this end, IPA has provided significant 

67 

 
 
capacity building to the Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology. Through trainings and 
exchange  of  experience  with  their  peers  from  EU  Member  States,  the  staff  of  the  Ministry 
improved their knowledge in policy design and implementation, but also in terms of impact 
monitoring.   

The  improvement  of  the  chemical  metrology  capacity  was  also  supported,  enabling  the 
Turkish  laboratories  to  produce  traceable  and  comparable  measurements  results.  Already  in 
the course of implementation of the project, some certified reference materials were produced 
for some of Turkey's major export products such as dry figs, apricots and hazelnuts.  

IPA  also  contributed  to  enhancing  business  environment  through  regional  competitiveness 
investments  such  as  logistical  infrastructure,  business  support  services,  including  product 
testing  facilities.  The  issue  of  access  to  finance  was  also  addressed  with  the  creation  of  the 
first technology transfer fund in Turkey.  

Environment 

IPA supported alignment efforts in the environment sector. Technical assistance was provided 
in  a  wide  range  of  areas  such  as  air  quality,  water  quality  monitoring,  integrated  pollution 
prevention and control, waste management.  

IPA was also mobilised to assist Turkey in undertaking the significant investments that will 
be necessary to implement the acquis related to water and waste management. In this respect, 
the implementation of 29 waste water treatment, two drinking water supply and seven solid 
waste management infrastructure projects continued.   

Transport 

IPA  financial  support  plays  an  important  role  in  driving  the  reform  agenda  in  the  Turkish 
transport  sector,  notably  in  terms  of  regulation  of  the  market,  safety,  emissions  and  energy 
efficiency.  In  2014,  the  majority  of  the  institutional  building  efforts  concentrated  on 
legislative and institutional harmonisation in the railway sector, maritime and road safety and 
civil aviation.  

In  terms  of  infrastructure,  the  Köseköy-Gebze  section  of  the  high  speed  train  line  between 
Ankara  and  Istanbul  was  partly  completed,  and  the  rehabilitation  of  the  conventional  line 
Irmak-Karabük-Zonguldak has advanced.  

Energy 

In recent years, Turkey achieved significant reforms in the legal and institutional framework 
of  the  energy  sector.  The  EU  process  and  assistance  significantly  contributed  to  those 
developments, specifically to the full integration of the Turkish electricity system with that of 
EU's internal electricity network.  
In 2014, two projects, providing technical assistance for structure and capacity improvement 
of  Turkish  electricity  Transmission  Corporation  and  for  the  harmonisation  of  transmission 
code  to  enhance  the  functionality  in  general  power  system  operation,  contributed  to 
integrating the Turkish Electricity Market to the EU Internal Electricity Market.  

68 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Social Development 

EU funding in this field has continued to support Turkey getting closer to the EU 2020 targets 
such as increasing employment rate, reducing early school leavers, and fighting poverty and 
discrimination.  

The Women in business credit guarantee scheme has started supporting women entrepreneurs. 
Assistance to Turkey in its fight against unregistered / informal employment continued. In the 
field  of  vocational  education,  efforts  to  increase  the  quality  were  sustained,  while  mobility 
schemes with EU countries were established.   

EU  support  to  lifelong  learning  has  focused  on  on-the-job  trainings  for  both  employers  and 
employees in selected sectors (such as tourism) and in pilot provinces.   

In terms of social inclusion, local governments started establishing social support centres for 
disadvantaged groups, while Turkey's national scholarship scheme for undergraduate students 
at risk of poverty was co-financed. 

Agriculture and rural development 

The  IPARD  programme  is  now  running  at  a  cruising  speed  with  constantly  increasing 
numbers  of  applications  and  smooth  contracting,  making  it  a  successful  IPA  instrument,  at 
least  in  terms  of  absorption.  Significant  payments  to  beneficiaries  were  made  in  December 
2014  which  exceeded  the  pre-financing.    Smooth  and  rapid  transition  to  IPARD  II  is  of 
paramount importance.  

4. IMPLEMENTATION MODALITIES AND STRUCTURES  

Discussions have been initiated with Turkey and work is advancing in the Commission with a 
view to launching the process of entrustment of budget implementation tasks for IPA II and to 
moving from a reliance on 100% ex ante controls on procurement under indirect management 
(IM/DIS), to a risk assessment-based control system. 

In 2014, some progress was made by the national authorities in terms of reducing contracting 
backlog,  hiring  additional  staff  and  analysing  reasons  for  delays  in  procurement,  and  de-
commitments. Furthermore, the most experienced contracting authority, the CFCU, managed 
to commit 14% and pay 10% more than the average of the last five years.  

However,  sustained  efforts  will  need  to  be  pursued  in  order  to  absorb  the  accumulated 
backlog.  To  this  end,  the  setting  up  of  a  joint  NIPAC/EU  Delegation  Task  Force  has  been 
proposed.  

In September 2014, the NAO submitted to the Commission a report on the implementation of 
a  comprehensive  action  plan  on  how  to  address  all  systemic  issues,  including  concrete 
measures going in the right direction. Programming, management and monitoring capacities 
need to improve especially in view of the onset of IPA II period. 

69 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. SUCCESS SORIES  

Justice for Children 

The  project  "Justice  for  Children",  implemented  by  the  United  Nations  Children's  Fund 
(UNICEF) in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, was completed in 24 pilot provinces of 
Turkey  where  it  established  child  friendly  judicial  interview  rooms  and  an  individualised 
treatment system  for  juvenile rehabilitation services.  The  child friendly interview rooms are 
equipped with a special audio-video system that allows for single interviews with no need to 
re-interview the child throughout the prosecution or trial process. Furthermore, the project has 
helped to implement case-based, multi-disciplinary training programmes for more than 2,000 
legal professionals.   

Improving the Criminal Justice System 

The objective of this project, worth EUR 3.9 million was to improve the application of human 
rights standards and strengthen the efficiency and confidence in the criminal justice system in 
Turkey. It was jointly implemented for a period of 33 months by the Council of Europe and 
the Ministry of Justice, the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, the Justice Academy, the 
Union of Bar Associations and the law enforcement authorities. This EU project has greatly 
contributed to improving understanding, knowledge of and respect for human rights amongst 
over  2.500  key  actors  in  the  criminal  justice  system.  A  comprehensive  needs  assessment 
report, analysing the situation in the field of criminal justice was produced. Some legislative 
changes have already taken place in line with the findings of the report. The training curricula 
of  the  Turkish  Justice  Academy  was  developed  and  a  pool  of  more  than  300  trainers  was 
established with the aim of increasing the training capacity of the Academy.  

Change Management 

"Increasing the Adaptability of Employers and 
Employees to the Changes in Global Economy 
project has strengthened the capacity of SMEs 
and 
the  capabilities  of  employees  and 
employers by providing them with work-based 
skills,  as  part  of  a  wider  aim  to  achieve  more 
sustainable economic growth and help Turkey 
to  get  closer  to  the  EU  2020  benchmark  of 
lifelong 
15%  participation 
learning 
in 
in  Turkey).  The 
activities  (currently  3% 
project 
and 
established 
has 
consultancy  centres  in  6  different  cities  under 
the chambers of commerce and  industry, aiming to serve the workforce and the enterprises. 
The  project’s  activities  were  focused  on  fifteen  growth  centres  in  Turkey.  New  training 
modules  were  developed  to  meet  the  needs  of  companies,  social  partners,  vocational 
organisations  etc.  Trainings  were  provided  to  3000  workers  and  2000  employers,  some  of 
whom  were  invited  on  study  tours  to  EU  countries.  In  addition,  employers  and  employees 
were  introduced  to  best  practices  through  tours  of  successful  SMEs  in  developed  and 
industrialised  provinces  of  Turkey.  A  training  portal  was  established  to  make  the  training 
content accessible for all enterprises.  

training 

70 

 
 
 
 
MULTI - COUNTRY 

1. SUMMARY  

Regional cooperation has continued within regional fora such as the Energy Community, the 
Central  European  Free  Trade  Area  (CEFTA),  the  South  East  Europe  Transport  Observatory 
(SEETO)  and  the  Regional  School  of  Public  Administration  (ReSPA).  Also,  the  role  of  the 
Regional  Co-operation  Council  (RCC)  as  a  body  fostering  regional  integration  was  further 
strengthened in 2014. The RCC continued the implementation of its Strategy for 2014 - 2016, 
built around the South East Europe 2020 agenda (SEE 2020).   

The "Berlin Process" launched with the Summit in Berlin on 28 August 2014 and the WB-6 
Conference  in  Belgrade  on  23  October  2014  that  led  to  the  adoption  of  a  Joint  Statement 
reflect the political commitment of the Western Balkans and their close neighbours to achieve 
progress on the connectivity agenda and to present more tangible results in the coming years. 

In  accordance  with  the  priorities  of  the  Enlargement  Strategy,  Multi-country  financial 
assistance  throughout  2014  supported  progress  in  the  area  of  rule  of  law,  public 
administration reform and economic governance.  

To underpin economic recovery in the Western Balkans, new projects in infrastructure were 
approved in the framework of the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), as well 
as  projects  in  the  field  of  competitiveness  mainly  through  the  Western  Balkan  Enterprise 
Development  and  Innovation  Facility  (EDIF)  and  in  the  field  of  human  resource 
development/training.  

2. STRATEGIC PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING  

Indicative Strategy Paper  

Whereas  the  bulk  of  IPA  II  support  continues  to  be  delivered  through  the  national 
programmes, the multi-country programmes complement national programmes and strengthen 
multi-lateral  relations  in  the  Western  Balkans  and  Turkey  in  areas  relevant  for  European 
integration and stability in the region. Areas of intervention are only addressed through multi-
country  assistance  where  there  is  a  clear  need  and  added  value  for  regional  cooperation  or 
horizontal action.  

A  number  of  problems  and  challenges  are  common  to  all  IPA  II  beneficiaries,  although  to 
varying degrees and are best tackled at regional or horizontal level. This is the case where a 
beneficiary  cannot  achieve  the  desired  results  alone  as  they  require  close  cooperation  and 
support  from  other  IPA  beneficiaries  (for  instance  for  fighting  organised  crime),  or  where 
joint efforts are more cost-effective since they create synergies or economies of scale.  

The Multi-country Indicative Strategy Paper 2014-2020 was adopted on by the Commission 
on  30  June  201415  and  sets  out  the  priorities  for  EU  horizontal  and  regional  financial 
assistance. It translates the political priorities as defined in the Enlargement Strategy and the 
most  recent  Annual  Progress  Reports  into  key  areas  and  sectors  where  multi-country 
assistance will be most useful to support the candidate countries and potential candidates to 

15  C(2014)4293, 30.06.2014 

71 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                                            
 
meet the accession  criteria. It is designed to be consistent with the national strategies as set 
out  in  the  Country  Strategy  Papers  and  to  complement  and  enhance  them  by  supporting 
regional  cooperation,  facilitating  coordination  and  effective  horizontal  implementation 
mechanisms.  

The  Multi-country  Indicative  Strategy  Paper  sets  out  that  assistance  will  be  delivered  under 
the  following  headings,  each  one  presenting  one  dimension  of  the  added  value  of  the 
horizontal and regional programming: 

i. 

ii. 

iii. 

iv. 

Horizontal support to sector policies and reforms; 

Regional structures and networks; 

Regional investment support; 

Territorial cooperation. 

Table 1: indicative allocations per year/dimension in million EUR 

A. Horizontal support 

152.0

122.5

136.5

115.5

395.5 

2014 

2015 

2016 

2017 

2018-20 

Total 
2014-20 
922.0

TAIEX and Statistics 

20.0

21.0

20.0

21.0

59.0 

141.0

functions  of 

Advisory 
international 
organisations  

49.0

40.0

25.0

32.0

91.0 

237.0

Civil Society and Media 

25.0

5.0

30.0

5.0

60.0 

125.0

Erasmus+  including  the 
youth dimension 

33.0

34.0

35.0

35.0

110.0 

247.0

Horizontal measures 

25.0

22.5

26.5

22.5

75.5 

172.0

B.  Regional  structures 
and networks 

C.  Regional  investment 
support* 

WBIF,  EDIF,  Green  for 
Growth  Fund  and  other 
blending instruments 

9.0

27.0

31.0

10.0

57.5 

134.5

158.1

181.9

177.9

216.3

772.8 

1506.9

148.1

91.9

177.9

216.3

772.8 

1406.9

Regional 
Programme 

Housing 

10.0

90.0

0.0

0.0

0.0 

100.0

Territorial 

D. 
operation 

co-

28.9

33.6

44.6

68.6

219.5 

395.2

TOTAL 

348.0

365.0

390.0

410.4

1445.3 

2958.6

* Including unallocated funds for Bosnia and Herzegovina 

72 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Programming exercise  

The following programmes were adopted before the end of the year: 

i. 

ii. 

Annual Multi-country Action Programme of EUR 152.6 million, with 17 regional and 
horizontal actions.  
Civil  Society  Facility  2014-2015  of  EUR  68.7  million  with  multi-country  (EUR  25 
million) and national actions (EUR 48.7 million); 
Support measure for technical assistance for CBC programmes of EUR 3.42 million; 

iii.  
iv.   Monitoring programme of EUR 4 million;  

Programmes for territorial cooperation were decided separately. A Special measure for floods 
of EUR 4 million (out of a total contribution to floods of EUR 50 million) was also decided. 

The programmes were designed to respond to priority needs as identified in the Multi-country 
Indicative  Strategy  Paper  2014-2020.  The  Western  Balkans  and  Turkey  face  important 
challenges to meet the political and economic membership criteria and to align with the EU 
acquis.  

Challenges  persist  in  the  area  of  democracy  and  rule  of  law,  including  the  functioning  of 
institutions  guaranteeing  democracy,  empowerment  of  civil  society,  the  fight  against 
organised  crime,  safeguarding  fundamental  rights,  such  as  freedom  of  expression  and  the 
rights of persons belonging to minorities.  

The  focus  of  the  programmes  rests  to  a  large  extent  on  continuing  actions  supported  under 
IPA  I  which  were  deemed  necessary  to  support  further  and/or  which  enter  into  successive 
stages  of  implementation.  For  a  number  of  regional  structures  and  networks,  IPA  support 
continued in 2014 out of previously decided programmes. 
The programmes also provide support for reforms and investments in line with the identified 
key  challenges  for  competitiveness  and  growth,  in  complementarity  with  assistance 
provided under the national programmes. 

When designing the programmes due account has been taken of activities implemented under 
the  national  programmes,  the  guidance  provided  in  EU  strategic  documents,  the  lessons 
learned  from  the  programming  and  implementation  of  previous  EU  assistance  and  the 
findings  from  consultations  with,  inter  alia,  the  beneficiaries,  International  Financial 
Institutions  (IFIs),  the  Regional  Cooperation  Council  (RCC),  EU  Member  States  and  civil 
society organisations.  

The lessons learned from IPA I demonstrated that progress towards meeting EU membership 
criteria is best achieved by a mix of measures planned both at national and at regional level. 
The  IPA  interim  evaluation  and  meta-  evaluation  recommended  that  the  Multi-country 
programmes  should  develop  more  rigorous  selection  criteria  for  the  supported  actions  and 
focus on areas with clear needs for a regional approach. It also concluded that further efforts 
are  needed  to  involve  regional  stakeholders  more  in  programming  and  that  national 
administrations should be involved in project implementation as a way to improve ownership 
and coordination.  

73 

 
 
  
 
 
Other  conclusions  concern  economies  of  scale  in  horizontal  programmes  versus  efficiency 
risks,  due  to  the  complex  organisation  for  implementation  of  multi-beneficiary  assistance 
under IPA I.  

Under  IPA  II,  efficiency  concerns  will  be  addressed  by  more  effective  coordination,  as 
illustrated already through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), focusing on 
fewer priorities and comprehensive and longer-term planning. 

Table 2: allocations by dimension according to 2014 programmes, in million EUR 

2014  

23.0 

information  and 

finance  management, 

MULTI-COUNTRY 
A. HORIZONTAL SUPPORT 
Of which: 
Annual Multi-country Action Programme  2014                                         65.7 
20.2 
TAIEX and Statistics 
45.5 
Advisory  functions  of  international  organisations  (SIGMA,  Economic 
fight  against 
governance  and  public 
cybercrime, assessment of corruption, migration, EU agencies) 
Horizontal  measures  (civilian  administration, 
communication, monitoring, audit & evaluation) 
Civil Society Facility allocation 2014                                                             25.0 
33.0 
Erasmus+,  including  Youth  (Youth  -  Action  under  Annual  Multi-
country Programme)* 
B. REGIONAL STRUCTURES AND NETWORKS 
Of which: 
Annual  Multi-country  Action  Programme    2014  (Roma  decade, 
transitional  justice,  Regional  Rural  Development  Standing  Working 
Group, Central European Free Trade Agreement) 
Contribution to the Energy Community secretariat  
C. REGIONAL INVESTMENT SUPPPOR 
Of which: 
Annual Multi-country Action Programme  2014 (WBIF, EDIF) 
Regional Housing Programme (Action part of Annual Multi-country 
Action Programme) 
D. TERRITORIAL CO-OPERATION 
Cross-Border Cooperation programmes IPA-IPA 
Cross-Border Cooperation programmes IPA – EU Member States 
Transnational Cooperation 
TA for CBC 
TOTAL 
*Management of the allocations for Erasmus+ by EACEA 

11.4 
12.0 
2.5 
3.42 

64.5 
11.5 

3.4 

5.9 

146.7

9.3

76.0

29.32

261.32

74 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
In  addition,  out  of  the  Multi-country  indicative  allocation  of  IPA  II  for  2014,  an  amount  of 
EUR 44 million has been allocated to Syria and EUR 50 million to mitigate the consequences 
of floods in the Western Balkans. 

3. IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSISTANCE  

The  candidate  countries  and  potential  candidates  face  a  number  of  common  challenges  to 
meet  the  political  and  economic  membership  criteria  and  to  align  with  the  EU  acquis.  In 
addition, impediments to regional cooperation in the Western Balkans such as unresolved bi-
lateral issues may lead to assistance not achieving the desired objectives/results. This risk is 
compounded  by  lack  of  commitment  to  inclusive  regional  cooperation  initiatives  of  some 
governments,  weak  administrative  and  financial  capacities  to  implement  and  budgetary 
constraints/limited fiscal space of the beneficiaries. Appropriate mitigating actions have been 
taken,  notably  to  resolve  issues  related  to  the  status  of  Kosovo,  resulting  inter  alia  in  the 
inclusiveness Ministerial meeting of the South East Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP) on 
20 June, in Bucharest, with a declaration welcoming Kosovo as participant in the SEECP on a 
permanent and equal basis at all levels.  

Discussions  continued  with  the  beneficiaries  and  EU  Delegations  to  overcome  potential 
obstacles  and  solve  potentially  contagious  issues  in  regional  cooperation,  also  in  close 
cooperation with the Regional Cooperation Council as appropriate. 

Technical  and  financial  support  in  2014  has  been  provided  in  the  area  of  (1)  Rule  of  Law 
(incl.  Justice  and  home  affairs),  (2)  The  functioning  of  institutions  guaranteeing  democracy 
(incl. public administration reform), (3) Fundamental rights (incl. civil society organisations 
and  media  support)  as  well  as  (4  )  Economic  governance  and  competitiveness,  socio-
economic  development  (incl.  transport,  energy,  environment  and  social  sector,  human 
resource development and private sector development - SMEs), (5) Regional co-operation and 
reconciliation (incl. refugee return), and (6) Territorial co-operation. 

Implementation  of  IPA  assistance  made  good  progress  in  2014  with  contracting  of  multi-
beneficiary programmes adopted in 2013. 

In the sector public administration reform, IPA assistance is delivered in cooperation with 
the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) through the SIGMA 
initiative (Support for Improvement in Governance and Management). SIGMA finalised the 
Principles of Public Administration which outline the key requirement of a well-functioning 
public  administration  and  provide  a  common  analytical  framework  to  measure  and  track 
progress  over  time,  to  be  used  for  SIGMA's  annual  assessment.  On  12  November  2014, 
Commissioner  Hahn  presented  those  Principles  of  Public  Administration  at  a  meeting  in 
Brussels  with  Ministers  for  Public  Administration  and  for  European  Integration  from  the 
Western Balkans and Turkey. 

In the sector rule of law, a new contract has been concluded with the Deutsche Gesellschaft 
für  Internationale  Zusammenarbeit  (GIZ)  in  partnership  with  the  Centre  for  International 
Legal  Cooperation  and  the  United  Nations  Office  on  Drugs  and  Crime,  to  strengthen 
international cooperation in criminal justice through the Prosecutors' Network of the Western 
Balkans.  Other  actions  aim  at  strengthening  National  Integrity  Systems  in  the  Western 
Balkans and Turkey and tracking developments of anti-corruption efforts in cooperation with 
Transparency  International.  EUR  5  million  has  been  allocated  to  strengthen  regional 
cooperation in the fight against organised crime and corruption. 

75 

 
 
 
 
Further  disbursements  have  been  channelled  to  the  Regional  Housing  Programme's  Fund 
which will be spent on investments, i.e. housing solutions financed through grants in the four 
participating countries – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia - to meet 
the  needs  of  the  most  vulnerable  refugees  and  internally  displace  persons  from  the  armed 
conflict in the 1990s. 

An  amount  of  EUR  12  million  has  been  allocated  to  TAIEX,  the  Technical  Assistance  and 
Information  Exchange  Instrument,  which  delivers  tailor-made  assistance  to  the  beneficiaries 
for  the  approximation,  application  and  enforcement  of  EU  legislation  as  well  as  alignment 
with EU best practices. 

In  the  area  of  private  sector  development  progress  was  made  in  strengthening  the 
coordination  efforts  under  the  Western  Balkan  Enterprise  Development  and  Innovation 
Facility (WB EDIF). In an effort to help achieve the SEE 2020 Strategy targets and promote 
the sound recovery from the economic and financial crisis, support has been provided to the 
Regional  Entrepreneurial  Learning  Centre  (SEECEL)  located  in  Zagreb,  to  the  regional 
competitiveness initiative (OECD) and to the European Training Foundation (ETF). 

In the sector of Transport and energy infrastructure, a new contract has been concluded to 
strengthen  coordination  with  the  International  Financial  Institutions.  In  the  sector  of 
Environment and climate change, regional projects have started implementation to further 
develop the 'Environment and Climate Change Regional Accession Network' (ECRAN), and 
support cooperation in disaster risk reduction in the Western Balkans and Turkey.  

In  the  sector  of  Social  development,  implementation  of  the  IPA  2013  Multi-beneficiary 
programme  has  continued  previous  practice  and  supported  scholarships  under  the  Erasmus 
Mundus Programme as well as the Youth in Action programme. Actions were implemented 
by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). 

In  the  sector  Civil  Society,  operating  grants  have  been  provided  to  selected  civil  society 
organisations. Long-term support to 18 thematic networks of CSOs was subject to a thorough 
mid-term  review  process.  On  5  October,  the  European  Commission  has,  for  the  first  time, 
given  awards  for  Roma  integration to civil society organisations  from  Western  Balkans  and 
Turkey, underlining that support to Roma inclusion remains a regional priority. 

The  Regional  Cooperation  Council  was  also  supported  for  the  implementation  of  its 
Strategic Work Programme 2014–2016. 

4. SUCCESS STORIES 

Western Balkans Investment Framework 

EU contribution: EUR 250 million 
Start date: 2009 – ongoing 
Results:  Preparation  of  bankable  investment  projects;  Technical  Assistance,  feasibility 
studies, Environmental Impact Assessments 

The  WBIF  supports  socio-economic  development  and  EU  accession  across  the  Western 
Balkans through the provision of financing and technical assistance for strategic investments. 
It  pools  resources  from  the  Instrument  for  Pre-accession  Assistance  (IPA)  with  those  of 

76 

 
 
 
 
 
 
International  Financial  Institutions  (IFIs),  bilateral  donors  and  the  governments  of  the 
Western Balkans. The WBIF increases the region’s capacity to finance crucial infrastructure 
and priority investments in line with accession priorities and enhances overall coordination of 
assistance. The WBIF seeks to maximise the impact of grant financing by using it to leverage 
lending  by  IFIs  on  priority  strategic  investments  identified  by  the  Western  Balkan 
beneficiaries. 

Since its launch five years ago, the WBIF has by far exceeded original expectations and, as of 
31 December 2014, developed a pipeline of priority investments estimated at approximately 
EUR 13 billion.  More than 180 grants  have  been awarded for a total of EUR 309.9 million 
and the priority projects are all supported by an IFI. As of 31 December 2014 almost 27% of 
the total WBIF pipeline has progressed to tendering or construction stage representing a total 
estimated  investment  value  of  EUR  4.5  billion.  Out  of  those  projects  that  are  in  the 
preparation  stage  (with  a  total  estimated  investment  value  of  EUR  8.5  billion)  40%  have  a 
loan signed with an IFI. 

Altogether,  the  European  Commission  has  channelled  around  EUR  250  million  in  grants  to 
the WBIF. Of this, almost half – 48% – has gone to finance traditional Technical Assistance; 
either through the Infrastructure Preparation facility - IPF (EUR 82.5 million) or the European 
Western Balkan Joint Fund - EWBJF (EUR 38.3 million).  

Bosnia and Herzegovina motorway corridor Vc (corridor five, part c)  

EU contribution: 2 grants totalling EUR 2.5 million  
Start date: April 2009  
End date: March 2014 
Results: 37 km of motorway completed, with more under construction and design for further 
sections 

The EU is funding works to extend Bosnia and Herzegovina’s key north-south motorway. The 
route is part of the Pan-European network of inland corridor roads. It runs from the Port of 
Ploce,  the  main  sea  gateway  for  the  Bosnian  economy,  via  the  capital  Sarajevo,  and  onto 
Osijek, in the Republic of Croatia. This is the junction with the Pan European Corridor which 
runs from Austria to Greece and on to Hungary. 

Bosnia  and  Herzegovina’s  authorities  have  identified  the  motorway  as  the  top  strategic 
development project of the country. National road communications are upgraded, which also 
helps  build  important  links  with  neighbouring  countries  and  the  EU,  thereby  increasing  the 
efficiency of major transport links for people and goods.  

The motorway, running through Bosnia and Herzegovina and into Croatia, is also useful for 
the  Member  States.  It  helps  to  complete  the  Trans-European  transport  networks  and  it 
facilitates more efficient, safer and more environmentally friendly transport. Travelling time 
is shorter, there are fewer accidents, and drivers do not use as much fuel as they did before. 

Joint  EU  and  ICTY  Training  Project  for  National  Prosecutors  and  Young  Professionals 
from the former Yugoslavia 

EU contribution: EUR 1 million  
Start date: August 2012 End date: December 2014 

77 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Results:  Better  prosecution  of  war  crimes;  network  of  trained  prosecutors;  acceptance  of 
international legal standards and best practice; improved regional legal cooperation. 

The  Action,  which  started  in  2012,  had  two  main  components.  First,  experienced  national 
prosecutors  from  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Croatia  and  Serbia  are  integrated  directly  in  the 
ICTY  Office  of  the  Prosecutor  as  “liaison  prosecutors”.  The  liaison  prosecutors  provide 
evidence, knowledge and advice to their national colleagues, directly supporting prosecutions 
of war crimes in their national courts. Second, young professionals are placed as interns in the 
ICTY  Office  of  the  Prosecutor.  Together,  the  liaison  prosecutors  and  interns  have 
substantially  developed  their  knowledge  and  skills,  as  well  as  assisted  the  investigation  and 
prosecution of hundreds of cases of serious breaches of international humanitarian law, both 
in The Hague and at home. 

The  feedback  from  the  interns’  supervisors  at  the  ICTY  has  been  very  positive.  Young 
professionals  show  a  high  level  of  skills  and  the  assistance  they  provide  to  the  trial  and 
appeals teams has helped speed up the whole process. 

The  project  contributes  to  enhancing  the  knowledge  and  skills  of  prosecutors  and 
professionals;  increasing the application of international  legal standards and best practice in 
the Western Balkans region; and increasing support for regional legal cooperation. 

The  EU's  funding  for  national  war  crimes  prosecutions  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Croatia 
and Serbia should result in an increase in the number of successfully prosecuted cases.  The 
Action will possibly be extended until 2016 and will continue to support the investigation and 
prosecution  of  the  many  remaining  cases  of  war  crimes  that  are  still  open  in  the  former 
Yugoslav countries. 

Management of sealed radioactive source, including radioactive lightning rods 
Total cost  
EU Contribution: EUR 454,000 
Start date: March 2013 End date: March 2014 
Results: Reduced threat of radioactivity to public health 

From the sixties to the eighties, thousands of radioactive lightning rods (lightning conductors) 
were  installed  in  the  former  Yugoslavia.  This  was  under  the  mistaken  assumption  that  the 
higher energy of gamma emitters would make the rods work better. 

The  lightning  rods  were  installed  on  the  roofs  of  public  buildings  including  schools, 
kindergartens and factories. Due to the lack of maintenance, some radioactive lightning rods 
started collapsing, hence potentially threatening public health. Some radioactive material from 
such  rods  was  also  found  in  scrap  metal,  including  on  the  border  between  Kosovo  and  the 
former  Yugoslav  Republic  of  Macedonia.  As  part  of  the  IPA  programme  on  nuclear  safety, 
EU support was provided to improve the nuclear waste management of the Western Balkans. 
The  first  stage  in  tackling  the  regional  problem  of  radioactive  rods  was  implemented  in 
Montenegro  when  a  contract  was  awarded  to  the  Centre  for  Ecotoxicological  Research, 
licensed by the Environmental Protection Agency of Montenegro. This was part of a regional 
project  to  manage  radioactive  materials  covering  Montenegro,  Kosovo  and  the  former 
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. 

A  full  inventory  of  sites  with  radioactive  rods  was  taken  and  site  visits  made.  Many  of  the 
locations were difficult and dangerous to get to and could only be accessed with a crane and 
extreme  caution.  The  materials  were  safely  removed,  processed  and  placed  in  an  approved 

78 

 
 
 
 
storage  area.  As  well  as  reducing  potential  radiological  risks  in  Montenegro,  the  project 
provided  valuable  training  for  personnel  in  the  country’s  nuclear  regulatory  bodies,  and  a 
reference  for    operating  procedures  for  similar  future  work  in  other  countries  of  the  former 
Yugoslavia. 

Regional Housing Programme 

EU contribution: EUR 110 million to the Fund, EUR 28 million to implementation costs 
Start date: April 2012 on-going 
Results: Start of construction phase 

The  RHP  consists  of  four  Country  Housing  Projects  (CHPs),  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina, 
Croatia,  Serbia  and  Montenegro,  and  will  assist  about  27,000  households  or  74,000 
individuals. The total budget of this housing programme is estimated at EUR 584 million with 
a planned duration of 5 years. Until the end of 2014, donors have pledged in total EUR 268.3 
million to the RHP Fund, out of which EUR 148.1 million have been committed and 119.5 
million paid. Out of these, the European Commission has disbursed EUR 84 million into the 
Fund. 

Funds  committed  as  direct  contributions  to  the  RHP  Fund  will  be  spent  on  investment,  i.e. 
housing solutions financed through Grants to the Partner Countries. Grants are approved by 
the Assembly of the RHP Donors. 

During  the  reporting  period  the  actual  physical  implementation  of  the  RHP  started  with  the 
opening of the first construction site in Croatia (housing block for 29 refugee families). The 
other  three  Partner  Countries  also  prepared  and  launched  the  first  tender  dossiers  for  the 
implementation of the first wave of housing sub-projects.  

In addition to the twelve grant applications approved by the Assembly of Donors in 2014 for a 
total amount of EUR 60.9 million, additional five grant applications were approved in 2014 
for a total amount of EUR 78.5 million. These include Bosnia and Herzegovina - one grant 
application  of  EUR  14.4  million;  Croatia  -  one  grant  application  of  EUR  1.4  million; 
Montenegro - one grant application of EUR 4 million; and Serbia - two grant applications for 
a total amount of EUR 58.7 million. 

Civil Society Facility – Framework Partnership Agreements 

EU contribution: EUR 11.2 million;  
Duration:  December 2012 –December 2014 
Results: A total of 172 civil society organisations from the Western Balkans and Turkey and 
from Europe are engaged in 18 networks, financially supported by IPA. The ongoing grants 
produced several outputs and some examples are as follows: 

Coordinated  efforts  -  toward  new  European  standards  in  protection  of  women  from  gender 
based  violence  –  Framework  Partnership  Agreement  with  a  network  of  civil  society 
organisations in the Western Balkans and Europe 

Slovenia, as the fourth country in the region, has ratified the Council of Europe Convention 
on preventing and combating Violence against Women (VAW). A Programme against gender 
based  violence  (GBV)  in  the  Autonomous  Province  of  Vojvodina  (Serbia)  for  the  period  of 
2015-2020 was adopted, as the first action to implement the provisions of the Convention. A 
total of 34 policy proposals and legislative amendments submitted by women’s organisations 

79 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
in five countries were adopted. 

The Balkans ACT (Against Crime of Trafficking) has developed a tool for monitoring national 
anti-trafficking policies, which contains around 200 detailed and clearly defined rights-based 
indicators  enabling  all  anti-trafficking  actors  to  make  a  true  and  reliable  assessment  of  how 
things  work  in  their  respective  countries  and  to  take  appropriate  measures.  During  national 
and  regional  advocacy  campaigns  on  access  to  compensation  for  trafficked  persons,  policy 
papers, proposals for legislative changes and guidelines for judicial authorities were produced. 
The  network  also  advocated  for  making  better  usage  of  the  existing  legislation  and  for 
introducing new mechanisms that would enable victims to gain compensation in a quick and 
non-traumatic  manner,  all  with  support  from  state  institutions  and  local  CSOs  that  were 
included in the consultation process. 

Partnership  to  Ensure  Reform  of  Supports  in  Other  Nations  –  PERSON.  The  first  major 
achievement  of  the  PERSON  partnership,  working  in  collaboration  with  the  Croatian 
organisation  SHINE,  was  to  convince  law  reformers  to  abolish  plenary  guardianship  under 
Croatian  civil  law.  While  plenary  guardianship  was  designed  to  protect  people  with 
disabilities, the result was that they are stripped off any legal rights to make decisions in any 
area of their life — in other words; they become a legal 'non-person'. This was changed by the 
abolition of plenary guardianship. In Serbia, training for judges was organised by the partners 
of  the  project  on  how  Article  12  of  the  UN  Convention  on  the  Rights  of  Persons  with 
Disabilities could be applied under Serbian law. The event was attended by 35 Serbian judges, 
human rights lawyers and representatives of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality. It 
was approved as an ongoing training programme for Serbian judges in 2015, and the materials 
developed for the training can be used in different jurisdictions. 

Civil Protection 

EU contribution: EUR 2 million 
Start date: November 2013 – ongoing 
Results: Increased readiness to cooperate with the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.  

The  Civil  Protection  Cooperation  with  the  candidate  countries  and  potential  candidates  – 
Phase II (IPA CP Cooperation Programme II ) has the overall objective to reduce risks and the 
vulnerability  of  beneficiaries  to  natural  and  man-made  disasters  at  national  and  regional 
levels. Specific objectives are to increase their ability to effectively interact with the EU Civil 
Protection Mechanism and relevant EU institutions, and to increase their capability to further 
develop  effective  national  civil  protection  /  disaster  response  systems  and  to  collaborate 
among each other in the region.  

As a response to the floods which affected the Balkan region in 2014, a new programme on 
"Prevention,  preparedness  and  response  to  floods  in  the  Western  Balkans  and  Turkey"  was 
launched.  The aim of the initiative is to increase their capability to develop effective national 
civil  protection  systems  and  collaborate  in  a  coherent  manner  in  dealing  with  floods  at 
regional and European level (prevention, preparedness and response) and be better prepared to 
cope  with  the  challenges  posed  by  approximation  to  /  implementation  of  the  EU  Floods 
Directive. Beneficiary countries will develop multinational civil protection modules for flood 
response - flood rescue using boats. 

80 

 
 
 
5 – EVALUATION FINDINGS  

In 2014, DG Enlargement completed six evaluations; seven evaluations were launched and 8 
evaluations were in the process of implementation at the end of the year.  

An  expenditure  programme  evaluation  on  the  EU's  support  to  refugees  and  Internally 
Displaced  Persons  in  Bosnia  and  Herzegovina,  Kosovo,  Montenegro  and  Serbia16  was 
finalised, providing an assessment of both the intervention logic of EU assistance, as well as a 
judgement on the relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability of assistance 
under CARDS 2004-2006 and IPA 2007-2011. Overall, it found that the financial assistance 
was relevant, effective and was contributing to achieving the objectives and priorities, with an 
economically sound use of resources. All programmes have achieved the strategic objectives 
– despite possible delays – thanks to precise and realistic objectives, a reasonably sound needs 
assessment and valuable empirical data, and a generally good linkage with national policies. 
In  terms  of  weaknesses,  the  evaluation  found  difficulties  in  realizing  an  actual  regional 
approach  and  a  limited  degree  of  flexibility  in  programming  the  assistance,  together  with  a 
relative weakness of socio-economic measures oriented towards employment.  

The  mapping  of  sector  strategies17  focused  on  studying  the  sectors'  readiness  for  a  Sector 
Approach in the Western Balkan countries and Turkey under IPA by analysing the state of the 
sector strategic planning, the existing institutional structures and the mechanisms for strategic 
planning.  Several  trends  were  identified,  with 
'Agriculture  and  Rural  Development' 
categorized as 'ready for a sector approach, with some improvements' thanks to preparations 
for IPARD sectorial support. The 'Energy sector' was also categorised as "in progress towards 
sector approach" in most counties. The overall quality of sector strategies has been rated as 
good because addressing the EU accession priorities, involving stakeholders and allowing for 
active participation of CSOs. Overall this was found relevant and coherent with the accession 
strategy.  Though,  absence  of  a  proper  monitoring  system,  weak 
inter-institutional 
coordination  as  lack  of  action  plans  were  considered  common  weaknesses  in  existing 
strategies. 

The Political Economy of Donor Intervention in Western Balkans and Turkey: Mapping 
and Potential for  Stronger  Synergies18 analysed donor assistance, looking at data on over 
18,000  project  disbursements  carried  in  the  period  2010-2012  drawn  from  the  OECD/DAC 
database on official development assistance. The evaluation shows that not only have the total 
flows  of  international  assistance  been  falling  but  there  are  substantial  inequalities  and 
imbalances in the distribution of international assistance between countries. The analysis has 
also  shown  that  donors  are  often  active  in  more  than  two  sectors,  however  relatively  few 
regional  initiatives  liaise  with  National  IPA  Coordinator,  with  the  exception  of  the  WBIF, 
leading to donor fragmentation and incoherence. Other systemic weaknesses include the low 
level of ownership and insufficient inclusiveness in the strategy preparation, weak links with 
the  budgetary  planning,  as  well  as  weak  coordination,  implementation  and  monitoring 
mechanisms.  The  analysis  revealed  substantial  gaps  between  beneficiary  preferences  and 
donor priorities, especially in the sectors of social policy, human rights, agriculture and rural 
development. 

16 http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/phare/evaluation/2014/20140403-eu-support-to-refugees.pdf 
17 http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/phare/evaluation/2014/20140714-mapping-of-sector-strategies-
final-report.pdf 
18http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/phare/evaluation/2014/20141219_final_report_with_annexes.pdf 

81 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
Another expenditure programme Meta-Evaluation on Cooperation Instruments19 assessed 
the  relevance,  EU  value  added  and  sustainability  of  the  supplies  and  works  in  financial 
cooperation  under  IPA,  covering  five  IPA  countries  and  contracts  concluded  in  2005-2011. 
Overall  it  found  that  IPA  work  and  supply  projects  seemed  well  targeted.  There  has  been 
generally  good  relevance  with  most  projects,  which  were  well  in  line  with  the  association, 
stabilisation  and  enlargement  agreements  and  strategies.  The  overall  added  value  of  EU-
funded  works  and  supplies  is  seen  in  enhanced  strategic  planning,  technical  assistance  and 
capacity  building  for  beneficiaries,  stakeholders  and  accredited  procurement  institutions. 
Stringent procurement rules, EC controls and supervision contracts on works tend to improve 
cost-efficiency  and  reduce  risks  for  corruption  compared  to  local  procurement  systems.  In 
terms of effectiveness and impact, IPA assistance delivered tangible and sustainable results, 
especially  in  infrastructure  and  energy  sectors.  Finally,  the  administrative  capacities  of  the 
final beneficiaries have the possibility of undermining the projects, because of inexperienced 
beneficiaries and vague technical specifications. 

A Capacity Development Project on Monitoring and Evaluation20 was carried out by the 
World  Bank  in  order  to  strengthen  capacities  for  Monitoring  &  Evaluation  in  the  Western 
Balkans  and  Turkey.  The  project  covered  various  stakeholders  and  sectors,  contributed  to 
raising  awareness  among  policy  makers  on  the  importance  of  monitoring,  indicator 
identification,  target  setting,  and  stimulated  good  exchanges  among  practitioners  in  the 
different countries. By developing 3-5 SMART indicators for each country and selected sector 
and  supporting  technical  experts  in  the  relevant  departments  it  confirmed  that  overall  the 
development of effective sector-level M&E systems is a long term iterative process which has 
only  taken  its  initial  steps.  The  project's  impact  depended  largely  on  local  ownership, 
leadership  and  coordination  among  the  various  stakeholders,  along  with  a  substantial  link 
between the project's monitoring support and the country accession process. 

Finally, an evaluation on EU-Turkey Customs Union21 was carried out by the World Bank 
to  assess  the  impact  of  the  CU  and  made  solution-oriented  recommendations  for 
improvements  in  the  CU  with  Turkey.  Three  interesting  conclusions  came  out  of  the  study. 
First  of  all,  it  confirmed  that  trade  integration  between  the  EU  and  Turkey  increased 
dramatically  over  the  last  two  decades,  more  than  fourfold  since  1996.  Secondly,  trade 
interests of both the EU and Turkey are changing as Turkey is diversifying its exports to new 
destinations. Lastly, further trade integration between the EU and Turkey is in the interest of 
both parties and various areas – such as agriculture and services – have the potential to bring 
welfare  to  both  parties.  Moreover,  the  evaluation  clearly  demonstrated  that  the  CU  brought 
about greater benefits that the ones that could have been generated by an FTA. 

19 

http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/phare/evaluation/2014/20140929-erpd-meta-evaluation-co-
operation-instruments-works-and-supplies.pdf 

20 To be published shortly 
21 

http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/financial_assistance/phare/evaluation/2014/20140403-evaluation-of-the-eu-turkey-

customs-union.pdf 

82 

 
 
 
 
                                                            
6 – FINANCIAL DATA  

IPA I  

Allocations  

IPA per country 
Albania 
Bosnia and 
Herzegovina 
Croatia 
Kosovo 
The former 
Yugoslav 
Republic of 
Macedonia 
Montenegro 
Serbia 
Turkey 
Iceland 
Regional 
programmes 

Disbursements 

IPA per country 
Albania 
Bosnia and 
Herzegovina 
Croatia 
Kosovo 
The former 
Yugoslav 
Republic of 
Macedonia 
of Macedonia 
Montenegro 
Serbia 
Turkey 
Iceland 
Regional 
programmes 

NEAR  
Comp I 

NEAR  
Comp II 

REGIO 
Comp II 

REGIO 
Comp III 

EMPL 
Comp IV 

AGRI 
Comp V 

512,037,790  24,979,732   

554,054,665  17,719,302

253,747,144  17,376,853   
6,600,000   
679,182,927 

330,269,029 

92,413,106 124,762,553

241,768,542  17,761,117

16,952,994

192,157,615 

41,610,555

32,593,535

163,561,021  20,109,865   

22,235,679 

5,583,000   

1,213,237,326  21,567,024 132,204,840   
1,566,306,894 
6,887,614
34,837,163 

0   

25,079,059 1,606,679,114  433,278,905 789,633,030

1,150,110,289 

0 207,245,257

NEAR  
Comp I 

NEAR  
Comp II 

REGIO 
Comp II 

REGIO 
Comp III* 

EMPL 
Comp IV 

AGRI 
Comp V 

277,403,298  10,736,025   

359,893,058  10,483,995

180,049,316  10,799,612   
1,191,412   
485,507,697 

156,828,491 

44,747,570

67,889,589

115,713,673 

8,844,929

14,006,810

101,431,162 

20,686,555

12,365,912

123,191,586  11,886,390   
791,339,885  12,623,892 102,256,467   
4,475,820

18,274,503

6,670,704 

1,674,900   

845,584,823  258,914,977 392,565,366

1,058,446,055 
5,744,810 
938,085,946 

0   
0 113,246,205   

4,335,375,325  71,042,075 247,783,985 1,110,515,180  326,024,002 472,820,867

83 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
IPA per country 
Albania 
Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Croatia 
Kosovo 
The former Yugoslav 
Republic 
of Macedonia 
Montenegro 
Serbia 
Turkey 
Iceland 
Regional programmes 

Total 

Split per DG 
NEAR 
REGIO 
EMPL 
AGRI 

Allocations 

537.017.522
571.773.967
818.568.685
685.782.927

Disbursement
s 

288.139.323  
370.377.054  
460.314.577  
486.699.110  

542.844.358

273.049.040

211.489.565
1.367.009.190
4.427.864.616
34.837.163
1.357.355.546
10.554.543.54
0

143.423.580  
906.220.245  
2.578.261.545  
5.744.810  
1.051.332.151  

6.563.561.434  

6.501.845.269
2.532.823.587
572.885.566
946989117,7
10.554.543.54
0

4.406.417.400  
1.358.299.165  
326.024.002  
472820867,1  

6.563.561.434  

IPA II 

NEAR 
IPA II 2014 per county 
Albania 
Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Bosnia and Herzegovina - OHR 
Kosovo 
The former Yugoslav Republic 
of Macedonia 
Montenegro 
Serbia 
Turkey 
Multi-beneficiary 

Allocations 

66,746,389 
73,581,834 
3,532,478 
66,050,000 

Disbursements
0
0
3,532,478
0

71,717,811 
35,707,300 
187,090,000 
545,600,000 
222,442,000 

0
0
0
0
1,098,159

1,272,467,812 

4,630,637

Total 
IPA: 

84 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
  
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
AGRI 

The former Yugoslav Republic 
of Macedonia 
Turkey 
TOTAL 2014-2020 

Total IPA II: NEAR+ AGRI 
IPA II 2014 per county 
Albania 
Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Bosnia and Herzegovina - OHR 
Kosovo 
Macedonia 
Montenegro 
Serbia 
Turkey 
Multi-beneficiary 

Allocated 

Paid 

5,000,000 
69,000,000 
74,000,000 

0
0
0

Allocated 

Paid 

66,746,389 
73,581,834 
3,532,478 
66,050,000 
76,717,811 
35,707,300 
187,090,000 
614,600,000 
222,442,000 

0
0
3,532,478
0
0
0
0
0
1,098,159

Total 
IPA: 

1,346,467,812 

4,630,637

Allocations for IPA I: Amounts of adopted Financing Decisions during 2007–2013 (minus 
unused funds returned to the EU budget). 

Allocations for IPA II: Amounts of adopted Financing Decisions in 2014 

Disbursements: Amounts effectively paid up to 31 December 2014 by the European 
Commission to the contractor (in case of direct management) / beneficiary country or 
international organisation (in case of indirect management). 

In  the  case  of  Croatia,  former  IPA  assistance  covered  by  DG  REGIO  and  DG  EMPL 
(components  III  and  IV,  and  part  of  component  II)  is  now  governed  under  the  Structural 
Funds regulations as provided for in the Treaty of Accession and disbursement figures are up 
to  the  date  when  the  country  became  a  Member  State  (1  July  2013).  Assistance  under  the 
other  components  remains  under  IPA  and  disbursement  figures  are  with  cut-off  date  end  of 
2014. 

85