The European Union (EU) provides assistance to countries in the preparation process for EU membership through pre-accession funds to support their political, institutional, social and economic reforms towards membership and to help them reach the Union standards. These funds, initially offered through different Union programs and financial instruments, were collected under a single instrument and legal framework called the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) in 2007. Since this date, IPA has become the main financial and technical assistance tool used to help candidate and potential candidate countries reach the Union standards.
First of all, the sectors to be supported are democracy and governance; rule of law and fundamental rights; environmental and climate activities; transport; energy; competitiveness and innovation; education, employment and social policies; agriculture and rural development and regional and national cooperation.
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