Enlargement policy

Any European country that respects the EU's democratic principles can apply for membership; the enlargement procedure is an ongoing process. The newest members of the EU are Romania and Bulgaria, Member States 1 of January 2007. The accession process is a time consuming procedure as the country must adopt EU standards within each policy area and ensure that the country complies with all EU exigencies.

The EU offers financial aid to countries wishing to accede to the Union; for the next budgetary period, all pre-accession funding will be grouped into one single instrument: the Instrument for Pre- Accession Assistance (IPA). This instrument replaces several programmes, PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD, CARDS and the pre-accession for Turkey.

Funding from IPA concerns the following countries:

• Candidate countries – Croatia, Turkey, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

• Potential candidate countries – Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo under UN Security Council Resolution 1244

Additional programmes also exist that provide funding for under the enlargement process: Twinning provides countries with short and medium term administrative assistance. TAIEX provides the framework for administrations and semi-public organizations in the acceding countries to work with their counterparts in Member States. PRINCE with the principal aim of this program is to disseminate and promote information concerning “Enlargement” in Member States and Candidate Countries by organizing international events.

More information:
DG Enlargement