Pre-accession assistance in the Western Balkan countries in the area of the fight against corruption covering PHARE, CARDS and IPA projects

To support anti- corruption measures in the WB, the EU provides pre-accession assistance under various programmes and projects. This started under the Community Assistance for Reconstruction, Development and Stabilisation (CARDS) programme, from 2000 to 2006. Financial and technical help continued under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). For the 2007-13 period, IPA had a budget of some €11.5 billion; its successor, IPA II has €11.7 billion for the 2014-20 period. Indicative Strategy Papers (2014–20) are in place for all the beneficiaries from the Western Balkans: Albania, BiH, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia.