Brussels, 25 July 2019,
European Parliament Representative Željana Zovko was appointed rapporteur of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee (AFET) for the Financial Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) III. It is the main financial instrument supporting reforms in the candidate and potential candidate countries, i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, the Republic of Northern Macedonia and Turkey, in order to prepare the beneficiaries for the obligations of the EU membership. MEP Zovko will negotiate, on behalf of the European Parliament, with the EU Council and the Commission about the conditions for allocation of IPA III funds.
In the previous legislature, MEP Zovko already contributed to the parliamentarian report of the IPA III fund. Her amendments to the text focus on the prioritisation of EU funding in areas such as security and institution building to protect the candidate countries from non-EU influences and on the promotion and visibility of the fund itself. She sees the appointment as rapporteur for this file as a great recognition for her achievements.
In order to maximize its impact, the IPA III program should be aligned with the Western Balkans Strategy priorities of February 2018. The biggest advancements compared to earlier IPA programs are the increased budget of EUR 14.5 billion, and the clear and verifiable performance indicators based on particular areas, such as democracy, rule of law, judicial independence, human rights, etc.