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Interview with the IPA 2011 training session expert

Pierre – Etienne Métais, Training Department, Welcomeurope

What are the specifics of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) compared to other European Commission foreign aid programs?

IPA is addressed mainly to four candidate countries (Croatia, Iceland, Turkey, FYROM) and five potential candidates (Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo). This instrument differs considerably from other EU external aid instruments! His main feature is its final aim, which is to integrate the beneficiaries in the European Union. It is about enabling a smooth transition of candidate countries to their full membership, for example by providing training for the official representatives of these countries so as for them to incorporate EU rules in their specific fields: agriculture, justice, public health, customs, public procurement, energy, transport, environment, telecommunications, higher education, etc. Another way of doing so is by allowing the strengthening of the role of local NGOs and by helping local territories in their economic, social and agricultural development.
It is important to understand that beyond the diplomatic action that often receives a lot of media coverage, the accession process is carried out by a multitude of small concrete actions between the civil society members, be that public, private or associative. This is a very important work, which would be difficult to put into place without the IPA. The second characteristic of this instrument is its nature: this fund is a mixture of all forms of existing EU aid (decentralized structural funds like in the case of ERDF, ESF and EAFRD; border cooperation like in the case of INTERREG, EUROPEAID-like development aid; horizontal tools like TWINNING or TAIEX, and participation in community programs classics, such as CULTURE or FP7), which makes it particularly complex to understand.

What are the benefits of the Twinning mechanism for countries benefiting from the IPA?



This is one form of assistance allowed under IPA and it grants financing for the use of European experts to train technical staff of central government counterparts. It is a transfer of knowledge and expertise among member states and candidate countries, which occurs in all fields of the \"acquis communautaire\" but on a peer to peer human scale. The expert undertakes to reside in the country the time of the mission (at least twelve months). This can also be seen as a personal project of the expert. NB: Not to be confused with the Town Twinning!



What do you think of the simplification of procedures for external cooperation programs in the framework of institutional reform?



We will pass from five to two main types of program management. Previously, the Commission made the difference between programs administered centrally (by the Commission itself), centralized indirectly (in its abroad Delegations), shared management (with the Member States), joint management (with International Organizations) and decentralized management (with the recipient authorities). Henceforth, we will oppose \"direct\" to \"indirect” management. It will be easier to understand.



As a trainer, what advice would you give to project leaders wishing to participate in the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance?



As for any other application, you must first verify your eligibility. Check if your legal status and your geographical location allow you to benefit from the IPA. For example, companies are rarely eligible as direct recipients of IPA grants; however they can often be the final beneficiaries. This means that the project must be carried out by a public organization or association. Then check if the project is fundable, and for that, I usually begin by considering whether the project topic is connected to one of the 35 chapters of the acquis communautaire. If this is not the case, I look at whether the project can then be inserted in a process of territorial development. I also advise project leaders to consider cross-border projects as the opportunities are immense, highly valued and often ignored. Finally, in general, I recommend the set up of innovative projects! Let me give you a hint: Iceland adopted in June its “Modern Media Initiative” aimed at creating a safe haven for investigative journalism and become a country of openness and freedom of expression worldwide. On the same day and apparently unrelated, Iceland incorporated the list of countries eligible for the IPA, an instrument aimed precisely, among other things, to strengthen the role of media in society and fight against all forms of corruption . I think this opens up tremendous prospects for European cooperation in this field, and therefore new projects.



Why should a project leader be interested in the Welcomeurope IPA training session?



First of all, it is the best way to understand the instrument. Because of its multifaceted nature, only a skilled technician or a trained person can master it completely. Then, is gives the opportunity to properly assess the expectations of the European donor (in this case, DG Enlargement). No project can receive funding without a clear link – even a remote one- with the EU approach. In talking with the trainer, the project leader discovers that some strategies that he had not thought of were more appropriate and more favourable than he had originally envisaged. Upcoming dates of our training module on the instrument of accession assistance: 8-9 November 2010 in Brussels!