Legal basis and IPARD rules
The regulatory framework for IPARD consists of 3 types of agreements between the European Commission and the respective country: financial framework partnership agreement (FFPA), sectoral agreement (SA) and financing agreement (FA). The content of these agreements is built on the following regulations which are part of the IPA III regulatory framework:
- Regulation (EU) 2021/1529 establishing the Instrument for Pre-Accession assistance (IPA III);
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2236 on the specific rules for implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/1529 establishing an Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA III);
- Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/2128 setting out certain specific objectives and thematic priorities for assistance under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III).
The IPA III instrument should be complementary with:
- Regulation (EU) 2021/947 establishing the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument – Global Europe (NDICI).
In addition, pre-accession assistance is required to conform to the general provisions for managing the EU budget:
- Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the EU.
The specific IPARD programmes for each country are drafted by the national authorities and approved by the European Commission. The current versions of IPARD programmes are available at the national IPARD websites.
Detailed transparent rules and procedures for the national IPARD institutions are approved by the Commission for each measure before the IPARD implementation starts via the financing agreements between the Commission and the IPARD III countries.
