The new Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA-2) needs to build on lessons from the past, according to participants in a hearing on ‘The future financing of enlargement’ held by the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), on 11 April. Members of the committee, as well as civil society and parliamentary representatives of EU candidate countries all agreed that the new instrument, proposed by the European Commission in a draft regulation in December 2011, should be able to provide funds in a timelier manner. “Timing is key,” said Karel Pinxten, member of the EU Court of Auditors.

Stefano Sannino, director-general of the European Commission’s DG Enlargement, who attended the meeting to clarify the new mechanism, explained that the Commission had tried to build on the IPA-1 experience. According to him, IPA-2 will be much more “a tailor-made approach” than a “one size fits all” one, in order to achieve a “comprehensive approach rather than artificial divisions”. “To respond to specific needs, we have identified a common strategic framework,” he said.

Yet, according to Lidia Dimova, executive director of the Macedonian Centre for European Training, the priority for the next IPA should be the monitoring of concrete results of EU assistance in candidate countries. Corruption remains a major concern in said countries, and the funds are not always well distributed, she noted.

The AFET committee is scheduled to vote on the Commission’s proposal on 10 July, before the Parliament’s plenary session can decide whether or not to adopt it in October or November.