Through this tool, the EU provides the recipients with financial help with the aim of

• making their agricultural sector and rural areas more sustainable
• aligning them with the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy and EU standards.

IPARD also helps set up good governance for rural development.

The current candidate countries and beneficiaries are Albania, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey.

For the period 2014-2020, the total indicative allocation for the IPARD programmes has been 1.1 billion EUR as follows: Albania- 39 million EUR, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: 15 million EUR, Montenegro: 39 million EUR, Turkey: 801 million EUR. The actual amounts are decided annually in the EU budget procedure  Each country also contributes through national public co-funding. The applicants also have to fund a share of the project.

IPARD programmes

IPARD programmes  are  based around measures set at European level, of which the countries are currently using the following ones:

• Measure 1 Investments in physical assets of agricultural holdings helps farms invest in buildings or technologies
• Measure 3 Investments in physical assets concerning processing and marketing of agricultural and fishery products targets projects in food processing companies to meet EU safety and environmental standards
• Measure 4 Agri-environment-climate and organic farming
• Measure 5 Implementation of local development strategies - LEADER approach finances Local Action Groups implementing their bottom up Local Development Strategies
• Measure 7 Farm diversification and business development is for rural businesses and farming families seeking to develop non agricultural activities
• Measure 9 Technical assistance supports training, analyses, programme monitoring, capacity building, rural development networks and preparation of Local Action Groups.

Each country presents their programmes to the European Commission for approval. Once approved, they are managed by national institutions and IPARD agencies. Those ensure the execution of the programmes and that funds are transferred to applicants. This contributes to build national institutions and governance in rural development.

Find more information on how to apply for funding in this other article.