The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) is designed as a comprehensive support for the European integration process by provision of technical, professional and financial support to candidate countries and potential candidates for EU membership.

The IPA focuses on two main priorities:

• Provision of assistance to countries in meeting the political and economic criteria related to the acquiring of the acquis of the EU, as well as building administrative capacities and strengthening the judiciary;
• Provision of assistance to countries in the process of preparing for the use of EU structural and cohesion funds after joining the European Union.

Support should contribute to the efforts of candidate countries and potential candidates with the aim of strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law, reforming state administration, reforming the economy, respecting human and minority rights, promoting gender equality, strengthening civil society, improving regional cooperation, as well as achieving sustainable development and poverty reduction.

The overall planning of the European Commission, both at the strategic and financial level, takes place on a seven-year basis. The main feature of IPA I for the period 2007-2013 is that the support is carried out through following 5 components: 1. Support for the transition and building of institutions; 2. Cross-border cooperation; 3. Regional development; 4. Development of human resources; and 5. Agriculture and rural development.

The main change within the IPA II for the period 2014-2020 in the next 7 years, is that the focus was changed from components to  defined sectors. The European Commission will support actions in following sectors closely related to the Enlargement Strategy for the next seven years: 1. Democracy and governance; 2. Rule of law and fundamental rights; 3. Environment; 4. Traffic; 5. Competitiveness and innovation; 6. Employment, social policy and development of human resources; 7. Agriculture and rural development and 8. Cross-border and territorial cooperation.

The programming structure is also changing, and therefore "Actions" (which is a new term for "Projects") will be focused on areas in which a clearly defined common goal can be achieved through the simultaneous action of several partners.

Therefore, the most important novelty is the strategic focus, which should ensure efficiency, sustainability and focus on results. Finally, greater importance will be devoted to performance measurement, and in this way, it will be possible to assess to what extent the expected results have been achieved.

Compared to the practice from the previous perspectives of IPA I and IPA II, a significant innovation in IPA III is that there are no pre-defined amounts of financial support per country, but there will be a single, common budget for all IPA beneficiary countries. In addition, the European Commission seeks through IPA III to ensure a performance-based approach, supporting countries and institutions that have committed to a greater scope of reforms. The key criteria for obtaining financial support are therefore the relevance (strategic importance) and maturity of the proposed projects, in accordance with the rules that apply in EU member states when using the European Structural and Investment Funds.

Direct users of funds from IPA are non-profit institutions, such as ministries and state administration bodies, municipalities, non-governmental organizations, associations, universities, schools, hospitals, cultural institutions, research centres, etc. The previous experience of using the funds had shown that the implemented activities contributed not only to strengthening the capacity of institutions and harmonization of legislation, but also to concrete results in various areas of importance for the lives of citizens. Therefore, the direct beneficiaries of the available funds are the citizens of Montenegro.

The funds available so far have been used, to the greatest extent, to support the harmonization of legislation, further environmental protection, traffic improvement, strengthening the areas of justice and internal affairs, public administration reform, social development, human rights, agriculture and rural development, as well as for cross-border and transnational cooperation projects. Support will be focused on five identified areas of support, the so-called "Windows" and thematic priorities defined within them in the next seven years.

Montenegro has been using funds from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Support (IPA) since 2007. During the past years, institutions and organizations in Montenegro, through the strengthening of cooperation and the development of skills and practical knowledge, improved their abilities to meet the requirements from the accession process.

This was not an easy task, especially considering the complexity of the instrument and procedures. However, it is important to emphasize that, through projects and programs, we managed to plan the expenditure of all available funds, and that no case of inappropriate expenditure of funds was recorded.

The European Commission granted Montenegro 245 million euros in non-refundable financial support for the financial period 2007-2013, and 279.1 million euros through the financial perspective 2014-2020, which were divided by IPA components/sectors, that is, an average of about 37.5 million euros annually.

When it comes to the contracted amounts, 96.35% was contracted at the level of the entire IPA I, i.e. by components:

- I component – ​​about 97.6% of funds contracted;

- II component – ​​contracted 91% of funds;

- III component – ​​contracted 92.6% of funds;

- IV component – ​​contracted 97.8% of funds;

- Horizontal allocations* – contracted 100% of funds.

When it comes to the disbursed amounts, at the level of the entire IPA I, 90.8% of the funds that were available through this financial perspective were disbursed, as follows:

- I component – ​​91.5% of funds were paid;

- II component – ​​90.15% of funds were paid

- III component – ​​87.69% of funds were paid;

- IV component – ​​90.1% of funds were released;

- Horizontal allocations* – 100% of funds paid out.

* Tempus Program, Program of Cooperation in the Field of Nuclear Safety and Protection from Ionizing Radiation, Instrument for Civil Society and Regional Housing Program.

When it comes to IPA II, most of the allocated funds have been contracted, while the disbursement and spending of funds is still ongoing. The knowledge and experience we have been building in the implementation of projects certainly represents a good and fundamental basis for the successful realization of future projects.

Cross-border cooperation programs are an instrument of the European Union for provision of support to the cooperation of institutions and organizations in the border areas of neighbouring countries. By implementing these programs, personal contacts and connections are created between people on both sides of the border, which is a good basis for further cooperation and development. Also, valuable experience is gained in the process of usage of European Union funds. The goal is to improve good neighbourly relations, cooperation between people, communities and institutions, with the aim of sustainable development, stability and prosperity in the common interest of residents on both sides of the border.

Montenegro participates in nine cross-border and transnational cooperation programs within IPA II 2014-2020: bilateral programs, which include cross-border cooperation between two IPA beneficiary states: Bosnia and Herzegovina - Montenegro, Montenegro - Albania; Montenegro – Kosovo and Serbia – Montenegro; trilateral programs, which include cross-border cooperation between one EU member state and two IPA beneficiary states: Interreg IPA cross-border cooperation program for Italy, Albania and Montenegro and Interreg IPA cross-border cooperation program for Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro; and transnational programs, which envisages the cooperation of several EU member states and several IPA beneficiary states: Interreg Mediterranean Transnational Cooperation Program (MED); Interreg Danube Transnational Cooperation Program and Interreg Adriatic-Ionian Program (ADRION).

Bilateral programs Montenegro - Albania, Montenegro - Kosovo and Serbia - Montenegro are implemented within the framework of indirect management, whereby for the first two programs, Montenegro, it’s the Ministry of Finance, is entrusted with the contracting of EU funds intended for these programs. For the Serbia-Montenegro program, the Contracting Authority is the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia, while the program with Bosnia and Herzegovina is implemented under direct management where the Delegation of the European Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the Contracting Authority.

Projects in the fields of employment, social protection, environmental protection, tourism promotion, preservation of cultural and natural heritage, health, strengthening of competitiveness, traffic, and small infrastructure projects are financed through these programs. Funds are non-reimbursable, while beneficiaries of grants must provide a co-financing of at least 15% of the total eligible costs of the project. Funds are allocated through public calls for submission of project proposals.

In addition to the available funds of the European Union through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance - IPA, Montenegro has the opportunity to use various other support programmes of the European Union. The European Union programmes aim to improve cooperation between member states in various areas related to common EU policies, such as health, culture, science, education, environmental protection, justice, tax and customs policy, entrepreneurship, etc. Although they are primarily intended for members, certain programs are also available to the countries included in the enlargement process, which in this way have the opportunity to become familiar with the ways of cooperation within EU sector policies and use this support for the realization of national and international projects. Countries that are not members of the European Union are obliged to pay a certain financial contribution annually for participation in these programs.

Participation in the programs of the Union for Montenegro represents a significant opportunity for advancement in meeting the criteria for membership in the European Union and enables the active participation of state institutions, the private sector and civil society organizations, which further strengthens their role in the EU accession process. Also, participation in Union programs represents a very good preparation for using other European Union funds, which will be available to Montenegro when it becomes a member state.

Montenegro participated in following Union programmes in the period 2014-2020:

• Horizon 2020
• Erasmus +
• Creative Europe
• Europe for citizens
• COSME – Program for the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises
• Easi - European Program for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI)
• Customs - Carine 2020
• Fiscalis
• Program for interoperability solutions and common frameworks for European public administration, economy and citizens - ISA
• Justice program

The Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) was established by the European Commission and international financial institutions, as leading entities in providing donations and development investments in the Western Balkans region. The goal of this instrument is to create greater synergy between donors and investors, so that the funds available through loans from international financial institutions are used in the most efficient way by the beneficiary countries.

WBIF gives the opportunity to apply for:

• technical support projects for the preparation of project documentation and
• projects for the co-financing of investments required for the implementation of infrastructure projects.

The Western Balkans Investment Framework is the main instrument through which the EU financially supports the preparation and implementation of infrastructure projects within the Berlin Process. All projects presented by the EU at summits within the framework of the Berlin Process must be regularly reported and approved by the management structure of the Western Balkans Investment Framework.

The EC publishes calls for technical support projects for the preparation of project documentation twice a year, i.e. once a year for the co-financing of investments required for the implementation of infrastructure projects.

Through these calls, project applications can be submitted for the preparation of project documentation for all phases of infrastructure project preparation, which the EU supports with 100% of EU grants, i.e. up to certain percentages for each of the investment co-financing areas.

Within the WBIF, it is possible to propose projects at the national and regional level in the fields of the environment, energy and energy efficiency, transport, social activities and digital infrastructure.

Through WBIF, the European Commission approves grants for financing the development of project documentation and providing technical prerequisites for the start of project implementation, while project implementation is financed through loans from international financial institutions and eventually through EU grants.

The Office for European Integration (Office of the National Coordinator for IPA) is in charge of coordinating the programming process and monitoring the implementation of all projects financed through the WBIF.

The project proposal process implies that:

• Project applicants in the phase of preparing the project application actively cooperate with the relevant ministry in a certain area in order to define a list of priority projects in accordance with the priorities defined in the Unified list of priority infrastructure projects.
• Project proposals receive support from an international financial institution (European Investment Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Development Bank of the Council of Europe, German Development Bank, French Development Bank or World Bank);
• The line ministry consults with the Ministry of Finance on budget planning and the amount of borrowing;
• The relevant ministry submits project proposals to the Office of the National Coordinator for IPA, after which the package of proposed projects is submitted to the European Commission;
• Project financiers’ group (PFG), which is made up of representatives of the European Commission and international financial institutions, decides in closed sessions which projects will be supported;
• The steering committee, in which representatives of the beneficiary countries, the European Commission and international financial institutions participate, officially adopts the projects approved by the PFG.