Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 25 January 2024
163. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs the extent to which candidate countries for EU membership continue to receive support for their cause; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3698/24]
View answerIreland continues to strongly support EU enlargement. 50 years of EU membership has transformed our economy and society, and increased our global influence. We believe that all European countries deserve the same opportunities, provided that they meet the necessary criteria.
The EU provides a range of supports to candidate countries in order to assist them with the necessary reforms in preparation for EU membership. The main one of these is the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). The IPA provides financial and technical assistance to candidate countries, to build up their capacities throughout the accession process, resulting in progressive, positive developments. The budgetary envelope for IPA III for the period 2021-2027 is €14.162 billion.
The European Commission also provides technical assistance to candidate countries in their efforts to adopt the acquis communitaire through the TAIEX and Twinning instruments. TAIEX (Technical Assistance and Information Exchange) offers short-term training opportunities to public administrations in candidate countries with regard to the approximation, application and enforcement of EU legislation, as well as facilitating the sharing of EU best practices. Twinning allows for longer-term institutional cooperation between public administrations of EU Member States and candidate countries.
In addition to supports at EU level, many Member States provide support to candidate countries on a bilateral level. Under Budget 2024, Government has established a new funding instrument to support EU candidate countries, with an initial allocation of €1 million. Ireland also supports EU candidate countries through projects implemented by the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security Cooperation in Europe.
The European Commission measures the progress that candidate countries are making towards fulfilment of the accession criteria on an annual basis. In 2023, the Commission published its annual Enlargement Package of Reports on 8 November. The 2023 Enlargement Package reported that Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia are the candidate countries that are most prepared for EU membership, but progress on reforms in the previous 12 months was greatest in Ukraine, Moldova and Albania.
