Monday, 19th October 2009
Conference on Support for EU Enlargement
Sweden, holding the presidency of the European Union, and the European Commission will hold a joint conference on support for EU enlargement. The purpose of the conference is to discuss the financial support provided by the EU to candidate countries (Macedonia, Turkey and Croatia) and to potential candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia) under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), to help pay for reforms to bring them into line with EU standards.
The conference will focus on the role of these countries in contributing to more effective reception and use of the funds, and on what can be done to improve the design and planning of the IPA.
“The European Commission presented its enlargement package on 14 October. So this is a very appropriate time for a discussion that links up all the aspects of enlargement, including both the political process and the financial support provided through the IPA,” says the Swedish State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Mr Belfrage.
More than 200 people are expected to take part at the Conference, including ministers and senior officials from the countries of the Western Balkans.