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IPA 2021 - 2027

IPA III is the European Commission's instrument for pre-accession assistance for the 2021-2027 programming period. The instrument is introduced with each new Financial Perspective of the European Union. This generation of IPA builds on the lessons learned from the previous two generations of IPA (2007-2013) and IPA 2 (2014-2020). The Republic of North Macedonia has been and continues to be a beneficiary of IPA and IPA II in recent years.

IPA III is introduced with the adoption of a Regulation establishing the Instrument and a Regulation laying down rules and principles for the implementation of IPA III by the European Union. According to its structure, IPA III is divided into 5 windows and 17 thematic priorities, as follows:

Window 1: Rule of law, fundamental rights and democracy;
Window 2: Good governance, approximation of legislation, good neighbourly relations and strategic communication;
Window 3: Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity;
Window 4: Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth;
Window 5: Territorial and Cross-Border Cooperation.

Within each window, thematic priorities are foreseen, as follows:

Window 1: Rule of Law, Fundamental Rights and Democracy

Justice;
Fight against Corruption;
Fight against Organised Crime;
Migration and Border Management;
Fundamental Rights;
Democracy;
Civil Society.

Window 2: Good Governance, Approximation of Legislation, Good Neighbourly Relations and Strategic Communication

Good Governance;
Administrative Capacity and Approximation of National Legislation with the European Acquis;
Good Neighbourly Relations and Reconciliation;
Strategic communication, monitoring, evaluation and communication activities.

Window 3: Green Agenda and sustainable connectivity

Environment and climate change;
Transport, digital economy and energy.

Window 4: Competitiveness and inclusive growth

Education, employment, social protection and inclusive policies and health;
Private sector development, trade, research and innovation;
Agriculture and rural development;
Fisheries.

Window 5: Territorial and cross-border cooperation

Cross-border cooperation with IPA countries;
Participation in micro-regional strategies.

On 15.09.2021, the European Parliament and the Council they adopted Regulation (EU) No. 1529/2021 establishing the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (hereinafter referred to as the "IPA III Regulation"). This document constitutes the legal basis for providing financial assistance to the beneficiaries of IPA III, in their efforts to adopt and implement the political, institutional, legal, social and economic reforms required for alignment with the values of the Union and gradual alignment with the rules, standards, policies and practices of the Union, with a view to membership in the Union.

On 10 December 2021, the Commission adopted Implementing Decision C(2021) 8914 on the Programming Framework for the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for the period 2021-2027. This Decision sets out the objectives and priorities of the enlargement process within 5 thematic windows financed through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance IPA III.

On 15 December 2021, the Commission adopted Regulation (EU) No 2236/2021 laying down specific rules for the implementation of Regulation (EU) 1529/2021 of the European Parliament and of the Council for IPA III, laying down the applicable management and control provisions.

Pursuant to Article 5 of the Regulation on the specific rules for the implementation of IPA III, the Commission and the beneficiaries of IPA III shall conclude framework agreements for the implementation of the assistance. Hence the need to establish the rules for the implementation of the Union financial assistance under IPA III.

On 1 November 2022, on the basis of Article 75, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia, the President of the Republic of North Macedonia and the President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia issued a Decree promulgating the law on the ratification of the Framework Agreement for Financial Partnership between the European Commission and the Republic of North Macedonia represented by the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia on the specific procedures for the implementation of Union financial assistance to the Republic of North Macedonia under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III) hereinafter referred to as the Framework Agreement for Financial Partnership. The Decree was published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 235 of 4 November 2022.

The biggest novelty is the so-called mature projects. This is being introduced to shorten the long period between programming and implementation. Hence, the maturity of the projects is assessed during the programming phase by submitting prepared tender documents for them, which proves their maturity.

Programming will be implemented in two phases.

In the first phase, Action Fiches are prepared, where the proposed projects are briefly explained. The Commission analyzes these fiches from the aspect of their relevance.

In the second phase, Action Documents are prepared, only for those projects that have passed the first phase, i.e. the projects are fully elaborated, which in turn, the Commission analyzes from the aspect of maturity. Immediately after the approval of these Action Documents, the tender documents for the projects approved in both phases will be submitted to the Commission.

The programming process of the strategic document and the Action Programs for 2021 and 2022, and for all subsequent programming years, is organized within the existing sectoral working groups, established and functional with the introduction of IPA II.

There are 12 (twelve) sectoral working groups formed in the same number of sectors, chaired by the line ministers.

During the second half of 2020, the sectoral working groups, under the coordination of the Secretariat for European Affairs, developed and submitted to the European Commission 22 action fiches for the Action Programs for 2021 and 2022.

Following the relevance assessment carried out by the Commission services, all proposed projects have moved on to the next, second phase of maturity assessment. The competent institutions are currently acting on the recommendations of the European Commission. The project(s) may therefore undergo changes in terms of budget, scope and implementation arrangements, with only projects considered mature being funded.

The Commission decision adopting the programmes is expected by the end of 2021 for the projects proposed for 2021 and for 2022 for the projects proposed for 2022.

During December 2020-March 2021, the NIPAC Secretariat coordinated the activity to finalize the strategic response within the framework of IPA III and the action documents for 2021 and on March 17, 2021, submitted 15 Strategic Responses at the level of 17 thematic priorities and 7 (seven) Action Documents for 2021. The 2021 Action Documents enter the second phase of examining the maturity of the proposed projects in the services of the European Commission.

IPA 3 Strategy Documents

Action documents for the IPA Annual Action Programme 2021

On 16 December 2021, the European Commission adopted the Decision on the Annual Action Programme for 2021.

https://neighbourhood-enlargement.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2022-01/C_2021_9732_1_EN_ACT_part1_v4.pdf

with the following action documents:

On 5 December 2022, the European Commission adopted the Decision on the Annual Action Programme for 2022 COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 5.12.2022 on the financing of the annual action plan in favour of the Republic of North Macedonia for 2022 with the following action documents:

On July 15, 2022, NIPAC submitted to the European Commission the Action Sheets for the 2023 Annual Action Programme, which will be subject to a relevance assessment by the European Commission services, and the revised strategic response for IPA 3 was also submitted.

In October 2022, during the official visit of Ursula Von Der Leyen, President of the European Commission, support was announced for addressing the consequences of the energy crisis, hence the 2023 EU budget in the amount of 80 million euros was used for the needs of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia in the energy sector.

In December 2022, the European Commission adopted the decision to finance the Western Balkans Action Plan to support the energy sector

https://portal.mdt.gov.mk/post-body-files/ipa-2021-2027-file-CXld.pdf

The financial agreement for the State Aid for Resilience Action Document was signed in December.

https://portal.mdt.gov.mk/post-body-files/ipa-2021-2027-file-MNPS.pdf

Also, in December 2022, the European Commission submitted the results of the relevance assessment for the submitted action fiches, according to which the planned action fiches for 2023 are transferred for financing in the 2024 budget. In addition, guidelines were provided for the preparation of sectoral operational programmes for the transport, environment and social sectors.

On 7 April 2023, in order to conduct a maturity assessment by the European Commission services, NIPAC submitted to the EC the following action documents for the IPA 2024 Annual Action Programme:

And the following action fiches for the Sectoral Operational Programmes for the environment, social and transport sectors, for which the European Commission should conduct a relevance assessment procedure:

The second phase of programming of Sectoral Operational Programmes envisages the preparation of complete Sectoral Operational Programmes in accordance with templates prepared by the EC. This phase concerns the assessment of the maturity of the programmes/projects. Also within the framework of the programming phase, templates for large infrastructure projects (MPA) for projects over 15 million euros) and templates for the list of operations identification (OIS) for all other projects are filled in.

In November 2023, NIPAC submitted to the European Commission the IPA 2024 Annual Action Programme, which includes the following action documents:

Also, in November 2023, NIPAC submitted to the European Commission the Sectoral Operational Programmes for Transport, Environment and Employment and Opportunities, for the implementation of the maturity assessment procedure by the European Commission services.

ENVIRONMENT

SOCIAL

TRANSPORT

On 6 November, NIPAC submitted to the European Commission the first draft versions of the IPA III programming documents for the period 2025-2027 and a revised Strategic Response for the period 2025-2027 IPA III. In accordance with the European Commission's guidelines for "light programming", the interventions that were planned have general formulations, and according to the year in which the sectors will be selected for financial support, detailed programming documents will be developed and the interventions will be specified. The sectors that were eligible for financial support have already been noted by the European Commission and are in line with the priorities defined in the Reform Agenda. Below are the programming documents that were submitted to the EC:

The European Commission has adopted the new IPARD 3 program, with the first call this year providing 35 million euros for farmers

By decision of the European Commission of 9 March 2022 and published on 28 March 2022, the IPARD III program of the Republic of North Macedonia for the period 2021-2027 was adopted. The IPARD 3 Program 2021-2027 is a program that provides access to European Union funds intended for financial assistance to agriculture and rural development. This is a new Program, with new measures that mean new investments for the modernization of Macedonian agriculture. The EC recognizes our country's commitment to the successful use of the measures from the previous IPARD program (our country is the leader in the region in terms of use of IPARD) and the budget for this IPARD 3 is expected to be 60 percent larger than IPARD 2.

The investments that will be supported by the IPARD III program relate to the procurement of equipment and machinery, construction and reconstruction of facilities, rural tourism, etc. The ultimate goal of these investments is, above all, achieving European standards in the areas of hygiene, food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection, empowering farmers to place products on the EU market, as well as preparing for the use of European funds for domestic farmers and processors to be available upon accession to the EU.

Measures that will be supported by the IPARD III program for the period 2021 - 2027 are:

Measure 1: Investments in physical assets of agricultural holdings;
Measure 3: Investments in physical assets related to processing and marketing of agricultural and fishery products;
Measure 4: Agro-ecological-climate measures and organic production measures;
Measure 5: Implementation of local rural development strategies - LEADER approach;
Measure 6: Investments in rural public infrastructure;
Measure 7: Diversification of agricultural holdings and business development
Measure 9: Technical and advisory services in agriculture.

Numerous benefits are expected from the use of the fund from the IPARD 3 Programme 2021-2027 for the Republic of North Macedonia, such as:

improving the standard of farmers,
improving market competitiveness and efficiency,
increasing employment in rural areas,
improving veterinary standards and promoting and protecting the environment.

Unlike previous years, now in the new IPARD 3 program the threshold of the minimum value of investments has been raised and instead of the previous 3,000 euros, the minimum value of the total eligible costs of the proposed investment will now be 10,000 euros. A novelty in IPARD 3 will be the pre-financing of investments. Specifically, each beneficiary who applies will have the opportunity to receive 30 to 50 percent pre-financing upon signing the project agreement.

This means, for example, that if a project worth 100,000 euros is submitted for a measure where the return on investment is 60%, the applicant, through the advance financing, upon signing the IPARD agreement will receive up to 50% of the funds or 30,000 euros. The total financial support that will be paid in the form of co-financing of the investment within this measure amounts to 60% of the total eligible costs of the investment.

It is also new that a so-called joint legal entity for collective investments in primary production or processing industry will be able to apply as a beneficiary of IPARD funds. This can be a cooperative, an organization or group of producers, a legal entity formed by several individual producers registered with the MAFWE, as well as a legal entity formed by an association or a society.

The new IPARD 3 also includes a measure for Local Action Groups. The measure "Implementation of Local Economic Development Strategies - LEADER Approach" will finance the work of Local Action Groups (LAGs) that exist in the country, as well as smaller-scale projects of the LAGs that are part of their local economic development strategies. Support for the functioning of the LAGs is important from the perspective of rural development. Also of great importance are the measures for organic production and for advisory services in agriculture.

COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 9.3.2022 adopting the IPA III Rural Development programme (IPARD III) of the Republic of North Macedonia for the years 2021-2027

EU INSTRUMENT FOR PRE-ACCESSION (IPA) RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 2021-2027

In June 2023, the European Commission adopted the first amendment to the IPARD III Multiannual Programme for Rural Development for the period 2021-2027.https://portal.mdt.gov.mk/post-body-files/ipa-2021-2027-file-LwUm.pdf https://portal.mdt.gov.mk/post-body-files/ipa-2021-2027-file-zg5I.pdf
In February 2023, the Sectoral Agreement was concluded between the European Commission and North Macedonia, which complements the Financial Partnership Framework Agreement and includes specific provisions for the management and implementation of the Union's financial assistance to North Macedonia under the IPARD III Programme.https://portal.mdt.gov.mk/post-body-files/ipa-2021-2027-file-JXWE.pdf
In June 2023, the European Commission adopted the second amendment to the IPARD III Multiannual Programme for Rural Development for the period 2021-2027.https://portal.mdt.gov.mk/post-body-files/ipa-2021-2027-file-Hrzp.pdf

IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Programmes

The IPA III Cross-Border Cooperation Programmes for the period 2021-2027, between the Republic of North Macedonia and the Republic of Serbia, Kosovo and Albania, have been adopted by the European Commission. These programmes will support the implementation of projects in accordance with the thematic priorities of the respective programmes.

The cross-border cooperation programmes support projects aimed at improving employment conditions, especially for young people, improving cooperation between businesses, in the field of education, projects aimed at reducing social exclusion, as well as projects that activate the natural and cultural potential of the region and contribute to the development of tourism.

All three cross-border cooperation programmes are implemented through so-called calls for projects and details of the calls are published on the website of the Ministry of Local Self-Government.

More specific details for each of the programs below:

IPA Cross-Border Cooperation North Macedonia – Serbia 2021-2027

The Cross-Border Cooperation Program North Macedonia – Serbia 2021-2027 IPA III was adopted by decision of the European Commission on 03.06.2022.

It will be implemented within the framework of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance 2021-2027 (IPA III) with the aim of promoting good neighbourly relations, fostering integration into the Union and promoting socio-economic development through joint local and regional initiatives.

General objective of the programme: To contribute to the social, economic and territorial development of the border area of the programme by improving social, cultural inclusion and health, by developing sustainable tourism

The programme area covers the following regions:

North Macedonia: North-Eastern Planning Region

Republic of Serbia: Jablanica and Pcinja Districts

The programme will be implemented in accordance with the following thematic clusters, thematic priorities and specific objectives:

Thematic Priority 0: Technical Assistance

Specific Objective 1: Efficient, effective, transparent and timely implementation of the cross-border cooperation programme, as well as raising awareness of the programme among national, regional and local communities and the population in the eligible programme areas

Thematic Cluster 1: Improved employment opportunities and social rights

Thematic Priority 1: Employment, labour mobility and social and cultural inclusion across borders

Specific objective: Improving health and social and cultural inclusion

Thematic cluster 4: Improved business environment and competitiveness

Thematic Priority 5: Promoting tourism and cultural and natural heritage;

Specific objective: Promoting cultural and natural heritage for sustainable tourism development

The total value of the programme is EUR 9,734,117.65, of which the EU is financing EUR 8,400,000.

IPA Cross-Border Cooperation North Macedonia – Albania 2021-2027

The Cross-Border Cooperation Programme North Macedonia – Albania 2021-2027 IPA III was adopted by decision of the European Commission on 19.05.2022.

General objective of the programme: To promote good neighbourly relations, foster integration into the Union and contribute to the social, economic and territorial development of the programme cross-border area by improving environmental protection and developing sustainable natural and cultural tourism.

The programme area covers the following regions:

North Macedonia: Pelagonia Region, Polog Region and South-East Region

Albania: Dibra, Elbasan and Korça Regions

The programme is built on the following thematic clusters, thematic priorities and specific objectives:

Thematic Priority 0: Technical Assistance.

Specific Objective: Efficient, effective, transparent and timely implementation of the cross-border cooperation programme, as well as raising awareness of the programme among national, regional and local communities, and the general population in the eligible programme areas

Thematic Cluster 2: Greening and increased resource efficiency

Thematic Priority 2: Environmental protection, climate change adaptation and mitigation, risk prevention and management

Specific Objective 1: Increased capacities of public services dealing with disasters.

Specific Objective 2: Improved environmental protection of the cross-border region

Thematic Cluster 4: Improved business environment and competitiveness

Thematic Priority 5: Tourism and cultural and natural heritage;

Specific Objective 1: Strengthening tourism related to natural and cultural heritage in the programme area

Specific Objective 2: Strengthening cultural cooperation, protection and promotion of cultural and natural heritage

The total budget of the programme is EUR 13,790,000, of which the European Union contribution is EUR 11,900,000.

Action Document CBC North Macedonia –Albania for 2021-2027

Comission Implementing Decision CBC North Macedonia –Albania for 2021-2027

IPA Cross-Border Cooperation North Macedonia – Kosovo 2021-2027

The Cross-Border Cooperation Programme North Macedonia – Kosovo for the period 2021-2027 was adopted by decision of the European Commission on 23.05.2022.

General objective of the programme: To promote good neighbourly relations, foster integration into the Union and contribute to the social, economic and territorial development of the programme cross-border area through the protection of resources, competitiveness and business development.

The programme area covers the following regions:

Kosovo: Eastern Economic Region and Southern Economic Region.

North Macedonia: Polog Region, North-Eastern Region and Skopje Region.

The programme is built on the following thematic clusters, thematic priorities and specific objectives.

Thematic Priority: Technical Assistance

Specific Objective 1: Efficient, effective, transparent and timely implementation of the cross-border cooperation programme, as well as raising awareness of the programme among national, regional and local communities, and the general population in the eligible programme areas

Thematic Cluster 2: Greener and increased resource efficiency

Thematic Priority 2: Environmental protection, climate change adaptation and mitigation, risk prevention and management

Specific Objective 2.1: The cross-border area is more environmentally sustainable

Thematic Cluster 4: Improved business environment and competitiveness

Thematic Priority 8: Improving competitiveness, business environment and development of small and medium-sized enterprises, trade and investment

Specific Objective 1.1: Increased level of cross-border trade and tourism services

Specific Objective 1.2: Increased employment/number of new businesses opened

The total budget of the programme is EUR 9 734 117.64, of which the European Union contribution is EUR 8 400 000.

Action Document CBC North Macedonia –Kosovo for 2021-2027

Comission Implementing Decision CBC North Macedonia –Kosovo for 2021-2027

In order to continue the sectoral approach in the work of the Sector Working Groups that began with IPA II, the Support Office of the National IPA Coordinator has prepared a calendar of meetings of the Sector Working Groups for 2022, which is planned to be implemented in two cycles (the first in March-April and the second in September 2022). The meetings of the SWG will aim to ensure dialogue on the implementation of policies, strategic priorities, national programs, in order to ensure sustainable and long-term planning of national priorities and EU financial support.

Joint IPA Monitoring Committee and Sector Monitoring Committees 2023

IPA Annual Implementation Report for 2022

IPA Annual Implementation Report for 2023

IPA Annual Implementation Report for 2024

List of participants

Calendar for IPA Monitoring Committee and Sectoral Monitoring Committees for 2024

Calendar for the Monitoring Committee and Sectoral Monitoring Committees for 2025

MEP Training Center

IPA Structure Training Plan 2025

IPA 2021 - 2027

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