Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA)

Simon Mordue, Phare Co-ordinator, Delegation of the European Commission In Romania
ISPA is one of the three instruments assisting the applicant countries until they join the EU. Over the period from 2000 to 2006, a total of EUR 1, 040 million a year (at 1999 prices) is to be divided evenly between environmental and transport infrastructure projects. Its main priorities in preparing the applicant countries for accession will be:

ISPA: Sectors receiving assistance

1. The environment - bringing the applicants up to EU standards

As noted in Agenda 2000, the applicant countries generally face much greater environmental problems than the present Member States, particularly with regard to water pollution, waste management and air pollution. Major efforts will therefore be needed, involving considerable amounts of technical and financial aid from the Union, if these countries are to catch up quickly with the 'Acquis Communautaire' on the environment. To deal with the worst environmental problems, assistance from ISPA will be concentrated mainly on:

2. Transport: expanding the trans-European transport networks

Bringing transport infrastructure in the applicant countries up to the standards of the Union to meet the expected growth of traffic will call for major investments. ISPA will be contributing therefore to funding the development of railways, roads, ports and airports, taking into account requirements for sustainable transport and modal change.

3. Technical assistance - directly related to the projects being funded

A small part of ISPA's budget may also be used to fund preparatory studies and technical assistance. A clear link has to be shown between measures of these kinds and the projects funded by ISPA. Technical assistance will have a crucial role in guaranteeing a high level of quality in projects, in terms of both management and impact, and will allow research results to be incorporated in the relevant sector as far as possible.