Aiming to adapt the legal framework for the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) to Iceland's application for membership of the European Union, the Official Journal publishes on June 24th 2010, Regulation (EU) Nº 540/2010 amending Council Regulation (EC) Nº 1085/2006 regulating the instrument.

Following the submission on 16 July 2009 of the application by the Republic of Iceland for membership of the European Union, the Council has invited the Commission to submit to the Council its opinion on Iceland’s application. Further to this opinion Iceland can therefore be considered as a potential candidate country and take part on the instruments set up for that purpose.

As a consequence, the European Parliament and the Council have adopted the Regulation amending certain aspects of Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 which provides for assistance to candidate and potential candidate countries in their progressive alignment with the standards and policies of the European Union, including, where appropriate, the acquis communautaire, with a view to membership of the Union.

For Iceland assistance the Regularion sets that it shall be provided in particular subject to the Reports and the Strategy Paper of the Enlargement package

Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA)

The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) offers rationalised assistance to countries aspiring to join the European Union for the period 2007-2013 on the basis of the lessons learnt from previous external assistance and pre-accession instruments.

The aim of the IPA is therefore to enhance the efficiency and coherence of aid by means of a single framework. This framework incorporates the previous pre-accession and stabilisation and association assistance to candidate countries and potential candidate countries while respecting their specific features and the processes in which they are engaged. The instrument provides financial contributions ibn form of grants as well as calls for tenders channelled through EU cooperation actions, in order to support actions meeting IPA's objectives.