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ʽFriends with benefitsʼ: Pre-accession assistance and the reduction of socio-economic inequalities in the European Union

Europe (Central and Eastern)
European Union
Southern Europe
Member States
Policy-Making
Alice Cunha
Instituto Português de Relações Internacionais, IPRI-NOVA
Alice Cunha
Instituto Português de Relações Internacionais, IPRI-NOVA

Abstract

European funds have their origin at the very beginning of the European integration process. The Treaty of Rome highlighted the need to consolidate economic unity among the Member States, which led to the creation of the first structural funds, whereas each enlargement round has contributed to adaptations in European funding. However, in most cases the history of the concession of European Union (EU) funds does not begin with accession but before this with the granting of pre-accession assistance, which is often considered as a landmark of the accession negotiations for candidate states and a good practice in the overall strategy of the EUʼs enlargement policy with enduring political but mostly economic effects. Still, enlargement has never been an EU top priority and is often a problematic issue, namely because it brings implications for all other policies and EU institutions, for the balance of power between Member States, for the redistribution of financial resources, in addition to undermining the economic and social cohesion of the EU. This paper aims to analyse the rationale underlying the concept of pre-accession assistance and to assess its importance within the overall enlargement policy over time –to what concerns tackling the lower level of economic and social development of the candidate states–, from the first beneficiary of such a policy instrument (Portugal, 1980s) to the current EU enlargement candidate countries. In particular, the paper will demonstrate that pre-accession assistance was created to reduce inequalities among future member states, the reasons that have supported maintaining this financial and technical instrument over time and enlargement rounds –only changing programmes (IPA, ISPA, PHARE, SAPARD, CARDS)–, and, ultimately, to what extent has pre-accession assistance been relevant to reduce said inequalities in the EU.