IPA III, a Key Instrument for Pre-Accession Support to EU Candidate Countries, and Rule of Law Reforms

The European Union (EU) and its enlargement process is a difficult, complicated, and sensitive issue. This article focuses on one of the most important EU instruments for pre-accession assistance for candidate countries: the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance III (IPA III). Candidate countries have to fulfil a number of conditions and criteria to become an EU Member State. This often requires the implementation of several reforms in many areas of the life of the society and the state. One of the key values of the EU and its member countries is respect for and deepening of the rule of law. Therefore, candidate countries are also subject to strict requirements in this area, including the independence of the judiciary and prosecution, anti-corruption policy, and the functioning of other democratic institutions within the system of checks and balances (e.g. the Ombudsman and civil society organisations). Therefore, in addition to outlining the essence and functions of IPA III, this article looks at how IPA III is being used in practice by candidate countries and whether this instrument is aiding their progress in meeting the accession criteria. To this end, this article focuses on the candidate country of North Macedonia, examining whether and to what extent this country has made progress in rule of law building and the degree to which this has benefited from the support provided through IPA III.