The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) offered assistance to countries engaged in the accession process to the European Union (EU) for the period 2007-2013. The aim of the IPA was therefore to enhance the efficiency and coherence of aid by means of a single framework in order to strengthen institutional capacity, cross-border cooperation, economic and social development and rural development. Pre-accession assistance supported the stabilisation and association process of candidate countries and potential candidate countries while respecting their specific features and the processes in which they were engaged.