Pre-Accession Assistance in Poland
摘要
This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of Poland’s preparation for European Union (EU) membership through pre-accession funds, namely Poland and Hungary Assistance for Restructuring the Economies (PHARE), Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession (ISPA) and Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD). The chapter presents and evaluates the use of pre-accession funds in the country, which also became a preparatory instrument for using EU budget funds in the period of full EU membership that began on 1 May 2004. The authors identify the institutional system and discuss the main achievements and pitfalls of implementing pre-accession assistance in the largest Member State that joined the European Union in 2004. The lessons learned can serve as a valuable resource for the candidate countries.