In the event of centralised or joint management, the beneficiary country shall designate a national IPA coordinator, who shall act as the representative of the beneficiary country vis-à-vis the Commission. He shall ensure that a close link is maintained between the Commission and the beneficiary country, with regard both to the general accession process and to EU pre-accession assistance under IPA.

The national IPA coordinator shall also be responsible for coordinating the beneficiary country's participation in the relevant cross-border programmes, both with Member States and with other beneficiary countries, as well as in the transnational, interregional or sea basins programmes under other Community instruments. He may delegate the tasks relating to this latter responsibility to a cross-border cooperation coordinator.

In the case of the cross-border cooperation component, operating structures shall be designated and put in place by the beneficiary country, in accordance with the provisions of Article 139.