Commission Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 of 12 June 2007 implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1085/2006 establishing an instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA)2 provides detailed rules for the implementation of the IPA Regulation.

In the light of the experience gained in the first years of implementation of the IPA Regulation, it has appeared necessary to proceed with a limited revision of Regulation (EC) No 718/2007 with a view to removing some inconsistencies and erroneous cross–references, enhancing clarity in the text of some articles and amending some of the specific provisions with a view to enhancing coherence, efficiency and effectiveness in the implementation of the instrument.

It is necessary to further clarify when common provisions are subject to specific provisions under different IPA components. The provisions concerning the evaluation of assistance should be brought into line with the requirements of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities3 and Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities4 while ensuring a better consistency between common provisions applicable to all IPA components and specific provisions applicable to each IPA component.

The specific provisions concerning the Transition assistance and institution building component should better reflect the provisions of the IPA Regulation, namely as regards the areas of assistance to countries listed in Annex I to the IPA Regulation and the possibility to programme assistance through multi-annual as well as annual programmes. Furthermore, in view to ensure a coherent approach among IPA components, the ceiling of the Community contribution in the case of investment operations should be raised to 85 % of the eligible expenditure so as to align with the revised aid intensity for investments applicable under the Regional development component.

In the specific provisions of the Cross-border cooperation component, namely for cross-border programmes between beneficiary countries and Member States, it appears necessary to substantially increase the pre-financing amount paid to the body designated by the participating countries to receive the payments made by the Commission.

Some of the specific provisions of the Regional development component, the Human resources development component and the Rural development component need to be further aligned with the rules governing the Structural and Cohesion funds and the Rural development funds in EU Member States, of which they are the precursor.

The provisions laid down in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the IPA Committee,