Brussels, 17/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 15 January, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle told MEPs that the EU was suspending payment of funds from the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) for projects that are under way in Iceland due to the Icelandic government's suspension of the EU accession process. “Following careful assessment and in line with sound financial management, we concluded that all ongoing IPA-projects should be discontinued”, Füle said, stating that “it is not possible to justify using EU taxpayers' funds whose purpose is to support pre-accession when the Icelandic government itself has put a halt to this process”.
Iceland will not have to repay the funds already received under this instrument. There are currently seven projects under way that are financed by the 2011-2012 national IPA programme for Iceland - six grant contracts and one service contract, worth a total of just under €8.7 million. “We are in contact with the recipients and business people in order to phase out our participation from these projects progressively”, said Füle's spokesperson.
Füle stated that “the Commission will not sign any new commitments under our current instrument IPA I”.
In addition, “in agreement with the Icelandic government”, the Commission has suspended preparatory work for Iceland under the new IPA II Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance which covers the 2014-2020 period, Füle stated. (CG/transl.fl)