Introduction

The International Financial Institutions Advisory Group was established in March 2007 and is chaired by the European Commission.

The purpose of the IFI Advisory Group is to support and improve the overall co-operation between the International Financial Institutions and the European Commission in the candidate and potential candidate countries, including co-operation under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA).

The Group builds on the experience of the regional Infrastructure Steering Group (ISG). Its scope will be extended beyond regional transport, energy and environmental projects.

The Group consists of experts from the European Commission, World Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the Council of Europe Development Bank, the Regional Cooperation Council (successor to the Stability Pact), Nordic Investment Bank, Nordic Environment Finance Corporation, and the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank. Its work is part of an overall effort to integrate the countries of South East Europe amongst themselves and to the EU through developing infrastructure within a regional approach, instead of on a national level.

The Group has an advisory function and will:

• Provide advice on issues high on the political agenda at both regional and national level on the basis of specific needs;

• Address issues linked to the development of infrastructure, national and regional, including harmonisation of approaches to infrastructure projects;

• Exchange information and experience and provide advice on the design of new initiatives and programmes; and,

• Identify/explore possibilities of improving regional financial co-operation between the Commission and IFIs based on the comparative advantages of each institution in the region.

As to the sectoral and thematic scope of the IFI-AG, attention continues to be placed on cross-border issues and regional initiatives in the transport, energy and environment sectors. New sectors will also be addressed, including social sectors (health, education and employment) as well as horizontal issues, such as fiscal sustainability and the right financing-mix, coherence of IFIs support with national public expenditure programmes, preventive measures against crowd-outs of social expenditures, Public Private Partnerships, transparency in bidding procedures and overall Public Investment prioritisation.

The group will meet approximately twice per year and is supported by sectoral Working Group meetings which also meet twice per year.