Turkey to benefit most from EU agricultural support for candidate countries

Turkey will benefit the most from the EU's €927 million ($1.01 billion) fund for pre-accession countries in agricultural and rural development, the European Commission announced on Wednesday.

The commission adopted assistance programs to support candidate countries in the field of agriculture in the 2021-2027 period, the EU executive body said in a press statement.

Set to receive €430 million ($472 million) from the fund, Turkey is to be the biggest beneficiary of the EU grant.

Albania will receive €112 million, while North Macedonia will get €97 million and Serbia €288 million.

The commission estimates that the EU support, together with national public and private contributions, will generate in total over €2 billion of investments in the rural areas of the Western Balkans and Turkey.

The pre-accession assistance for rural development (IPARD) programs support sustainable management of natural resources, climate action, efforts to raise living conditions by improving infrastructure, diversifying economic activities, and fostering employment, particularly among women and young people.

In total, the EU allocated €14.2 billion ($15.6 billion) in support for candidate and potential candidate countries to implement reforms towards EU membership for the budgetary period of 2021-2027.