The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, or simply IPA, is a new funding mechanism of the European Union. As of 2007, it replaced previous programmes such as the PHARE programme and CARDS. Unlike the previous assistance programs, IPA offers funds to both EU candidate countries (Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Turkey) and potential candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Serbia including Kosovo as defined by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244/1999), although under different conditions.