Marko Novaković is a Serbian legal scholar and policy expert, full professor of law, and senior research fellow at the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade. He holds a PhD in international law and a PMP certification. Educated in Serbia, Italy, and the Netherlands, with academic and professional experience in Germany, the UK, Slovakia, and other European countries, he has advised governments and international organisations on judicial reform, EU accession, and international law. The author of over 50 publications, he is one of the leading regional authorities on diplomatic and international immunities and serves in editorial and advisory roles with ASIL, ILA, and other academic institutions. He works in Serbian, English, and French.Marina Matić Bošković is a senior research fellow at the Institute of Criminological and Sociological Research in Belgrade and a justice reform expert. She holds a PhD in European criminal law, with over 20 years of academic and professional experience across the Western Balkans, the European Union, and Eastern Partnership countries. She has advised governments and international organisations on judicial reforms, the EU accession process, criminal law legislative drafting, the organisation of the judiciary, and protection of fundamental rights, as well as judicial statistics. She is the author of more than 80 publications. Since 2015, she has been President of the Program Council of the Prosecutors Association of Serbia, and she has been a member of the IAP (International Association of Prosecutors) Committee of the Forum for Associations of Prosecutors.

• Foreword 1. The Evolution of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance: From Conception to Modern Implementation 2. Western Balkans on the Path to the EU: Progress and Challenges in Rule of Law Reforms 3. EU policy on rule of law in the enlargement context 4. Impacts of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance on the Rule of Law in Albania 5. Fighting Corruption with EU Funds in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Evaluating Institutional Capacity, Political Ownership and Outcomes 6. From Assistance to Action? IPA’s Role in Strengthening the Rule of Law in North Macedonia 7. Impacts of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance on Rule of Law in Montenegro State of play and perspectives 8. EU’s Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance and ‘limited progress’ in advancing the rule of law in Serbiam 9. Shaping Croatia's EU Path: The Impact Of IPA Funds and the Ongoing Role of the RFT 10. The rule of law as the cornerstone of the EU project and its role in the Instruments for Pre-accession Assistance for Western Balkans