This report, and the events recorded in it, focus upon seven countries which are at various stages of active or potential candidature to join the European Union. Six of the countries are in the Western Balkans – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia. The seventh country is Turkey. These countries are reforming their governmental systems to align them with the standards and policies of the European Union. To help in this process, the EU offers support through the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA). Part of that Instrument is focused on rural development, including the potential to use the LEADER approach, which operates successfully throughout the EU.