It assisted eight of the ten 2004 accession member states: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, as well as those countries that acceded in 2007 (Bulgaria and Romania), in a period of massive economic restructuring and political change.
PHARE's total pre-accession focus was put in place in 1997, in response to the Luxembourg Council’s launching of the present enlargement process.
It estimates the timing and cost of the steps needed to prepare the country for membership and the implications for staff and financial resources.
These orientations were further refined in 1999 with the creation of SAPARD and ISPA, which took over rural and agricultural development (SAPARD) and infrastructural projects in the environmental and transport fields (ISPA) allowing Phare to focus on its key priorities that were not covered by these fields.
In May 2004 the new member states had to take over the full responsibility for the management of the Phare programme through a process of Extended Decentralisation.