The EU aims to involve Western Balkans partners with its Member States on equal terms, fostering a reform partnership that’s oriented towards the future and beneficial to all citizens
Let me start with the good news: on 1st February, the European Council agreed to the European Commission’s proposal of a Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. Its financial instrument – the Reform and Growth Facility – will better link the delivery of essential reforms to the disbursement of EU funds. This requires that every Western Balkan partner prepare – in close consultation with the European Commission – a Reform Agenda on the basis of existing European Union recommendations, including from the annual Enlargement Package and the national Economic Reform Programmes. This entails accelerating fundamental reforms, including on the fundamentals cluster of the accession process.
The six billion euros from the Growth Plan instrument for the 2024-2027 period, together with the existing funding through the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) III, will bring aid intensity close to what’s received by the EU Member States benefitting from EU cohesion funds. The potential of this Growth Plan is thus exceptional, as it could double the economy of the Western Balkans over the next 10 years. With its combination of reforms and investments, it will allow the Western Balkan countries to soon benefit from key areas of our single market, including the free movement of goods, services and workers, the single euro payments area, transport, energy and the digital single market.
Success in receiving additional EU funding is entirely dependent on meeting the identified indicators and targets, so the Western Balkan countries that meet these criteria will benefit the most
When it comes to the alignment of objectives, I believe that between a candidate country with a declared strategic goal of EU membership, on the one hand, and a Union that wants to accelerate the accession process, including the economic integration of the Western Balkans, there should be a natural convergence of objectives. It is important in this context that all projects support Serbia’s efforts to join the EU and respect EU policies and rules, such as those in the fields of public procurement, competition, labour law, environment, energy or transport. The aim of the Growth Plan is to offer the Western Balkans some of the advantages of membership in advance. This means that certain requirements of membership must also be met in advance, in particular the need to enforce EU legislation in relevant areas. Access to the Single Market has been the main driver of economic growth for all countries that joined the EU in the last two decades. Establishing a common regional market is an important stepping stone in this process.
Lastly, if the question is whether some countries could benefit more than others from this package, the answer is a resounding yes. Given that everything depends on meeting the identified indicators and targets, the countries that deliver will make the most of this additional EU funding. Unlike IPA, the Reform and Growth Facility is performance based. The same approach was implemented successfully with our own Member States in the scope of the post Covid- 19 “Reform and Recovery Facility”. The EU is looking to engage with our Western Balkan partners in the same terms as our Member States, in a future-oriented reform partnership that’s beneficial to our citizens. That’s why we are fully committed to assisting the Serbian authorities in delivering an ambitious Reform Agenda and supporting its implementation, in line with the country’s stated ambition of joining the European Union.
