Brussels, 06/11/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 5 November, the European Commission announced that it would use up to €1 billion from its Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance to ensure the financing of key investments - including in the transport sector and the area of interconnection - in the Western Balkan countries for the 2014-2020 period. Together with funding from the financial institutions, the EU funding aims to attract private capital that could finance at least €10 billion of investment in these countries, “targeting key priorities of the beneficiary countries including infrastructure and economic development”, the Commission stated in a press release. The Western Balkans will be able to access the funding mechanism, as well as sector budget support and competence-building through the transfer of knowledge, by improving their economic governance systems and making the best possible use of their national budgets, said the Commission. The Commission will cooperate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support this effort.
Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle has therefore agreed with the European and international institutions to step up their cooperation on investment in key infrastructure in the Western Balkans and to develop innovative financial instruments jointly which pool public and private funding.
The European Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the World Bank, the KfW Bankengruppe and the Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) have agreed to use the Western Balkans Investment Framework in order to ensure that EU and member state resources are used for the financing of priority investment in the beneficiary countries, through a single pipeline.
The Commission is assessing the development of the Investment Framework in the light of changes to the programming and delivery of European aid under the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA II) and in the light of the continuing need for large socio-economic investment in the Western Balkans. (CG/transl.fl)