At their summit in Trieste, Italy, on Wednesday 12 July, the six Western Balkans countries are due to adopt an action plan on developing a regional economic area.
The summit of the six Western Balkans countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo and Serbia) is expected to be the opportunity for the leaders of these countries to agree on an action plan on developing a regional economic area, a European source stated on Monday 10 July.
According to a Commission press release, the objective of this area is to strengthen the region's attractiveness, and especially its ability to attract investment and create jobs.
The action plan will focus on four areas – mobility, investment, trade (based on the CEFTA) and digital – "in order to help integrate the region into the Europe-wide digital market", the Commission stated. While the Western Balkans countries are concerned that this regional economic area might replace EU accession, a European source said this is not true and underlined that this area accompanied the accession and integration process.
The ministers will also discuss people-to-people contact and are expected to reaffirm their resolve to continue the exchange system for young civil servants in the region – which was launched at the Paris summit in 2016. On the sidelines of the summit, an EU-Western Balkans youth forum will also be organised to review the results obtained since last year and to explore new areas for cooperation. The conclusions from this forum will be presented to the Balkans' leaders during the summit.
Particular emphasis will be given to connectivity. Believing that connected transport and effective energy infrastructure are essential for achieving stronger regional cooperation and economic growth, the EU will disburse €1 billion for investment to be made in these sectors.
The EU and the third countries should furthermore sign a treaty establishing a European transport community with the Western Balkans, in order to strengthen connectivity between the different member states and the EU and to conduct the necessary reforms in transport. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Lucas Tripoteau)