On Tuesday 6 October the European Commission adopted its comprehensive economic and investment plan for the Western Balkans (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo and Serbia), which it announced last April (see EUROPE 12477/8).
The document, which sets out a major investment package mobilising up to €9 billion from the IPA III pre-accession funds, aims to stimulate the region’s long-term economic recovery, support a green and digital transition and encourage regional integration and convergence with the European Union, according to the Commission. It also highlights the implementation of a regional common market.
“This plan goes hand in hand with the reforms” of the countries in the region in the areas of rule of law and structural economic reforms, Enlargement Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi made clear when speaking to the media.
The plan identifies ten flagship initiatives that address sustainable transport and interconnections, clean energy, the environment and climate, strengthening the competitiveness of the private sector and investing in human capital, including a youth guarantee.
In parallel to the plan, the Commission has presented guidelines for implementing the Green Agenda in the Western Balkans, which are expected to be adopted at the Western Balkans Summit in Sofia in November. The Commission proposes actions around five axes, with digitisation as a cross-cutting element. These are: (1) climate action, including decarbonisation, energy and mobility; (2) measures on circular economy, particularly waste, recycling, sustainable production and resource efficiency; (3) actions to preserve biodiversity, with the objective of protecting and restoring the region's natural wealth; (4) actions to combat air, water and soil pollution; (5) actions for sustainable food systems and rural areas.
In addition to financing from IPA funds, the Commission intends to create a guarantee facility for the Western Balkans. The Commission’s ambition is to mobilise investment - public and private - of up to €20 billion over the next decade. This mechanism will be established under the EU’s external action guarantee and the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus.
Furthermore, on the same day, the European Commission announced that it had disbursed, on behalf of the EU, the first tranches of the macro-financial assistance programmes for Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia, announced in April to help them cope with the Covid-19 pandemic (see EUROPE 12472/7). The payments are €50 million for Kosovo, €30 million for Montenegro and €80 million for North Macedonia, i.e. half of the funds announced.
See the communication on the plan: https://bit.ly/30ESDUT (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)