The European Court of Auditors announced, on Tuesday 5 January, that it is currently assessing the effectiveness of EU measures to support the Rule of law, which is a requirement for accession, in the Western Balkans.
The audit, which should be completed by the end of 2021, covers four EU candidate countries - Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia - and two potential candidate countries: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.
“Rule of law is a non-negotiable prerequisite for EU membership. Yet, Western Balkan countries are still facing issues concerning corruption and how their public institutions function, which hinder their accession to the EU”, explained Juhan Parts, the Member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the audit, in a statement.
The aim of the audit is to determine how effective theses measures have been in strengthening the Rule of law in the Western Balkans, in particular whether EU support has been appropriately designed, whether it has been used well to address key issues identified and whether it has resulted in concrete and sustainable improvements, in line with EU standards.
Over the period 2014-2020, according to the Court of Auditors, the EU has allocated €700 million to the Western Balkans to support the Rule of law and fundamental rights, representing 16% of bilateral aid to these countries. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)