The European Commission has released a total of €158.9 million for Albania (€49 million), Montenegro (€44.2 million) and North Macedonia (€65.7 million) under the third request for payment from the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans.
These payments, announced on 11 May by Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos (see EUROPE 13866/5), are conditional on the implementation of previously agreed reforms. In this case, these are reforms implemented in the areas of business competitiveness and innovation in Albania and Montenegro, as well as education and digitalisation in North Macedonia. Part of the funds, amounting to €74 million, is to be transferred directly to the national budgets, while the rest will be allocated to investment projects in the areas of sustainable transport, clean energy, digital and human capital development, which still have to be approved.
Since 2024, a total of €673.6 million has already been released from the €6 billion envelope in grants and loans provided under the Growth Facility for the 2024-2027 period (including €2 billion in grants and €4 billion in loans). This amount includes €212.8 million for Albania, €89.3 million for Montenegro and €142.1 million for North Macedonia, while Serbia has so far received €172 million and Kosovo €61.8 million in pre-financing. Bosnia and Herzegovina still has to ratify the loan and facility agreements in order to benefit from the pre-financing.
Commission is currently assessing the second and third requests for payment submitted by Serbia, including compliance with the “preconditions”, according to Commission sources (see EUROPE 13861/17). Kosovo has not yet submitted a first payment request. In the case of Serbia and Kosovo, there are also preconditions regarding respect for the rule of law, as well as constructive engagement in the EU-facilitated normalisation dialogue. (Original version in French by Ana Pisonero Hernández)