Western Balkans countries must soon submit reform agendas to EU in order to get funds for region’s growth

The partners of the EU from the Western Balkans will soon be invited to submit to the European Commission the reform agendas based on which they will be able to get funds from the new facility for the growth of the region.

On May 7, the Council gave its final green light to setting up a Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans, which, after the signing, will be published in the Official Journal of the EU and come into effect in the coming days.

Once in force, the Western Balkan partners will be invited to submit their respective Reform Agendas to the Commission, laying out the socio-economic and fundamentals reforms they plan to undertake between 2024 and 2027.

The facility is expected to provide up to EUR 2 billion in grants and EUR 4 billion in loans to the EU's six Western Balkan partners in the coming years, the Council announced.

The main aim of the facility is to support Western Balkan partners’ alignment with the EU’s values, laws, rules, standards, policies and practices, with a view to future EU membership, as well as their progressive integration into the EU single market and socio-economic convergence with the EU.

The facility will support a range of socio-economic and fundamentals reforms, including reforms related to the rule of law and fundamental rights.

The Council of the EU also says that the Western Balkan partners will also need to reflect on how the measures included in the Reform Agendas are expected to contribute to progressive and continuous alignment with the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.

EU member states will have a key role in approving the beneficiaries’ Reform Agendas and, if necessary, their amendments.

Payments will be made twice a year, provided that the partners meet the qualitative and quantitative steps set out in their respective Reform Agendas.

Where the preconditions for support are not met or are no longer met, the EU may decide to withhold the release of funds.

General preconditions for EU support under the facility include that partners continue to uphold and respect effective democratic mechanisms, including a multi-party parliamentary system, free and fair elections, pluralistic media, an independent judiciary and the rule of law, and to guarantee respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.

The Council of the EU also says that, to increase transparency, the Western Balkan partners will be required to set up a web portal for publishing up-to-date data on final recipients receiving more than EUR 50,000 in total over the period of four years under this facility.

European Commission

Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans