The European Commission welcomes a political agreement to establish the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans
The European Commission welcomed a political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council to establish a reform and growth facility for the Western Balkans worth €6 billion, supporting the reform and growth plan proposed by the Commission in November 2023.
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The Commission stated – in a statement published on its official website – that the facility provides an unprecedented offer for Western Balkan countries to obtain some of the benefits of European Union membership before accession, and will provide increased financial assistance in exchange for the social, economic and basic reforms identified in the ambitious reform agendas that It is being prepared by partners in the Western Balkans.
Commenting on this, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, “Enlargement represents a major geostrategic priority… We want to make the Western Balkans a Closer and faster to our Union. The agreed-upon €6 billion facility represents a major step in this direction, and by combining increased financial aid with reforms, it will accelerate the progress of our partners in the Western Balkans on the EU pre-accession path, and strengthen economic convergence. between them and better integrate them into our single market.”
The total amount of the facility for the period from 2024 to 2027 is about 6 billion euros, and this amount consists of 2 billion euros in the form of grants and 4 billion Euros in the form of highly concessional loans, at least half of the total amount will be allocated through the Western Balkans Investment Framework “WBIF”, to support infrastructure and connectivity investments, including transport, energy, green and digital transitions, and the remaining part will be released as direct support to budgets. National.
According to the statement, the funds will be released twice a year, based on requests from partners in the Western Balkans and after verification by the Commission, and where appropriate, where the All relevant conditions. These conditions include payment conditions corresponding to the qualitative and quantitative steps to measure progress and implementation results that were agreed upon in the reform agendas, in addition to general conditions related to overall financial stability, sound public financial management, transparency, and budget oversight.
