4th April 2024, Skopje – Provisional Agreement between the EU Council Presidency and the European Parliament representatives pertaining to the regulations for the establishment of the Reform and Growth Facility, part of the EU Western Balkan Growth Plans, was reached.
The Facility is aimed at accelerating the EU integration processes in the countries from the region, which needs to be formally adopted by both the Council of Europe and Members of the European Parliament.
“The adoption of this EC financial instrument represents an important step towards the acceleration of the EU integration process of the Western Balkan countries. The instrument signifies a link in the chain in the respective process in view of speeding up the reform implementation through appropriate financial assistance. The Facility amounts to EUR 2 billion as grants, funds provided by the EU to the countries from the region so as to accelerate their economic convergence towards EU, whereby the countries, including our own as well, will absorb them all to the end of implementing the reforms as expeditiously as possible”, Minister of Finance, Fatmir Besimi said.
The national structure in the country has already been working on the 2024-2027 Reform Agenda, representing a comprehensive set of measures with concrete steps in achieving the set objectives referring to the following fields: reforms covering public administration, public finance management, digital, energy and green transition, human capital, business environment and rule of law. In addition, it incorporates infrastructural projects in the field of transport, energy, digital transformation and human capital.
The country’s Reform Agenda will be supported via this instrument with over EUR 800 million, funds which are to be set in motion by the end of this year.
Western Balkan Growth Plan, promoted at the close of 2023 as a new EU instrument for the support of Western Balkan countries on their path towards European integration, has become the focus of attention from that moment on.
