Member states of the European Union agreed on Wednesday during an ambassadorial meeting in Brussels on a common stance of the EU Council for the six-billion-dollar plan for reforms and economic growth for the Western Balkans countries.
Now, the next step is for the European Parliament to approve its position, likely next week, before negotiations begin among the EU’s three main institutions, the Commission, the Council, and the Parliament, to formalize this plan.
The EU Council announcement states that the aim of this plan is to assist the Western Balkans region countries in the process of reforms and economic growth, so that they can accelerate their accession to the EU.
In this plan, the European Union has planned to allocate 6 billion euros to Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia for the period 2024-2027.
The plan, initially presented by the European Commission in November 2023 and now also supported by the Council, envisages two billion euros as non-repayable funds, while the other four billion will be provided in the form of voluntary loans.
However, the Council notes that payments will be conditional on strict criteria related to reforms in the rule of law and respect for the bloc’s financial interests.
In the Council’s Wednesday announcement, it is stated that “increased attention is paid to the partners’ alignment with the EU’s positions in the field of foreign and security policy”.
However, the document approved by the Council does not specifically mention alignment with the bloc’s foreign policy positions as a prerequisite.
In more general terms, it states that “beneficiaries must demonstrate a reliable commitment to European values, including through their alignment with the bloc’s common foreign and security policy, including restrictive measures”.
The European Parliament has proposed that alignment with EU’s foreign policy positions be a clear prerequisite and that it be formally mentioned that this also implies support for sanctions against Russia.
Serbia is the only Balkan country that has not yet aligned with EU’s positions on sanctions against Russia.
Like the Council, both the Commission and the European Parliament mention their constructive engagement in the normalization of relations and the implementation of all obligations arising from agreements mediated by the EU as a specific prerequisite for Kosovo and Serbia.
The Council’s position states that if it is deemed that any country in the region has not fulfilled the conditions, then payments from this plan will be suspended to that country.
And if the situation changes later and that country again meets the specified criteria, then the funds will be unblocked for it.
In all these cases, the proposal must be made by the European Commission, while the Council will approve it within a maximum of one month.
