European Commission approves reform agenda of Serbia – Payment of EUR 6 billion for Western Balkans to start

Today, the European Commission approved the Reform Agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following the EU Member States' positive opinion. As announced on the EC’s website, the five Western Balkans governments commit to socio-economic and fundamental reforms they will undertake to spur growth and convergence with the EU under the Growth Plan during the period of 2024 - 2027.

This step was key to allow payments under the EU's EUR 6 billion Reform and Growth Facility, that will be made upon completion of agreed reform steps. This instrument includes EUR 2 billion in grants and EUR 4 billion in highly concessional loans. The aim is to help the economies of the Western Balkans to accelerate growth based on socio-economic reforms.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that she was impressed by the work of their Western Balkan partners on their Reform Agendas and emphasized that the plan of the EU was to bring the economies of the Western Balkans closer to theirs and to give their companies the access and the means to compete on the European Single Market.

– Everyone benefits, and it's a big leap forward towards the European Union – she emphasized.

The Reform Agendas focus on the reforms in the priority areas of rule of law and other fundamentals, governance, the digital and green transition, human capital development and the business environment. In addition, each beneficiary has proposed a list of indicative investments to be funded under the Facility, critical to unlocking socio-economic growth, to be approved in the context of the Western Balkan Investment Framework.

Payments will be made twice a year until 2027, based on requests submitted by the Western Balkans partners and verification by the Commission.

The Commission is looking forward to Bosnia and Herzegovina formally submitting their Reform Agenda to proceed with its assessment and continues supporting the authorities to finalize it.

European Commission

Ursula von der Leyen

Western Balkans Growth Plan