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The growth package, Albania will benefit from 922 million Euros from the EU

2024-10-13 11:36:19Politikë SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

The growth package, Albania will benefit from 922 million Euros from the EU

The European Union is very close to completing the procedures for approving the reform agendas, which have been presented to the countries of the Western Balkans, as a condition to benefit from the Growth Plan package, worth 6 billion euros.

Beneficiaries of the Plan - which was approved by the EU in May - are all the countries of the region: Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.

The IPA (Instruments of Pre-Accession) Commission gave final consent on October 11 to only five of the six countries that have submitted reform and growth agendas.

The only country in the region, which cannot yet wait for the approval of its agenda, is Bosnia and Herzegovina, since the document that this country sent to the EU was not complete and did not address all the suggestions given. from the European Commission.

The European Commission is expected to approve the implementation decision on October 16.

In this way, the European Commission will be ready to make the first payments from the package in question. But before these payments are made, the beneficiary countries must sign the agreements and ratify them in their national parliaments, because two billion euros will be non-refundable money, while the rest will be soft loans. Therefore, the beneficiary countries must ratify the agreements, since they must be obliged to return the money from the favorable loans.

Due to the time-consuming procedures for the approval of such agreements, it is difficult to predict when the first payments will be made and for which country in the region. Realistically, they can be done at the beginning of 2025, but if any country rushes and completes the procedure of ratification of the agreements earlier, then these funds will be able to be paid earlier.

The idea of ​​the EU is that all the countries, for which the reform and growth agendas will be approved, will be allocated as a "pre-financing payment" the amount of 7% of the funds dedicated to them.

With this package, the EU aims to help economic growth in the countries of the region and, in this way, accelerate the process of their European integration. According to an unofficial estimate, Kosovo will be able to benefit over 880 million euros from this growth plan.

Over 250 million euros would be allocated to Kosovo as non-refundable money, while the rest in the form of affordable loans.

Consequently, Kosovo would be paid 7% of the funds as "pre-financing", which amounts to about 61 million euros.

Albania will be able to benefit in total of 922 million euros, while 64.5 million as "pre-financing" means.

North Macedonia will be able to have 750 million euros available, while the first payment for it would be 52.5 million.

A total of 1.58 billion euros would be allocated to Serbia, while the first payment for it would be 111 million.

Montenegro would have available a total of 383 million euros, while 26.8 million as "pre-financing".

Bosnia and Herzegovina, from the total plan, would have available 1 billion and 85 million euros, while 76 million as "pre-financing".

The calculation of which country will have available how many financial means is made on the basis of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the number of inhabitants and some other criteria.

But, since the first presentation of this plan, earlier this year, the countries of the region have been clearly told that if one does not carry out the reforms after one or two years, then the amount dedicated to it will be distributed to other countries.

The plan also aims to promote regional cooperation and the development of the common market in the region, which would gradually be integrated into the common market of the European Union.

This plan, according to EU officials, is in no way intended to create any alternative to EU enlargement, but to make the EU membership of these countries easier.

The European Union wants the first payments from this plan to be made as soon as possible and to start the implementation of the projects that would be financed through them.

At the same time, the EU also recalls the conditions that must be met during the entire project implementation process.

They have to do with the rule of law, financial control and proper auditing according to European standards, while in the case of Kosovo and Serbia, a specific condition is constructive engagement in the normalization of relations between them.

In case of misuse of these funds, the EU will be able to request their return, while unused funds from any country could be used for another country in the region.

So far, this is the most ambitious special plan of the European Union for the countries of the region, which is not part of the ordinary means from the Instruments of Pre-Accession (IPA), which are dedicated to countries from the enlargement process, including those of the Western Balkans./REL


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