Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The leaders of the European Union countries and the Western Balkan countries held very good discussions at the joint summit yesterday, Wednesday, according to what was stated by Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, in her statements after the end of the summit, during which she added, according to what was stated in a statement issued by the Commission headquarters in Brussels, “This summit will be held after... About a month after the Commission's enlargement report was released. We also discussed the current situation with this enlargement report as background.
As a reminder: we want to start accession negotiations on the so-called Core Group as soon as possible with Albania and North Macedonia. We believe that we can begin accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina as soon as the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved. When it comes to Montenegro, there is new momentum in the country with a new government, to get back on track on the accession path.
Finally, for Kosovo and Serbia, the way forward lies in fulfilling their obligations under the dialogue with the European Union. They have taken important steps forward this year with the Ohrid Agreement which must now be implemented. I very much welcome the decrease in tension in northern Kosovo, particularly regarding license plates, electricity, and preparations for early municipal elections. This is the background against which we discussed.
There is no doubt that the accession negotiations form part of our efforts to bring the Western Balkans closer together. But the other part is looking at the economics. If you look at the Western Balkan economies, today they are about 35% of the EU average. In other words, there is a lot of untapped potential. This is what the new growth plan for the Western Balkans seeks. There has been a lot of praise for the new growth plan.
The new growth plan essentially has four pillars. The first is to say: We, the European Union, are opening our market to the Western Balkans in seven important sectors. For example, cooperation in the areas of customs, cashless payments, seamless transportation, roaming at home, and other important sectors.
Secondly, we ask the Western Balkan countries to open their markets to their neighbors. So, in order to truly complete the regional common market. If the Regional Common Market is completed – and I am not talking about the Single Market but the Regional Common Market for the Western Balkans – this could increase the GDP of the Western Balkans by 10%. So there's a lot of music in it.
The third element is to enable the Western Balkan countries to access the single market. We need a level playing field. Therefore, reforms must be undertaken in the Western Balkans
The fourth element is investment. This is the growth plan that says: If you make reforms, this is the investment that goes with those reforms. Invest and reform is a principle you know from NextGenerationEU. We reflect this here in the new growth plan. The new growth plan has the potential to double the size of the region's economy within a decade.
Of course, that's the big picture, but there are also a lot of good steps, and smaller steps, forward. Take roaming for example, since October 1, roaming charges have been reduced by 90%, thanks to operators working together. We are now working on a complete “walk around like home” framework to make it permanent. Or if you take transportation. We now have a roadmap for modernizing border crossings that partners agreed today. These are smooth customs procedures between us, which are good for facilitating integration into the EU single market. This means more business, trade and investments.
Talk about investments. We also looked at the EUR 30 billion economic and investment plan already underway for the Western Balkans, which you are aware of. It has already provided 17 billion euros. Today, a new batch of five more projects worth around €700 million has been approved. Whether it's a solar PV plant in Albania, for example, or a railway in Montenegro. These are the projects that we are pushing forward within the economic and investment plan.
On the digital level, there was good news, because we now want to expand the WiFi4EU program to the Western Balkans. This means providing grants worth €15 million to enable 400 municipalities to provide Wi-Fi in their areas.
Finally, young people - the most precious part of our lives - in October, we were happy and honored to open the local office of the College of Europe in Tirana. I can report that so far 500 students have applied to come and study there next year. The European Union will fund 15 scholarships. Today, we had a moment of pledge. 21 member states have pledged scholarships, so this is big and good news for the region.