Facility for the Western Balkans: upcoming ECA opinion

Luxembourg, 6 February 2024

On Wednesday, 7 February 2024, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) will issue an opinion on the Reform and Growth Facility for Western Balkan countries as recently proposed by the European Commission.

Background

Since the early 2000s, six Western Balkan countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – have aspired to EU membership. As part of the enlargement process, the EU has been financially supporting the socio-economic development of these countries, as well as providing other forms of assistance, to promote essential reforms related to EU values and alignment with existing EU legislation.

The European Commission published the proposal for establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans on 8 November 2023. The proposed facility would provide up to €6 billion of additional support. In their opinion, the EU auditors will express their views on the proposal, and make several suggestions in order to contribute to the legislative procedure.

* The name “Kosovo” is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on Kosovo’s declaration of independence.