Regulation 2024/1449 - Establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans

official title

 

Legal instrument	Regulation
Number legal act	Regulation 2024/1449
Original proposal	COM(2023)692
CELEX number37	32024R1449

EN

L series

Official Journal of the European Union

2024/1449

24.5.2024

REGULATION (EU) 2024/1449 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 14 May 2024 on establishing the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 212 and Article 322(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Court of Auditors (¹),

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure (²),

Whereas:

• (1) 

  The Union is founded on the values referred to in Article 2 of the Treaty on the European Union (TEU), which include democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Those values form part of the accession criteria established at the Copenhagen European Council in June 1993 (‘Copenhagen criteria’), which constitute the conditions of eligibility for the Union membership.

• (2) 

  The enlargement process is built on established criteria, fair and rigorous conditionality and the principle of own merits. A firm commitment to ‘fundamentals first’ approach, which requires a strong focus on the rule of law, fundamental rights, the functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform, as well as on economic criteria, remains essential. Progress depends on each beneficiary’s implementation of the necessary reforms to align with the Union acquis. Regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations remain essential elements of the enlargement process.

• (3) 

  Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine further showed that enlargement is a geo-strategic investment in peace, security and stability. Recalling the Union’s full and unequivocal commitment to the Union membership perspective of the Western Balkans, the Western Balkans partners’ orientation and commitment towards the Union is a strong expression of their strategic choice and place in a community of values. The Western Balkans partners’ EU path needs to be firmly anchored in tangible and concrete progress on reforms.

• (4) 

  It is in the common interest of the Union and its Western Balkans partners, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo ^{1 2}, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia (the ‘beneficiaries’), to advance efforts to reform their political, legal and economic systems with a view to their future Union membership and to support their accession process. The prospect of Union membership has a powerful transformative effect, embedding positive democratic, political, economic and societal change.

• (5) 

  It is necessary to bring forward some of the advantages of Union membership before accession. Economic convergence is at the heart of those benefits. Currently, the convergence of Western Balkans in terms of GDP per capita expressed in purchasing power standards remains low at between 30 % and 50 % of the Union average and is not progressing fast enough.

• (6) 

  To reduce that disparity, the Commission in its Communication of 8 November 2023, entitled ‘New Growth Plan for the Western Balkans’ set out a new growth plan for the Western Balkans based on four pillars: (a) increasing integration with the EU’s Single Market; (b) boosting regional economic integration, based on EU rules and

standards, by fully implementing the existing Common Regional Market Action Plan; (c) deepening reforms aiming at accelerating growth in the region, promoting economic convergence and strengthening regional stability; and (d) establishing a new financing instrument: the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans (the ‘Facility’).

• (7) 

  The implementation of the New Growth Plan for the Western Balkans requires increased funding under a dedicated new financing instrument, the Facility to assist the region in implementing reforms for sustainable economic growth...

This text has been adopted from EUR-Lex.

This page is also available in a full version containing the legal context, de Europese rechtsgrond, other dossiers related to the dossier at hand and the related cases of the European Court of Justice.

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  EUR-lex provides an overview of the proposal, amendments, citations and legality.