TIRANA, June 30, 2023 – The European Commission, EU’s executive arm, has requested additional funds for the Western Balkan region during the review of the medium-term financial framework, looking for 2 billion euros more to supplement its already hefty financial contribution to a region that is slowly moving toward EU membership.
In the proposal presented by the commission’s head, Ursula von der Leyen, the additional 2 billion euros have been requested for the next four years, in addition to the funds that were approved earlier in the seven-year framework, namely for the period 2021-2027.
European officials have for some time now said that there is a need for additional financial resources for the Western Balkans due to the new challenges presented, which are mainly related to security and the movements of migrants.
However, the additional proposed funds also come at a time when the region’s countries, including Albania, have complained that the gap in GDP per capita between the region and the EU is growing as countries adopt painful reforms needed for EU membership and they keep losing their most productive workers to the EU labor market.
-Change in geopolitics demands funding increases, EC notes-
In the latest proposal for increasing financial aid, the EC cited the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, migration, inflation and the increase in interest rates as justification.
The European Commission has proposed an overall increase in the EU budget of 66 billion euros for the next four years. Most of the budget is required to continue aid to Ukraine, but also to deal with migration challenges and increase the EU’s digital competitiveness.
The EU operates with a one-year budget, but this budget is part of a multi-year framework.
Mrs. von der Leyen, has stated that this change in the bloc’s budget is necessary because, according to her, the world has changed dramatically after Russia’s attacks against Ukraine, and now the EU is facing the consequences, starting from the energy crisis and rising prices.
The largest increase is required to continue assistance to Ukraine. In this regard, the EC has proposed the creation of a reserve fund of 50 billion euros. However, there are also 33 billion euros in loans that must be returned, while 17 billion are planned to be grants — financial assistance without repayment obligation from Ukraine.
-Funds for Western Balkans could go to deal with non-European migrants-
A part of the additional money that the EC is asking for is expected to go as assistance to the Western Balkan countries so that they can face the challenges of migration, since the European bloc estimates that a large number of people pass through the so-called “Balkan Route” for migrants, who then go to EU countries.
The additional funds are intended to finance the strengthening of border controls, refugee accommodation centers and various migration management programs.
For the next four years for the issue of migration, the EC has requested an additional 15 billion euros. These tools are expected to be used to help manage migration from Syria, but also from neighboring countries such as Turkey, the states of North Africa and the Western Balkans.
EU’s budget commissioner, Johannes Hahn, has said that the European bloc should help its partners, especially Moldova and the Western Balkan states, which face the movements of migrants both to protect the borders and to deal with the consequences of increased migration.
-EC faces fight ahead to get the funds from wealthy members-
The proposal of the European Commission, which changes the multiannual budget framework — must be accepted by the member states in the Council and in the European Parliament. Usually, some member states, especially those that are net contributors to the budget — that is, that pay more than they benefit from the European Union’s budget — are against large increases.
Diplomats in Brussels said that the agreement on aid to Ukraine will pass more easily, but other proposed increases will face opposition, especially from countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Finland, Denmark and other countries that pay more into the EU budget than they get from it. Mrs. von der Leyen, said that the EC would not ask for this increase if unforeseen things had not happened.
The EC hopes that the agreement on the budget increase will be reached before the end of the year. In June next year, the elections for the European Parliament will be held, and at the end of that year, the new composition of the European Commission will be chosen.
Sources in the EU have said that for the Western Balkan region there is a need not only to maintain financial assistance — through pre-accession programs (IPA) — at the current level, but also to increase it.
The assistance to the six countries of the Western Balkans is intended to help prepare them for EU integration.
