Commissioner Hahn at Western Balkans Prime Ministers' meeting in Durres, Albania

Today, Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, is in Durres, Albania, to take part in an informal meeting of the Western Balkan Prime Ministers. The discussions at the meeting focus in particular on the regional economic integration, including the Regional Economic Area (REA). “The Regional Economic Area is the key to the goal of regional economic integration. Intra-regional trade is up for the first time in years: an increase of more than 13% in intra-CEFTA trade in 2017 compared to 2016. Given this backdrop, our own prediction of REA potentially creating around 80,000 new jobs by 2025 seems almost too cautious,” stressed Commissioner Hahn, putting the work on rule of law as well as growth and jobs at the heart of Commission's engagement with the region on its European path. See the full speech here.