Statement by President von der Leyen at the joint press conference with President Michel following the EU-Western Balkans Summit

We had a very good discussion at this Summit. This Summit takes place around a month after the Commission's report on enlargement. We also discussed the state of play with this enlargement report as a backdrop.

To recall: We want to open accession negotiations on the first so-called fundamentals' cluster as soon as possible with Albania and North Macedonia. We consider that we can open accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina once the necessary degree of compliance with the membership criteria is achieved. When it comes to Montenegro, there is a new momentum in the country with a new government, to get back on track on its accession path.

Finally, for both Kosovo and Serbia, the way ahead lies in living up to their commitments under the EU Dialogue. They have taken important steps forward this year with the Ohrid Agreement which must now be implemented. I very much welcome the decrease in tensions in the north of Kosovo, in particular on the car licence plates, on electricity and on preparing for early municipal elections. This is the backdrop against which we have discussed.

Of course, accession negotiations are one part of our effort to bring the Western Balkans closer. But the other part is to look at the economy. If you look at the Western Balkan economies, they stand today at around 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 is looking at. There was a lot of praise for the new Growth Plan.  

The new Growth Plan basically has four pillars. The first one is to say: We, the European Union, open our market to the Western Balkans in seven important sectors. For example, cooperation on customs, cashless payments, seamless transport, roaming like at home, and other sectors that are important.

Secondly, we ask the Western Balkans to open their markets respectively to their neighbours. So to really complete the Common Regional Market. If the Common Regional Market would be completed – I am not speaking of the Single Market but the Western Balkan Common Regional Market –, this could increase the GDP of the Western Balkans by 10%. So there is a lot of music in it.

The third element is to have the Western Balkans accessing the Single Market, we need a level playing field. Therefore, reforms have to be done in the Western Balkans.

And the fourth element is then investment. That is the Growth Plan that says: You do reforms, here is the investment that accompanies those reforms. Investment and reform is a principle that you are familiar with from NextGenerationEU. We mirror this here in the new Growth Plan. And the new Growth Plan has the potential to double the size of the region's economy within a decade.

Of course, this is the big picture, but there are also lots of good steps, smaller steps, forward. Take roaming, since 1 October, roaming charges have been cut by 90%, thanks to the operators working together. Now we are working on a full ‘roam like at home' framework to make it permanent. Or if you take transport. We now have a roadmap for the modernisation of border crossings agreed by the partners today. This is seamless customs procedures between us, these are good for an easier integration into the EU's Single Market. That means more business, trade and investments.

Speaking of investments. We also looked at the already working Economic and Investment Plan, you are familiar with it, EUR 30 billion for the Western Balkans. It has already delivered EUR 17 billion. And today, a fresh batch of five more projects worth nearly EUR 700 million was adopted. Be it a solar photovoltaic power plant in Albania, for example, or a railway in Montenegro. These are the projects that we are pushing forward with the Economic and Investment Plan.

On digital, there was good news, because we now want to extend the WiFi4EU programme to the Western Balkans. That means bringing EUR 15 million of grants to make it possible for 400 municipalities to have WiFi in their area.

Finally, young people – the most precious part of our lives –, in October, we were happy and honoured to open the local office of the College of Europe in Tirana. I can report that by now 500 students have already applied to come and study there next year. The European Union will finance 15 scholarships. And today, we had a pledging moment. 21 Member States promised to pledge for scholarships, so this is big and good news for the region.   

I think this is it for the moment, and I am happy to answer questions.

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