After travel within the six countries of our region begins with ID cards only, which should happen by the end of this year, the Council for Regional Cooperation (RCC) is starting to gradually abolish roaming with the European Union.
Majlinda Bregu, the general secretary of the RCC, is convinced that three important agreements, agreed last week in the capital of Germany, will be signed at the beginning of next month, as part of the Berlin process.
According to one of them, citizens of six countries of the Western Balkans will be able to travel in the region only with identity cards. It is expected that this measure will take effect by the end of the year at the latest.
The Council points out that they have already focused on the next step - reducing roaming costs between the Western Balkans and the European Union. They emphasize that they are intensively working on it.
"We are extremely glad that the three agreements, on which the Council for Regional Cooperation worked hard during the past two years, were approved last week by the ministers of foreign affairs of the six countries of the Western Balkans, which the leaders will approve during the summit in Berlin," Bregu told Politicki. .
He explains that the Agreement on freedom of movement with an identity card in the Western Balkans, as well as the Agreement on the recognition of higher education qualifications along with the Agreement on the recognition of professional qualifications for doctors of medicine, dentists and architects, "are well on their way to being on November 3, at the summit within the Berlin process, signed by all six countries".
He points out that with this, "finally, all citizens of the Western Balkans will be treated equally, that is, they will have the right to travel with an identity card in the territories of the region".
Bregu points out that, since it is an international agreement, it is subject to the ratification process in all six countries and its application begins one month after all countries, as a trustee, deliver a notification of ratification, acceptance or approval to North Macedonia.
"Given the importance of this issue, we hope that the governments will complete the ratification process as soon as possible. The RCC will establish a joint commission that will oversee the implementation of the agreement, and in this way we will ensure that we can remove all obstacles to its implementation," the statement said. .
Brega does not hide his satisfaction, but emphasizes caution.
"We are aware that all processes related to the region are complicated, that everything takes longer, and that serious political and diplomatic efforts should be made by all involved parties, that is, the governments of the Western Balkans, as well as partners from the European Union. We in the Council are proud that the agreement achieved and that its application, as was the case with the green corridors and the agreement to reduce roaming prices, will soon lead to a concrete effect on the ground".
He emphasizes that the Governments that have undertaken this obligation will do everything they can to make freedom of movement a reality for their citizens in the shortest possible time.
When it comes to the next steps, he points out that the main and major goal is to reduce roaming prices between the European Union and the Western Balkans.
As he says, we should not take anything for granted and we must see things in the right light.
"When we compare the second half of 2021, when roaming has been abolished in the Western Balkans, in the first six months of the same year we see an increase in outgoing calls of 82 percent and incoming calls of 53 percent."
He adds that the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina sent 25 percent more text messages, while the use of the Internet increased by 169 percent. He emphasizes that they held several advisory meetings with mobile operators from the European Union and the Western Balkans, and that further steps were discussed.
As he says, it is a very complex process that is based on self-regulation and voluntary agreements between operators, while respecting comprehensiveness and transparency. He adds that they support the process of implementing several reforms in the policy domain that will improve the business environment for operators
He expects concrete results in the middle of 2023. "In order to achieve this goal, in November and December we continue intensive discussions with mobile operators," she told Bregu.
She also announced a series of regional gatherings in the coming months, such as the Investment Conference in cooperation with the Comoros Investment Forum of six economies of the Western Balkans, the Business and Innovation Forum in cooperation with GIZ, as well as preparations for the coordination meeting of donors on the topic of digital transformation in cooperation with the European Commission and international financial institutions.
"Immediately after the signing of the three agreements, the preparation of the necessary technical steps follows in order for the agreements to enter into force, as well as the determination of the rules of cooperation between the countries, in order to start the implementation of the agreements".
He points out that they are aware that a lot of work remains. But he emphasizes, "great things come with hard work, struggle and persistence."
"There are no excuses," concluded the general secretary of the Council for Regional Cooperation, Majlinda Bregu, in an interview with Politicki.ba.
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