The European Parliament voted the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, the European Union's most ambitious financial package for the region so far.
517 European deputies voted for this package, 56 of them were against, and 30 abstained.
The vote for this package was held just one day before the dissolution of the European Parliament, as the institutions enter the election period, for the elections for the new convocation of the parliament and the leaders of the EU institutions, which will be held between June 6 and 9 in all EU member states.
According to the text agreed by the European Council and the European Parliament, the countries of the region will need to fulfill a number of not so easy criteria in order to use the financial aid package.
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Among them are basic criteria that are equally valid for all member countries. They relate to the rule of law, respect for the principles of democracy, institutional reforms and taking the necessary steps to ensure that funds are not misused.
In addition to the criteria related to reforms and the rule of law, there are also criteria of a political nature.
For Kosovo and Serbia, there is "another condition" related to progress in the process of normalization of relations.
The EU intends to double the economy of the countries of the region in the next ten years with the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.
This plan was proposed by the European Commission in November 2023.
It is a fund of six billion euros, of which two billion are in the form of grants, and the remaining four billion in the form of loans with very favorable installments.
The aim of the EU is to stimulate economic growth in the six countries of the region with this plan, at the same time to help the reform process and thus help these countries to prepare for EU entry as soon as possible.
According to the proposal, the procedure for disbursement of financial resources will be simplified, however, the criteria for obtaining these funds have been tightened.
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