How should Western Balkan countries seize the opportunity of the EU’s new growth plan

At this event we focused on the EU's proposed growth plan for the Western Balkans

Time and location: 29 November 2023 11:30-13:45 Bruegel (Rue de la Charité 33, 4th floor, 1210 Brussels) You can attend in-person or watch the livestream.
Format: Public, Hybrid, On the record
Contact: Anastasiia Zaitseva Matilda Sevón

Speakers

Matteo Bonomi

Senior Fellow, Istituto Affari Internazionali

Krisela Hackaj

Executive Director, Cooperation and Development Institute, Albania

Branimir Jovanović

Economist, country expert for North Macedonia and Serbia, wiiw

Bernhard Windisch

Head of Unit - Financing instruments in the EU neighbourhood, European Commission

Agenda

Check-in & coffee

11:30-12:00

Agenda

Conversation

12:00-13:00

Chair: Zsolt Darvas, Senior fellow
Matteo Bonomi, Senior Fellow, Istituto Affari Internazionali
Krisela Hackaj, Executive Director, Cooperation and Development Institute, Albania
Branimir Jovanović, Economist, country expert for North Macedonia and Serbia, wiiw
Bernhard Windisch, Head of Unit - Financing instruments in the EU neighbourhood, European Commission

Agenda

Q&A

13:00-13:15

Agenda

Lunch

13:15-13:45

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new growth plan for the Western Balkans at the Tirana Summit in October 2023. The plan includes an accelerated integration of Western Balkans in the EU single market, completing a common regional market of the Western Balkans, and fostering their structural reforms and investments with a new €6 billion fund. How could Western Balkan countries exploit the opportunities offered by this proposal? Will the new fund provide sufficient incentives to realise difficult structural reforms? Will the growth plan accelerate the EU accession process?

This stream of work was funded by the Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans..

Theme: Macroeconomic policy and governance
Keyword: European single market
Language: English