Belgian-Macedonian Business Club

Doubling the size of the economies of the WB6 countries, this is the ambition of the New Growth Plan that the EU recently published. 2 bill. € of grants and 4 bill. € of loans at favorable conditions are the material support. But the payout will be done according to achieved reforms.

There are four goals to be achieved:

1. Bringing the Western Balkans closer to the EU single market
2. Deepening the Regional Economic Integration within the Western Balkans
3. Accelerating Reforms within Western Balkans economies
4. Increased financial assistance (conditional on implementing reforms)

The goal is to achieve a growth rate of 7 % – this is possible because of the low starting base at the moment, but also necessary to achieve a certain economic level compared to other EU countries.

After the establishment of a reform agenda with milestones which will happen till the end of Q1/2024, there will be a semi-annual evaluation and the payout will be tied to the achievement of the milestones. There can be an extension for 12 months, then unattributed funds are lost and can be reallocated to other countries. A minimum of 3 bill. € of the funds will go into investments via the WBIF Western Balkans Investment Framework, the remainder subsidies to the state budgets based on their reforms.

Fact Sheet New Growth Plan

EU Communication about the New Growth Plan