News: European Commission: 2023 Enlargement Package and Western Balkans Growth Plan

The European Commission has presented the new 2023 Enlargement Package, accompanied by a Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.

In the 2023 Enlargement Package, the Commission recommended that the European Council start accession negotiations with Ukraine, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina and grant candidate country status to Georgia.

The Commission also presented the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, an economic plan tailored to the 6 countries of the Western Balkans, aimed at aligning their economies with those of EU Member States, "anticipating" in this way "the benefits of membership". The Plan is based on 4 pillars: economic integration in the Single Market; internal economic integration through the Common Regional Market; fundamental reforms; financial assistance to reforms, which will be converted into 6 billion, split into 2 billion fundings and 4 billion subsidised loans, for the period 2024-2027.