Policy Paper – The Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans: A Legal and Institutional Analysis to Address the Economic Challenges, May 2024

This paper, authored by PhD Gentjan Skara, Lecturer of EU Law and Competition Law, Department of Law, Epoka University, analyses the recent EU initiative for the Western Balkan countries, the Growth Facility, which aims to accelerate fundamental socio-economic convergence of the WBC economies with the EU and progressive integration with the Union single market. It sheds light on: i) the reasons for introducing the Growth Facility for the Western Balkan countries; ii) the legal and institutional aspects of the Growth Facility; and iii) the consistency of the Growth Facility for the Western Balkans with Enlargement Policy, particularly with IPA III and Common Regional Market. The paper concludes that Growth Facility success depends on the WBC’ willingness to prioritise domestic reforms for accelerating socio-economic growth.

Policy Paper – The Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans: A Legal and Institutional Analysis to Address the Economic Challenges, May 2024