The EU’s Growth Plan is reshaping the enlargement process by making financial support increasingly conditional on the delivery of measurable reforms rather than commitments alone. Through performance-based funding and Reform Agendas, the initiative strengthens the link between democratic reforms, gradual integration into the EU Single Market and eventual accession. At the halfway point of implementation, progress across the Western Balkans remains uneven. Montenegro, Albania and North Macedonia are broadly advancing on their reform commitments, while Serbia, Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to face implementation delays, limiting their access to available funding. As discussions on the EU’s 2028–2034 budget begin, the Growth Plan is emerging as a key test of whether stronger conditionality can drive meaningful reforms, reinforce the credibility of enlargement and reward tangible progress rather than legislative commitments alone. Read more here.
Source: European Western Balkans