Part of the European multi-year joint budget and the fund for repairs envisages funds for the countries in the process of European integration. Specifically, the candidate countries, including Serbia, could withdraw a portion of 12.5 billion euros from the fund in the next seven years. What is needed for European funds to be fully used and what else can Serbia expect from the European Union?
The agreement on the recovery plan worth 750 billion euros and a seven-year budget of 1,074 billion, brings additional obligations for the countries that would use that money.
For those who are not yet members, this also means good project planning and spending planning in line with Union priorities. Projects related to ecology, digitalization, recovery from Covid have better chances.
Gordana Lazarevic from the European Movement in Serbia believes that Serbia should improve national planning and the selection of national priorities.
“In that sense, Serbia has a good instrument and has shown itself well in previous years by adopting economic reforms. The documents are good, but there are no reports on how we implemented them. We should have a national development plan and we should definitely have a regional planning issue,” Lazarevic said.
12.5 billion euros have been allocated for pre-accession funds in the next seven years, which is 800 million more than in the current budget.
“Serbia is not a member, but it is close to the EU, and we expect that a bigger recovery of the EU will affect the Serbian economy, because 67 percent of Serbia’s foreign exchange is directed towards the EU, and two thirds of investments come from the EU for Serbia,” points out Sam Fabrizi, head of the EU delegation in Serbia.
The countries of the region, which are already members of the Union, will receive significantly more – both non-refundable and through loans. Croatia, for example, has more than 22 billion euros for reforms and economic recovery. Slovenia is counting on 10.5 billion euros in the next seven years.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi says that the countries within the Union are in a completely different situation – the solidarity of the members creates financial opportunities, which is why other countries want to join.
“When we talk about the possibility of deepening the economic gap, that is exactly why we are reacting very quickly with the surrounding countries. Both the current and future IMF proposal and the Recovery Fund include the Western Balkans. On the other hand, we plan to close gap much faster,” Varhelyi says.
Gordana Lazarevic emphasizes that within the New Europe program, it is envisaged that assistance will be given to countries in the amount of 10 billion euros, not financial assistance, but guaranteeing loans for the renewal of companies.
“It is an additional instrument and it should be used wisely, of course in cooperation with businessmen and the Chamber of Commerce in Serbia,” Lazarevic points out.
Apart from the fact that this is the first time that the European Union conditions financial assistance with respect for the rule of law, for the first time the Union is also borrowing on behalf of member states. It borrows 750 billion euros on the financial market and should repay them by 2058, RTS reports.
