The establishment of a common regional market promises increased trade, economic growth, job creation, improved mobility, infrastructure progress and stronger regional cooperation, bringing many benefits to both citizens and businesses in the Western Balkans.
At the 2023 Berlin Process Leaders’ Summit, the acting director of the CEFTA Secretariat, Danijela Gačević, highlighted the commitments that the leaders of the Western Balkans have taken when it comes to regional cooperation as early as 2020.
Speaking at the session entitled “Integrating the region into the single market and improving convergence with the EU“, Gačević said: – Seven extremely important decisions were agreed at the expert level and should be adopted by the CEFTA Joint Committee. They have the potential not only to transform our economies, but also to improve the daily lives of our citizens.
These decisions, which range from benefiting micro-enterprises to multinationals and from individual households to the wider community, offer growth, prosperity and expanded opportunities. However, we have not yet experienced the real benefits – tangible changes that will be felt in households and markets – because these decisions are still waiting for implementation.
Gačević emphasized that innovative solutions in areas such as professional mobility, trade facilitation, e-commerce, package delivery services between parties and customs procedures can only be realized when regional cooperation turns from words into tangible actions.
This is particularly important in the current environment of rising inflation, which is reducing real incomes, reducing consumer and business confidence, leading to higher interest rates and limiting the fiscal flexibility of governments.
The Berlin Process Leaders’ Summit in 2023 serves as an opportunity to summarize past efforts and provide an overview of future challenges. Everyone agreed that the Common Regional Market (CRM) has broad social implications in the Western Balkans.
Therefore, it requires a coordinated and consistent approach by all key actors. This is particularly important because the decisions led to the point where all conditions are met for the adoption of these documents by the Joint Committee, the sole decision-making body of CEFTA. The limited capacities of administrations in the Western Balkans and potential solutions were also discussed.
A reminder to all parties was that the Action Plan for CRM is aligned with EU strategies, rules, standards and guidelines, serving as a path towards integration into the European Union. An additional challenge related to the implementation of this plan is the different needs and priorities of each economy. Nevertheless, its successful realization remains of enormous public interest, directly reflecting social progress.
Although as a region we have done a lot in terms of facilitating trade and creating trade opportunities, the work is not finished. Continuous development is imperative in order to really reap the fruits of these initiatives – said the Acting Director of the CEFTA Secretariat.
CEFTA has contributed significantly to economic growth. In 2022, trade in goods has grown to 8.8 billion, representing a staggering 112% jump since 2014. The Balkan Barometer shows that in 2022, 61% of companies benefited from CEFTA, which is a significant increase compared to 37% in 2015.
Company is optimistic that the upcoming Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, announced by the European Commission, will speed up these processes, thereby speeding up the region’s socioeconomic alignment with the EU single market.
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