Overall Context
In 2017, the European Council held a discussion on the Western Balkans and acknowledged the "fragile situation" in the region and the "internal and external challenges the region is facing", while at the same time reaffirming the Union’s commitment to strengthening the prosperity, stability, and security of the Western Balkans. In this context, the identified fragility in the region stems from an interplay of external and internal challenges. The internal fragilities countries in the Western Balkans are facing stem from their weak economic performances, with their GDP being close to only one third of the EU-28 average, and significant gaps in many aspects of a functional democratic system. The Western Balkans share many structural obstacles for the creation of fully functioning and competitive market economies. The regional medium-term planning emphasises the need for large-scale infrastructure projects.
The Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) was launched in 2009 with the objective of supporting socio-economic development and EU accession across the Western Balkans through the provision of financing and technical assistance for strategic investments. It pools resources from the European Commission’s Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA) with those of International Financial Institutions (IFIs), bilateral donors and the governments of the Western Balkans. The WBIF increases the region’s capacity to finance crucial infrastructure and priority investments in line with accession priorities and enhances overall coordination of assistance. This includes the support to public administration in planning, development and operationalisation of the strategic and operational framework for pre-accession/accession assistance and the development of a pipeline of mature actions eligible for funding under the conditions of IPA.
The WBIF is a regional blending facility supporting EU enlargement and socio-economic development in the Western Balkans providing financing and technical assistance to strategic investments in the following sectors: energy, environment, social, transport and private sector development. These investments contribute to the achievement of strategic priorities defined in national, regional and EU accession policies. Whilst the implementation of infrastructure projects is at the core of the activities of WBIF, a holistic perspective on all areas improving the "business enabling environment" has grown in importance. Today WBIF works as an umbrella for regional strategic orientation extended to Energy Efficiency and Renewables Regional Facilities (REEP, GGF) and to the private sector development Programs (EDIF, EFSE) on the other.
The ‘Berlin Process’ is a political initiative that arose at the High-Level Conference on the Western Balkans held in Berlin in August 2014. The process is marked by yearly summits that underline the commitment to EU enlargement towards the Western Balkans. The new approved Agenda, known as the "Connectivity Agenda" aims at enhancing regional cooperation and connectivity in the Western Balkans by:
- Supporting regional initiatives and infrastructure projects that enhance connectivity: complex transport and energy infrastructure investments, which aim to create links between the Western Balkan countries and the core European networks;
- Promoting institutional and governance reforms aiming at defining national priorities and at matching them with the regional ones;
- Using existing financing programmes such as the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) to coordinate and support such investments.
- Since 2015, the EU set aside up to 1 billion EUR in grants until 2020, from the IPA, to support this ‘Connectivity Agenda.’ Since the Berlin Summit Western Balkan countries made significant progress on the connectivity agenda.
Project Objective
The project mobilises services to provide technical, administrative, visibility and communication support to WBIF structures including the Steering Committee, Project Financiers' Group, WBIF Secretariat and National Investment Committees in Beneficiary countries.
Project Approach
The project supported better utilisation of IPA funds in the WB6 countries. The SPP process was developed with the main support of the WBIF Secretariat, assisted by IFICO 2 and IFICO 3, in five of the beneficiaries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and North Macedonia). Serbia developed the NIC framework a year earlier, with National IPA support.
The IFICO project ensures greater coordination and cooperation between the European Commission, IFIs and bilateral donors' assistance in the Western Balkans with a particular focus on support for the implementation and evolution of the WBIF in line with EU accession policies. The project mobilises services to provide technical, administrative, visibility and communication support to WBIF and national structures, including the Steering Committee, Project Financiers' Group, Secretariat and NIPACs, NICs and line ministries, as well as wider EC and IFI cooperation where appropriate. These services will support strategy and policy development, project identification and monitoring, visibility and communication in the key sectors of transport, energy, environment, social infrastructure and private sector development as well as horizontal cross-cutting issues.
Project Results
The project is focused around four main results:
1) Result 1: Beneficiaries enabled to identify a pipeline of priority investments to be funded by IFIs, the EC and bilateral donors;
2) Result 2: Strengthened cooperation, communication and policy coordination amongst WBIF stakeholders in developing and implementing priority investments in the Western Balkans;
3) Result 3: Enhanced functioning of the WBIF throughout the entire project cycle from project identification to realisation of the investments supported by the WBIF;
4) Result 4: Improved visibility and communication among all WBIF stakeholders; greater public awareness of the assistance being provided by the WBIF financiers.