Energy: Additional European funds for the Western Balkans

The EU is expected to grant an additional EUR 30 million to reinforce the effort of the Western Balkans to complete the necessary changes for their energy upgrade.

Thus, six countries, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia, according to the EU Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn, are expected to receive the necessary funding through the EU Regional Energy Efficiency Program (REEP).

“The total EU contribution to the programme will be EUR 80 million and it further leverages 6,5 times more of financing via International Financial Instruments” Hahn noted, stressing that this special fund will be strengthened through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF).

The EU Regional Energy Efficiency Program was launched in 2013 as a joint network supported by the European Parliament, independent donors and the countries directly involved, which would operate under the Western Balkans Investment Framework and under the supervision of the The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Energy Community Secretariat.

The program aims to encourage the private and public sectors to take a leading role in promoting energy efficiency improvements as envisaged in the countries’ national energy efficiency action plans, developing under the Energy Community process.

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