Growth Plan

EU Instrument for Reform and Economic Growth for the Western Balkans Kosovo Reform Agenda

The European Union Instrument for Reform and Economic Growth for the Western Balkans (RGF) is a new framework to accelerate reforms for the European integration of the entire region. It combines EU accession reforms with direct financial contributions from EU funds to the budgets of the six beneficiary countries of the region, as well as investment projects for this purpose.

The aim of the RGF is to support beneficiary countries in implementing the reforms required to meet EU membership criteria, while also accelerating economic growth and economic integration within the region and with the EU Single Market.

This instrument was initiated by the European Commission in November 2023. For this purpose, the Commission approved the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans and published it on 8 November 2023. The main economic objective of this instrument is to double the region’s economies within the next ten years.

More specifically, as foreseen by this plan, the RGF is based on four main pillars and has four objectives:

1. Strengthen economic integration with the EU Single Market;
2. Accelerate economic integration within the Western Balkans through the Regional Common Market, with a focus on seven priority economic areas:1. Free movement of goods;
2. Free movement of services and workers;
3. Access to the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA);
4. Facilitation of road transport;
5. Integration and decarbonization of energy markets;
6. The Digital Single Market; and
7. Integration into industrial supply chains.
3. Accelerate the implementation of fundamental reforms for EU accession and sustainable economic growth, including through attracting investment and strengthening regional stability; and
4. Increase financial assistance in exchange for the implementation of fundamental and economic reforms through the financial package for the upcoming medium-term period.

The RGF financial package foresees that, during the medium-term period 2024–2027, all countries of the region together will benefit from EU funds totaling €6 billion (€2 billion in grants and €4 billion in loans). From this total amount, each country will receive a proportional share based on population and gross domestic product, in exchange for reforms aimed at meeting EU membership criteria in priority areas.

Country-specific reforms are planned within Reform Agendas (RA), negotiated with the European Commission, focusing on five priority policy areas that contribute to achieving the four objectives of the RGF.

Kosovo Reform Agenda

To implement reforms under the RGF, the Republic of Kosovo negotiated the Kosovo Reform Agenda (RA) with the European Commission, which was approved by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo on 9 October 2024.

The RA is a medium-term reform document containing a total of 111 reform steps to be implemented by the end of 2027 across five priority areas. The RGF foresees that, by the end of 2027, Kosovo will benefit from up to €882,609,009 in EU funding (in grants transferred directly to the Treasury and investments in infrastructure projects), once all reform steps set out in the RA have been implemented.

Reforms are medium-term objectives to be achieved in relevant policy areas by the end of 2027 through reform steps. The RA contains a total of 30 reforms distributed across these areas and further broken down into sub-areas (components).

The reforms are broadly formulated, addressing systemic aspects of advancing legislation, policies, and institutional functioning toward alignment with EU legislation, standards, and best practices.

In scope, they focus on addressing priority challenges and needs in each policy area and contribute to achieving the objectives set by the EU under the RGF for all countries of the region, including Kosovo.

Reforms are further broken down into qualitative and quantitative reform steps as specific objectives contributing to their achievement. The reforms and reform steps are identified based on Kosovo’s sectoral strategies that are in force or under development—meaning they are reforms planned by our own institutions within the framework of the reform dialogue on European integration conducted with the EU and similar mechanisms.
In more detail, the RA is structured into the following areas and sub-areas:

1. Governance, Public Administration Reform, and Public Finance Management
(4 reforms, 15 reform steps, 2 sub-areas)
1.1 Public administration reform
1.2 Public finance management
2. Green and Digital Transition
(8 reforms, 28 reform steps, 6 sub-areas)
2.1 Digitalization of public services and infrastructure
2.2 Cybersecurity
2.3 Market reforms
2.4 Decarbonization policy
2.5 Renewable energy deployment
2.6 Energy efficiency
3. Private Sector Development and Business Environment
(7 reforms, 26 reform steps, 2 sub-areas)
3.1 Business environment
3.2 Access to finance
4. Human Capital Development and Preservation
(5 reforms, 19 reform steps, 2 sub-areas)
4.1 Education
4.2 Labour market
5. Fundamentals of EU Accession / Rule of Law
(6 reforms, 23 reform steps, 6 sub-areas)
5.1 Judiciary
5.2 Fight against corruption
5.3 Fight against organized crime
5.4 Fundamental rights
5.5 Democracy
5.6 Visa policy

The legal basis for implementing the RA is the RGF Facility Agreement, the Loan Agreement, and the Government Decision approving the RA.

The RA consists of two parts:

the narrative text, and the tabular section (reform programming table). It has been published below.