Minister Ahmetaj presented developments in the European Agenda and implementation of the SAA before the Parliamentary Committee

Prishtina, 5th of April – Minister of European Integration, Mimoza Ahmetaj presented before the Parliamentary Committee the progress made in the implementation of the SAA; visa liberalisation, implementation of European Agenda Reform and Kosovo’s access to EU programs.

With regard to the visa liberalisation process, the European Commission confirmed the progress made in fulfilling the criteria of fighting corruption. It is worth mentioning that the number of asylum seekers has dropped for 500%, namely from 72,491 in 2015 to 11,475 in 2016. Moreover, the number of beneficiaries from the Reintegration Fund increased for 100%, namely from 2,912 in 2015 to 5,786 in 2016.

In November was launched the European Reform Agenda that contains 22 key priorities, which have to be fulfilled by 2017, in the following areas: Good Governance and Rule of Law, Competitiveness and Investment Climate, Employment and Education.

Minister Ahmetaj informed the participants that after the first meeting of the Stabilization and Association Council in November 2016, the first round of SAA’s structures meeting was launched, whereas other meetings of the SAA committee will be held by the end of the meeting.

Minister Ahmetaj also emphasised the importance of citizen’s inclusion in this process through organizing campaigns, whereby stated the following: “MEI is conducting the SAA information campaign, whereby in a period of five weeks were broadcasted 5 video clips on national TVs containing information on what the SAA means to citizens, students, businesses and the judiciary. Moreover, such messages were also broadcasted in radio stations, web portals, and social media. Also, informational leaflets have been distributed, and 80 billboards have been exposed throughout different municipalities in Kosovo.”

The Instrument of Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) was also discussed during the meeting. MEI finalized the IPA 2016 programming (first part), in a total amount of EUR 45.5 million, and currently negotiations are undergoing with regard to a direct EU fund budget support to the public administration sector in the amount of EUR25 million, as part of the IPA 2016 financial agreement.

Last modified: August 10, 2022