EU enlargement in the Western Balkans

fabricating reforms in public administration

Abstract

Previous EU assistance for the Western Balkans has been delivered through various programmes: PHARE; ISPA and SAPARD; CARDS; as well as the IPA assistance packages. In recent years, EU Institutions have provided a large part of region’s total grant aid as part of its pre-accession process, supporting institutional reform in the candidate countries. When supporting national strategies or sector policies, EU budget support plays a unique role to help countries meet their strategic objectives. Specifically, from 2014, when first was introduced this new modality, for Albania they were allocated 272 ml Euro and for Kosovo 69.5 ml Euro in Sector Reform Contracts. This new financial instrument has contributed in pushing first and second generation reforms in important sectors as public finance management, public administration, employment and skills etc. The paper examines which are the key factors influencing the absorption capacities of Sector Budget Support by using annual data for Albania and Kosovo, considering their similarities and differences. This study aims to analyse the relationship between the country specification and the amount disbursed from sector budget support financial assistance. This article investigates which are the main determinants affecting the structure of financial funds granted by Europe Commission for Albania and Kosovo, and which are the lessons learned during the implementation of this new instrument for the region. Thus, the findings of this study can help public servants and academics to build wealthy strategy to ensure a diversified financial aid for countries which inspire to join soon Europe Union.