Brussels, 7 November 2024 (MIA) - I believe all Western Balkan countries should join the European Union together, instead of some progressing more than others, Minister of Finance Gordana Dimitrieska-Kochoska told MIA in Brussels. As part of her working visit to Brussels, the Minister addressed Thursday the panel “Enlarging Europe: at what cost and what structure?” at the “Voices, choices and leadership: a tipping point for Europe?” conference held by the “Friends of Europe” think-tank.

The Minister said speakers at the panel voiced various positions on the issue, with some in favor of gradual EU enlargement, and others stressing that the accession of new members should be merit-based.

“At some point we were leaders in the region in terms of meeting the conditions, and today we have one issue, the issue with Bulgaria and because of that issue, I raised the question of how we will be able to calculate it or measure it in accordance with the merit system. That’s why it should be something on the side and discussed further, while all Western Balkan countries should join the EU together, especially, I will reiterate, since it is an issue that cannot be measured and we can’t say whether Macedonia did or didn’t do everything that is necessary,” Dimitrieska-Kochoska said.

The Minister said the country meets the conditions it received, especially when it comes to the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans.

“As a Government, we constantly have meetings with the Minister of European Affairs, with the goal of achieving all tasks as soon as possible so that we can launch negotiations as soon as possible,” Dimitrieska-Kochoska said.

Regarding the Growth Plan, Dimitrieska-Kochoska noted that the Finance Ministry has drafted the necessary documentation and the country’s agreement for the Reform and Growth Facility has been sent to the European Commission, with the Ministry awaiting a response on whether it is acceptable in its current form.

She said the country is expected to receive over EUR 50 million as part of the Growth Plan, but that the payment of the funds has been delayed since Serbia has raised additional questions regarding its agreement. 

Regarding the assessment of the European Commission’s latest Progress Report that the country is moderately prepared in the area of financial services and the recommendation that it should align its banking regulation with the European and accelerate the implementation of the legislation regulating capital markets, Dimitrieska-Kochoska said these are conditions that need to be implemented in the coming period.

“As a Government, we have spoken and discussed this. But in order to be able to make the changes, other laws should be changed beforehand, since we are getting our terminology from there. As a result, we are waiting for those changes to be made first,” Dimitrieska-Kochoska said.

Asked about the European Commission’s remark that “the capacity of the Ministry of Finance to regulate and supervise financial companies is not sufficient to protect consumers”, Dimitrieska-Kochoska said the Law on Financial Companies has been recently amended allowing the Ministry to act as a regulator and carry out revisions of financial companies.

“Their reaction is precisely in this area, which I agree with completely, since there are very few people at the institution, and we are already working on it. But four months aren’t enough to get ready, since we were drafting a revision of the Budget, a Budget for 2025 and other alignments with the reform agenda,” the Finance Minister added. 

Regarding the spending of budget funds, Dimitrieska-Kochoska said anyone can see the Budget and its realization.

“There’s still no data for October, but I can say that in October we had a surplus,” Dimitrieska-Kochoska said, adding that control has been established over the spending of budget funds. 

Photo: MIA