BERLIN – The Prime Ministers from the Western Balkans Six have signed the Declaration of Support to the Common Regional Market Action Plan 2025-2028, as well as the Agreement on Access to Higher Education and Admission to Higher Studies in the Western Balkans at today’s Berlin Process Summit, hosted by the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. In addition, they welcomed the progress that has been recently made regarding the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA).
The summit, marking the 10th anniversary of the launching of the Berlin Process, is attended by the Prime Ministers of Albania Edi Rama, Croatia Andrej Plenković, Kosovo Aljbin Kurti, Montenegro Milojko Spajić, North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski, Serbia Miloš Vučević, as well as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of BiH Borjana Krišto, President of Slovenia Nataša Pirc-Musar, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The Common Regional Market Action Plan 2025-2028 represents a regionally-owned framework based on the EU rules and standards with the objective to consolidate and enhance competitiveness and economic cooperation. The main areas of the Action Plan are the following: free movement of goods; free movement of services; horizontal trade measures; human capital development; business enabling environment and competitiveness; digital transformation.
The Agreement on Access to Higher Education is depicted as the “notable achievement” by the German Federal Government. It seeks to grant students the right to pursue studies at accredited higher education institutions and promotes student mobility.
Also, the participants of the Berlin Process Summit supported the nine new agreements, aimed at improving trade, employment and consumer rights in the region, which were adopted by the CEFTA Joint Committee on 9 October. It was stated by CEFTA that these agreements will bring the CEFTA markets closer to the EU Single Market and unlock the potential of the EU’s New Growth Plan.
The Berlin Process was set up in 2014 as a platform to increase cooperation between the Western Balkans Six and the Berlin Process host countries as well as the EU.