Kosovo risks losing at least 40 million euros from the Growth Plan after failing to meet, within the deadline, the obligations set out in the reform agenda.
By June 30, local institutions were required to complete 13 steps, but 6 of them remained unimplemented due to the lack of functional institutions.
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Jeton Zulfaj, Kosovo’s chief negotiator with the European Union, said that the final value of the funds lost will be determined by the European Commission.
“The estimated cost of failing to complete these six steps on time is calculated to be over 40 million euros,” said Jeton Zulfaj, Kosovo’s chief negotiator with the EU.
According to Zulfaj, five of the unfulfilled steps required a vote in parliament, while another could not be approved by the caretaker government. For this reason, he blamed the opposition for the blockage at the moment the draft laws were sent to parliament.
“They could not be passed in the plenary session where approval through an expedited procedure was required, which needed 2/3 of those present. The opposition stayed in the hall to prevent the 2/3 majority from being reached,” he said.
He also announced that Kosovo has until July 15 to submit a request to the European Commission for the disbursement of funds linked to the steps implemented so far, while the Commission has 90 days to respond.
Among the unfulfilled obligations in the reform agenda are the law on energy and electricity and related bylaws, the state aid control system, the law on innovation, the framework legislation and related bylaws on bankruptcy and insolvency, the package of laws on justice reform, the law on the KPK, the KGJK, the Academy of Justice, as well as the strategy for combating organized crime. For these measures, Kosovo was given additional time until the end of June precisely because of the lack of functional institutions.
On the other hand, by the end of 2026, Kosovo must also fulfill 61 other steps in order to be able to benefit from more than 440 million euros from the Growth Plan.
