Economic governance

Assessments of 2024-2026 Economic Reform Programmes

2025 Economic Reform Programmes of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Türkiye: The Commission's overview

The Economic and Financial Dialogue between the EU and the Western Balkans and Türkiye took place on 13^th of May, where the representatives of the EU Member States, the Western Balkans, Moldova and Türkiye, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, as well as representatives of the central banks of the Western Balkans, Moldova and Türkiye adopted the Joint Conclusions with the specific targeted Policy Guidance for the 2025-2027 ERP cycle.

Fundamentals first

Fulfilment of the economic criteria is a key requirement for EU membership, as set out in the Copenhagen criteria. It implies a functioning market economy is in place that has the capacity to withstand competitive pressure inside the EU single market. The European Commission gives an overview of each country's readiness and progress in the fulfilment of the economic criteria every year. For more details see our latest strategy paper and country progress reports.

Economic governance is the system by which government institutions, including independent actors like the central bank, regulate and steer the economy. The fundamentals first approach to EU enlargement encourages aspiring members to tackle economic fundamentals first: macroeconomic stability, a welcoming business environment, functioning labour and financial markets, good levels and quality of education, infrastructure, innovation and economic integration with the EU and the world.

The EU strengthened its economic governance exercise with the enlargement countries in 2015 to prepare them for their eventual participation in the European Semester.

Economic Reform Programmes

As of 2015, all candidate countries and potential candidates submit annual Economic Reform Programmes (ERP) to the European Commission. They are an expanded version of the previous Pre-Accession Economic Programmes for candidate countries. The ERPs contain medium-term macroeconomic projections (including for GDP growth, inflation, trade balance and capital flows), budgetary plans for the next three years and in the case of Türkiye, a structural reform agenda. The European Commission and the European Central Bank (ECB) both make assessments of the ERPs that are submitted to the Council of Ministers for direct discussions with the enlargement countries.

As regards the Western Balkans and Moldova, since the adoption of the Growth Plan for the Western Balkans on 8 November 2023 and of the Growth Plan for Moldova on 10 October 2024, the Reform Agendas have replaced the structural part of the ERPs. The Reform Agendas focus on the reforms in the priority areas of rule of law and other fundamentals, governance, the digital and green transition, human capital development and the business environment.