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Representatives of the European Commission met with Kosovo authorities in Pristina on Tuesday to discuss economic and financial issues, including the fiscal framework, budgetary developments, customs, taxation and statistics. These topics fall under the Stabilisation and Association Process Tracking Mechanism (STM) on Economy. It is one of the six areas of regular technical discussions between the European Commission and the government of Kosovo.
The Kosovo authorities reported on recent economic developments and reforms, and also policies envisaged to respond to the world economic crisis. They presented the state of play of the Kosovo relations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), adoption and implementation of relevant economic legislation, and of the process of privatisation and liquidation of socially owned enterprises.
The European Commission officials commended Kosovo on the medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) for the period 2010-2012, but in the light of the global economic crisis advised the government to adjust budgetary policies towards a more realistic and prudent fiscal planning, especially for the period 2009-2010.
The European Commission also underlined that a prompt agreement on a programme with the IMF would help to anchor the medium-term budgetary framework and to fully realise potential benefits deriving from the membership.
The fact that the Law on statistics hasn’t yet been adopted remains to be an issue of concern. The European Commission stressed that the adoption is of key importance because it will allow a better organisation and coordination of the statistical system (including national accounts) which in turn facilitates decision making on economic policies.
The Kosovo authorities expressed their commitment to address the identified challenges and the European Commission undertook to continue to support them in the implementation of the required reforms in this sector.
The STM is the framework under which the European Commission and the Kosovo administration regularly discuss technical and policy issues in relation to the European agenda. STM sectoral meetings provide input into the European Commission’s 2009 progress report.
The Kosovo Times