On 16 May, the Commission signed high-level agreements with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The agreements adapt the trans-European transport network (TEN-T), the EU’s network of railway lines, roads, ports and inland waterways connecting EU towns and cities, by linking it to the Western Balkans. This is a major step towards greater transport connectivity between the European Union and our Western Balkan partners.

Commissioner for Transport, Adina Vălean, said: “With the signature of these agreements, and with our proposal for a Western Balkans European Transport Corridor, we are laying the ground to integrate the transport network of the Western Balkans into the EU’s. It will promote the development of sustainable and resource-efficient transport connectivity between the EU and these countries. The importance of closer and seamless transport connections cannot be underestimated.” 

The Transport Community, which brings together the EU Member States represented by the  Commission and the Western Balkan partners, actively supports the execution of projects connecting the six countries with each other, and with the EU.

The integration of the Western Balkan transport networks into the TEN-T will also help prepare EU candidate countries and potential candidates for their future accession to the EU.