On 7 December, 2023, the kick-off meeting for the 4-year CONNECTA 2 project was held in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting was attended by representatives of DG NEAR, EU Delegations in the region, the EU Office in Kosovo, the Transport Community Treaty Secretariat and the CONNECTA 2 Team.
The Technical Assistance to Connectivity in the Western Balkans – 2 (CONNECTA 2) is funded by the European Union in response to the Western Balkans’ need of technical assistance for the implementation of the Connectivity Agenda, the Economic and Investment Plan and the roll-out of the Growth Plan. The objective is to contribute to the long-term recovery of the Western Balkans – backed by a green and digital transition which will lead to sustained and sustainable economic growth as well as improved connectivity in the region and with the neighbouring EU Member States.
Within the scope of the assistance, CONNECTA 2 will focus on:
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- Infrastructure projects: Assists in bringing EIP flagship and other key infrastructure projects in the digital future, clean energy and sustainable transport sectors to the construction phase. Priority is given to the final phases of the infrastructure project preparation cycle. Typical CONNECTA 2 activities are the update/improvement of feasibility studies and designs (conceptual, preliminary, detailed/main), update existing CBAs and ESIAs, carry out climate risk and vulnerability assessments, gender and human rights assessments, update/prepare tender documents and support to beneficiaries during the procurement phase.
- Transport connectivity reform measures: Assists in preparing and implementing national and regional transport connectivity reform measures. Priority is given to the preparatory work and implementation of national and regional reform measures, including related technical standards. Possible intervention areas could be transport safety, infrastructure resilience, intelligent transport systems, border crossings, greening of transport modes, etc.
CONNECTA 2 is managed by DG NEAR’s unit in charge of the Western Balkans regional programmes and the Economic and investment Plan. The beneficiaries are the Western Balkans partners – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
