The first consultation event of the TWG Access to the European Single Market was focused on fiscal and economic policy coordination between the EU and the WB. The event was held on 23th of June on the ZOOM platform.

The general notion of the discussions was that both the EU and the WB should make better use of existing coordination processes that exist within the EU and the ones established with the candidate countries. Greater socialization between the EU institutions involved in the European Semester, in different formations, and the WB could provide greater support for the candidate countries thus improving the quality of the policy coordination process.

The economic reform programs gain importance as they are an instrument to support the reforms regarding the economic criteria.

The economic policy process needs greater focus regarding the detection of critical structural reforms and their implementation. In this regard, participation of the Civil society in the design of reform measures as well as their implementation and monitoring is an important feature that should be paid greater attention to.

The online consultations with the TWG members continue in the following weeks. The group will remain active during the summer and will hold a public event in September to discuss the generated ideas with the wider public.  The insights gained from the consultations will aid the development of a policy paper with recommendations that will be presented and discussed at the Tirana Berlin Process Summit.