26/03/2019

Programme for Strengthening the Central Bank Capacities in the Western Balkans with a view to the Integration to the European System of Central Banks

On 26 March, the Deutsche Bundesbank and the European Commission have launched the two-year project “Programme for Strengthening the Central Bank Capacities in the Western Balkans with a view to the Integration to the European System of Central Banks”. The final beneficiary institutions are central banks and banking supervisory agencies in the candidate countries and potential candidates for EU accession (Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and the so-called Kosovo, according to Resolution 1244 of the UN Security Council). The European Union (EU) has allocated EUR 2 million to the regional programme from its Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance II (IPA II).

 The aim of the programme is to further strengthen the institutional capacities of the institutions, notably by further enhancing their analytical and policy tools, and by transferring the best international and European standards into national practices. The specific objective of this action is to upgrade the regulatory convergence and to further approximate to EU and international standards, to strengthen the functions of the central banks and the banking supervisory system and to further harmonise national legislation.

The Deutsche Bundesbank, together with 17 national central banks, and with contributions by the ECB, will organise an intensive regional training programme on key central banking and supervisory issues in the areas of: banking supervision, financial stability, financial consumer protection and financial inclusion, recovery and resolution, monetary policy, payment systems, statistics, compliance and EU integration, governance policies, accounting and internal audit.

Within the programme, the Deutsche Bundesbank will cooperate with central banks of Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Slovakia.

Centre for Cooperation with Domestic and International Institutions and Financial Organisations