34. Emphasises that cooperation and coordination with other donors and international financial institutions is of paramount importance to avoid duplication, ensure aid effectiveness and foster capacity building in the candidate countries and potential candidates countries; regrets that judiciary reform and the fight against corruption do not fall within the scope of the Western Balkans Investment Framework, which is a joint initiative by the EU, international financial institutions, bilateral donors and the governments of the Western Balkans to strengthen the coherence of donors’ support; calls on the Commission and its partners to est ...[+++]ablish a mechanism in the same spirit as the Western Balkans Investment Framework whereby cooperation and coordination in the field of judiciary reform and the fight against corruption will be strengthened, and to keep the Parliament informed of all progress made;

We understand there are specific issues to be resolved in the context of the Balkans and urge the national authorities to take steps to improve opportunities for women.

260. Notes the steps taken by the Commission in the candidate countries and other countries in the Western Balkans to fight corruption, and encourages the implementation of projects strengthening the independence of the judiciary, the development of professional law enforcement and support for the fight against corruption, within the framework of the regional and national assistance; recalls that under the Thessaloniki Agenda for the Western Balkans the EU undertook to work closely with the western Balkan countries to further consolidate peace and to promote stability, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human and minority rights ...[+++]; stresses that this also applies to the fight against organised crime and corruption as well as to the enhancement of regional cooperation;

258. Notes the steps taken by the Commission in the candidate countries and other countries in the Western Balkans to fight corruption, and encourages the implementation of projects strengthening the independence of the judiciary, the development of professional law enforcement and support for the fight against corruption, within the framework of the regional and national assistance; recalls that under the Thessaloniki Agenda for the Western Balkans the EU undertook to work closely with the western Balkan countries to further consolidate peace and to promote stability, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human and minority rights ...[+++]; stresses that this also applies to the fight against organised crime and corruption as well as to the enhancement of regional cooperation;

The Thessaloniki European Council of 19 and 20 June 2003 approved the Council conclusions of 16 June 2003 on the Western Balkans, including the Annex thereto entitled ‘The Thessaloniki Agenda for the Western Balkans: moving towards European integration’, which provides that Community programmes should be opened to the Stabilisation and Association Process countries on the basis of framework agreements to be signed between the Community and those countries.

21. Recognises the irreversibility of the process under which each of the WB countries moves towards accession, while at the same time insisting on the principle of judging each country on its own merits and believing that this differentiated approach may include arrangements based on bilateral links between the EU and certain WB countries for an interim period before accession and on the participation of the WB countries in a multilateral framework such as a European Economic Area (EEA) ‘plus’;