TIRANA, April 24 – The EU has approved the European Commission’s proposal to exempt Western Balkans from the export authorisation for PPEs, which is set to enter into force this Sunday on April 26. The EU Ambassador to Albania Luigi Soreca made the announcement via Twitter on Friday, where he also emphasized EU’s support to Albania amid the COVID-19 crisis.
The new regulation is set out to apply for a limited period of 30 days (as of 26 April 2020), and it covers one single product category, protective masks. The Commission services find that this is the only remaining category, where an export authorisation is necessary in order to secure an adequate supply to protect the health of Europeans, European Commission, which is responsible for EU’s common trade policy.
The new scheme includes some changes with respect to its geographical scope. In addition to previously existing exceptions, it exempts from the authorisation requirement exports to Western Balkans countries, which are engaged in a process of deep integration with the Union as well as Gibraltar and territories of Member States excluded from the EU customs union.
In the spirit of international solidarity, the new scheme now explicitly requires Member States to authorise exports of emergency supplies in the context of humanitarian aid and to process the relevant applications in an expedite manner.
The European Commission drafted the proposal after four Foreign Ministers of the Western Balkans sent a letter to European Commissioner for Trade Phil Hogan, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi and EU High Representative Josep Borrell with a request to exclude the region from the EU Regulation by which certain medical products for personal protection were placed under the regime of export restrictions or special export licenses.
