The Transport Community is an international organisation in the field of mobility and transport. It has 36 participants – the European Union member states represented by the European Commission, the six South East European Parties (the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, the Republic of North Macedonia, and the Republic of Serbia) and the three observing participants (Georgia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine). We are working on integrating Western Balkans’ transport markets into the EU by assisting the six Western Balkans partners in adopting and implementing the EU legislation in the transport field and supporting projects connecting Western Balkans regional partners among themselves and with the EU.
The organisation was founded by the Treaty establishing the Transport Community signed on 9th of October 2017 by all partners (Council Decision (EU) 2019/392).
The aim of the Treaty therefore is the creation of a Transport Community in the field of road, rail, inland waterway and maritime transport as well as the development of the transport network between the European Union and the six Western Balkan Parties.
The Transport Community is based on the progressive integration of transport markets of the Western Balkan Parties into the EU transport market on the basis of the relevant acquis, including in the areas of technical standards, interoperability, safety, security, traffic management, social policy, public procurement and environment.
The Transport Community is developing a rolling work plan for the development of the indicative TEN-T extension of the comprehensive and core networks to the Western Balkans, identifying priority projects of regional interest, which contribute to balanced sustainable development in terms of economics, spatial integration, environmental and social impact as well as social cohesion.
The Transport Community is supported by a Permanent Secretariat, based in Belgrade, Serbia. It is tasked to:
- Provide administrative support to the Ministerial Council, the Regional Steering Committee, the technical committees and the Social Forum;
- act as a Transport Observatory to monitor the performance of the indicative TEN-T extension of the comprehensive and core networks to the Western Balkans;
- support the implementation of the Western Balkans Six (WB6) Connectivity Agenda aiming to improve links within the Western Balkans as well as between the region and the European Union.
The 6th Ministerial Council held on 15 November 2022 endorsed a Joint Statement calling for the more systematic involvement of Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia as observing participants in the relevant Transport Community bodies, including, but not limited to the Regional Steering Committee, the technical committees, the Social Forum, and the Budget Committee.
