Članak Western Balkan PAR Monitor: PUBLIC FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 2024/2025 se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

Western Balkan Enablers for Reforming Public Administrations – WeBER 3.0 project is the third consecutive EU-funded grant of the largest civil society-led initiative for monitoring public administration reform (PAR) in the Western Balkans. WeBER 3.0 reinforces participatory democracy by enabling CSOs to actively engage and inclusively monitor PAR outcomes across the WB, advocating for the reforms’ consistency with EU requirements.

WeBER 3.0 is implemented by six non-governmental organisations, one per each Western Balkan countries. The Centre for Public Administration Research (KDZ) Vienna is a EU-level based partner of the project. The project is supported by the European Commission and Austrian Development Agency – ADA

This conversation was recorded in Skopje, North Macedonia, in November 2024, as a fourth episode of the TEN TV Show.

Članak Shaping governance for EU membership: Key SIGMA/OECD takeaways for the Western Balkans se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

This conversation sheds light on the complex landscape of reform efforts and the role of research in assessing public sector performance in North Macedonia and across the Western Balkans.

For more information about Dimitar’s institution, the Center for Change Management, please visit: www.cup.org.mk

His report, as well as the others reports, will soon be published on www.par-monitor.org

Članak Transparency in action: How North Macedonia’s Ministry of Labor and Social Policy measures up se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

This Report was published as part of the WeBER 2.0 initiative – Western Balkan Civil Society Empowerment for a Reformed Public Administration.

The Report should provide an overview of the analysis conducted to monitor the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy (MLEVSP) and how the ministry applies the principles of public administration reform in the education, employment and social policy sector. Specifically, the monitoring of the area of responsibility was carried out by SIGMA principle 2: „The right to access public information is legally prescribed and consistently applied in practice.“
The analysis is based on the predefined WeBER 2.0 methodology, detailed in a checklist of 7 requirements related to the practice of reactive (based on the free access to information requests) and proactive information provision. For this Report, the researchers collected data and information from the official website of the Ministry of Education and Culture and by sending a request for free access to information to the ministry.
The authors of this Report are Aleksandra Đurović and Goran Radlovački (Belgrade Open School, member of the WeBER 2.0 Platform in Serbia).

Članak Accountability in the education, employment and social policies sector se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

Hence the Manifesto, whose intention is to stand as a call for action for European opinion- and decision-makers at the supranational, national, regional, and local level in the areas related to digital freedoms and Internet use. The Manifesto development was also supported by an online petition, signed by over 400 signatories in just two weeks. Considering the backing of the region’s youth and strong demand for action, this Manifesto lays out key demands that ought to be addressed. As the countries of the region have been excluded from directly partaking in the Conference on the Future of Europe, the voice of the Western Balkan youth becomes all the more important. “Shaping Europe’s digital future” is one of the thematic areas of the Conference, thus the Manifesto aspires to usher the path for further discussions in this area.

The call for a Manifesto was first publicly announced on 5 May 2021, just four days before the monumental day for all Europeans – the Europe day that celebrates unity in diversity. More so, this day marked the start of the long-awaited Conference on the Future of Europe, hoping to create a prospective future for all Europeans. In such a context, the aim of the Manifesto is to generate debate and policy action from relevant stakeholders in Europe.

This Manifesto was created within the initiative “Let’s build the future together: the EU and the Western Balkans from the youth perspective”. This initiative is coordinated by CEP and implemented by the regional Think for Europe Network – TEN, EPC Brussels, Istituto Affari Internazionali Rome, and Foundation Bronisław Geremek Warsaw.

Find more information about the initiative here: www.mladirini.org

Članak Youth Manifesto for Digital Space se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

But the process is dangerously in a state of impasse, leaving the states of the Western Balkans and EU alike disappointed and dissatisfied. Fresh ideas are needed. Therefore the Think for Europe Network (TEN) network of leading think tanks of the Western Balkans joins with the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Brussels, to advocate a new dynamic of phased membership in the EU, with ideas for progressive functional and institutional integration based on an objective and quantified monitoring methodology.

Članak The Enlargement Impasse and the Necessity for its Transformation se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

The revised methodology for accession negotiations and the recently announced Economic and Investment Plan (EIP) have the potential to revive the region’s sluggish EU integration process. For these instruments to succeed, it would be essential to show that they help drive the process forward. This will only be the case if negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia are launched, i.e. the first Inter-governmental Conferences (IGCs) are held during the German presidency of the Council of the EU. In this way, the EU and its member states will show their actual commitment to the process and also likely incentivise the other countries in the region to speed up their domestic transformation processes in view of EU accession.

Članak Breaking the impasse: Exploiting new opportunities to strengthen EU-Western Balkans relations se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

This paper specifically addresses the impact of the crisis on the functioning of democratic institutions, the judiciary, fundamental rights and freedoms, transparency, civil society, and the media, and continues to assess its impact on the social and political climates in each country of the region. The report identifies country-specific as well as common issues that should be monitored closely going forward.

Članak The Western Balkans and the COVID-19 se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

Članak Opening governments in times of lockdown se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

It’s telling that the most important milestones of the EU’s enlargement policy are closely tied to Denmark. In 1993, the “Copenhagen criteria”, which set the conditions for EU aspirants, were defined by the EU Council, then headed by Danish prime minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen (S). In 2002, when Denmark was heading the EU Council again under prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen (V), a historic decision was made to expand the Union to 10 new members. Fast forward to autumn 2019, and, in the context of enlargement to the Western Balkans, Denmark was one of the countries that opposed opening accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia. Denmark, once one of the strongest advocates of EU expansion, now finds itself rather sceptical on the Western Balkans’ enlargement dossier.

Our delegation from six Western Balkan think tanks, each of us representing the civil society in each country, recently visited Denmark and met with several political and non-governmental organizations. As the trusted voice of the civil society from the region, we fully understand the concerns of Danish citizens and politicians about the Western Balkans joining the EU. Our countries are still far from fulfilling the EU membership criteria. But our political leadership needs a strong prospect of EU membership in order to undertake the necessary political reforms and to establish of functioning institutions and rule of law. At the same time, we fear that ignoring and relegating the Western Balkans accession process due to more pressing issues at home is doing harm both to the EU and to the Balkan region itself.

It should not take a lot of political courage to explain to citizens that the opening of accession talks with one candidate country does necessarily mean that the country will eventually join the EU unprepared. Look at the so-called “front-runners” from the region – Montenegro and Serbia: they have been negotiating EU membership for years but have been stuck in the process due to their inabilities to demonstrate a strong reform record on democratic performance and rule of law. The opening of accession talks should be seen – as it really is – only a small step in a long and demanding accession process. In fact, it is the EU and its member states who set the rules and assess the results. At the same time, moving forward in the process bears immense symbolic importance for a candidate country, to the extent that its political stability can be threatened, as is currently the case in North Macedonia. To overcome the yearlong name dispute with Greece, the country even changed its name to finally embark on its accession talks with the EU. But despite doing its proverbial homework, North Macedonia has been blocked in the process – this time not by Greece but Denmark. That undermines our trust in the promises made by the EU, and makes us wonder if we have been given a chance at all?

These are some examples which show that the current method for accession negotiations is ineffective. On the one hand, the region’s political leaders have few domestic incentives to reform, knowing that the benefits of the EU integration process stretch far beyond their political mandates. On the other hand, the EU is unable to deliver on its promises towards the region. Therefore, the EU Commission has put forward a proposed revision of the accession process, which imposes stricter requirements for democratic, judicial and economic reforms on candidate countries. Denmark should see this as an opportunity not to be missed for making EU enlargement to the Western Balkans a success story, and to avoid possible democratic backsliding post-accession, which we have seen in Hungary and Poland. Our region should suffer from collateral damage of that or any other problem we did not cause.

As citizens of the region determined to make a better future for the next generations, we pledge for a strict and merit-based accession process that would result in a transformation of our countries and societies to respect European values. In our view, for this to happen, three crucial ingredients are needed.

The first is the political courage of the EU member states to acknowledge all the benefits of having the rest of the Balkan region (with a total population smaller than Romania’s) as part of the bloc, as well as the risks associated with continued neglect. Following Brexit, the EU’s expansion to this region would offer new export opportunities for Danish companies. Moreover, the counties of the region are not only geographically, but also historically and culturally part of Europe: for instance, Bosnians are among the best integrated communities in Denmark. Moreover, three countries of the region are NATO members. And both the EU and the Western Balkans are concerned with climate change and intercontinental migration. However, the EU’s fading engagement in the region is already resulting in the stronger presence of other global powers such as China and Russia, a phenomenon expected to further intensify should the EU remain passive.

Secondly, the EU’s stronger political engagement needs to be accompanied by greater support to civil society in the region, the real agents of transformation. The EU should empower and reassure those actors who are interested in strong democratic institutions, freedom of the media, an independent judiciary, and the eradication of widespread corruption and organised crime. Functional democracy is a guarantee of political stability, but in the absence of a credible membership perspective, the region’s strongmen will find that their only chance of staying in power is by nurturing a nationalist and conflict escalating rhetoric.

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo have been stuck for years in the process of being granted official candidate status due to statehood issues, which has left their citizens disillusioned about their European perspective.

Finally, the accession process itself needs to be rewarding for political elites. For them to engage in potentially politically costly reforms, they need to receive tangible rewards from the EU upon delivery. Offering access for the region to some areas of EU policy at different stages in the process, as is proposed in the EU Commission’s revised enlargement methodology, would serve as a stabilising factor for political systems in the entire region.

Now is the time to act. If this opportunity is missed, the Western Balkans risk another lost decade marked with new potential instabilities. If skilled and educated young people do not see a European perspective at home, they will take on existing opportunities to migrate and seek better living conditions in the EU themselves. This leaves our homes more prone to populism and dangerous nationalist conflicts, depriving the Western Balkans societies of their long-term economic potential. Conversely, if we increase the membership dialogue and mutual engagement now, we can go a long way in making the entire European continent a safe and sustainable place for living. It is in Denmark’s security, economic and civic interest to invest itself in this dossier and to reap its benefits.

TEN Network:

*  Arbëresha Loxha, Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), Pristina, Kosovo;
* Anida Šabanović, Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina;
* Dina Bajramspahić, Institut Alternativa (IA), Podgorica, Montenegro;
* Sena Marić, European Policy Centre (CEP), Belgrade, Serbia.
* Gjergji Vurmo, Program Director, Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), Tirana, Albania;
* Stefan Ristovski, European Policy Institute (EPI) Skopje, North Macedonia;

Članak Recognise the benefits of integrating the rest of the Balkans into the EU se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) of the Western Balkans (WB6) are relatively young compared to their counterparts from Visegrad countries (V4). This could be seen as a natural consequence related to political and historical circumstances in both regions over the past 20 years: the early transition to democracy in the V4 countries paved the way for growth of civil society sector and accelerated its development, while simultaneously the WB6 region experienced a severe social, economic and political downfall. Indeed, the post-communist era in the V4 served for the civil sector growth, as organisations could provide assistance in terms of expertise and resources in certain areas where, still fragile and recovering states, could not manage to do so. The development of civil society sector in V4 was therefore to a great extent impacted by democratic reforms, along with early public administration reform and Europeanisation processes, while the WB countries were still recovering from the fierce conflict period at that time.

It is our immense pleasure to share with you a collection of articles produced within the project Raising capacities and advocacy potential towards more substantive involvement of CSOs of V4 and WB6. This collection provides insights into challenges of civil society participation in policymaking in three countries of the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland), in the intention to share valuable lessons for the Western Balkan countries. Articles are a result of experience exchanging events that took place in spring and summer of 2017, gathering representatives of TEN Network and partner organisations from Visegrad countries: namely, a two-day workshop addressing experiences from Poland and Hungary was held in Budva (Montenegro) on 12-13 May, while on June 26-30, representatives of each of the TEN member organisations, together with civil servants from each of the Western Balkan countries, participated in a study tour to Slovak Republic and Czech Republic.

This study is funded by Visegrad Fund.

Authors:
Andrew Cartwright, Center for Policy Studies, Central European University, Hungary
Katarzyna Hermann Pawłowska and Maciej Kolczyński, IDEA Foundation, Poland
Michal Vit, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czech Republic
Dragana Bajić, European Policy Centre – CEP, Serbia

Editor:
Dragana Bajić, European Policy Centre – CEP, Serbia

Članak Civil Society and Policy Making in the Visegrad Group Countries se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.

However, policymaking as a topic is under-researched and its relevance somewhat underestimated both by the state and the civil society actors in the region. This Position Paper presents arguments to highlight the necessity for more streamlined engagement of the civil society to act as effective scrutinisers of policymaking reforms as well as to take a more constructive role in policymaking processes, consequently rendering it more transparent and evidence-based.

The Position Paper is made under the CEPS WeB project, whose aim was to create a Centre for Excellence within the institutional framework provided by the Think for Europe Network (TEN). The project is financed under the framework of the Regional Research Promotion Programme (RRPP).

Članak Policymaking in the Western Balkans se pojavljuje prvo na European Policy Centre.