Starting from March 2020, TEN Secretariat, the European Policy Centre (CEP) commenced its work on the two-year “Making a Future Together: EU and the Western Balkans from the Youth Perspective” project. This Project is implemented in partnership with the members of the Think for Europe Network, the Institute for International Affairs in Rome, the Bronsilav Geremek Foundation Centre in Warsaw and the European Policy Centre in Brussels.

This project directly contributes to inclusive and participatory policymaking at the European Union (EU) level by bringing citizens’ input into the formulation and redefinition of EU enlargement policy to the Western Balkans. More specifically, it aims to engage youth from the Western Balkans in the Future of Europe Debate.

The project will consist of 9 events gathering youth activists, students and academia from the Western Balkans and EU member states. Through moderated discussion at these events, participants will provide their ideas and proposals for the development of the EU in the future. Youth will also have an opportunity to contribute their thoughts through discussions opened on an online platform. All contributions given will be in the form of policy outputs with specific recommendations. At the end of the Project, all of the policy outputs developed will serve as a contribution from the youth of the Western Balkans to the ongoing debate on the future of Europe.

This project is financed by the European Agency for Cultural, Educational and Audio-Visual Policies through its Europe for Citizens programme.

Period: March 2020 – March 2022
Donator: European Agency for Cultural, Educational and Audio-Visual Policies
Project Coordinator: European Policy Centre – CEP, Belgrade
Contact persons: Strahinja Subotić, Programme Manager and Senior Researcher (strahinja.subotic@cep.org.rs), Andrija Mladenović, Project Coordinator (andrija.mladenovic@cep.org.rs).

Why? Policymaking in the Western Balkans (WB) is characterised by weak and unsystematic involvement of the civil society organisations (CSOs). On the other side, Visegrad Group (V4) countries have more advanced policymaking systems which ensure CSOs involvement, while CSOs themselves have greater capacities and experience in that respect. However, sustainable and effective CSO participation in the policymaking based on evidence is a long­term challenge and objective for both regions.

This project will address the deficiencies of policymaking systems by enhancing CSOs capacities from the WB to take more active part in the policymaking and advocate for a more enabling legal environment for the CSOs through learning from the experiences of the V4 countries.

How? Through the exchange of knowledge and experience within the V4 region and together with the WB partners through a consortium of 10 partners, capacities and advocacy potential of the organisations of both regions will be raised. The knowledge gained will be shared with 180 CSO representatives in the WB countries. The involvement of the civil servants in the project from relevant policymaking institutions in WB6 will increase their ownership and accountability.

Who? This project has been implemented by:

TEN network:

European Policy Centre, Serbia
Group for Legal and Political Studies, Kosovo
Foreign Policy Initiative BH (FPI BH), Bosnia and Herzegovina
Institute for Democracy and Mediation, Albania
European Policy Institute (EPI) ­Skopje, Macedonia
Institute Alternative, Montenegro

Partners from Visegrad countries:

EUROPEUM – Institute for European Policy, Czech Republic
Central European University, Hungary
Slovak Governance Institute, Slovakia
Fundacja IDEA Rozwoju, Poland

When? March 2017 – March 2018

Target audience: Our target audience are civil society organisations, civil servants, national governments and European Commission.

This project is realised with the kind support of the International Visegrad Fund

News

Civil Society and Policy Making in the Visegrad Group Countries: Lessons for the Western Balkans

It is our immense pleasure to share with you a collection of articles produced within the Visegrad project. This collection provides insights into challenges of civil society participation in policymaking in three countries of the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia), in the intention to share valuable lessons for the Western Balkan countries. Find more about the publication here.

What’s the role and importance of think tank organisations today?

Final conference of the International Visegrad Fund Project “Raising capacities and advocacy potential towards more substantive involvement of civil society organisations of Visegrad group and Western Balkan countries” was held today in Belgrade. Read more about this event here.

Event announcement: Think tanks in policymaking – Challenges and impact in Southeast Europe

Final conference of the Project  “Raising capacities and advocacy potential: Towards more substantive involvement of CSO of Visegrad group and WB countries” will be held on January 30, 2018 in Belgrade, at EU Info Centre Premisses. Read more about this event here.

Western Balkan Think Tankers and Civil Servants on a Study Tour to Slovakia and Czech Republic 

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 Bratislava (Slovak Republic) and Prague (Czech Republic). Read more about this study tour here.

Experiences of Polish and Hungarian CSOs in the Policymaking Process Shared in Budva, MNE

A two-day regional training “CSO Participation in the Policymaking: Experiences from Poland and Hungary” was held in Budva, Montenegro, on 12-13 May 2017. Read more about this training here.

The project aimed to create the Centre of Excellence on Policymaking Systems in the Western Balkans (CEPS WeB), within the institutional framework provided by the Think for Europe Network (TEN). It would be oriented towards creating demand and raising awareness of the necessity for policy research and analysis at the regional level, through joint policy research and advocacy in the region. CEPS WeB would, hence, pinpoint regional aspects of policymaking systems, procedures, approaches, and capacities that are common across the region and go beyond national agendas.

The project lasted six months and comprised a series of activities aimed at conceptualising CEPS WeB. These activities proceed mainly through interactive workshops between the TEN member organisations and their associates in the process of joining. A public event was organised in the last month of the project, to present the final deliverable of collaborative effort during and between the workshops – CEPS WeB position paper. In addition, research of comparative good practices of establishing centres of excellence focusing on policymaking systems and processes in Europe and worldwide was performed.

This project was implemented by the Think for Europe Network (TEN) and financed under the framework of the Regional Research Promotion Programme (RRPP). The RRPP is coordinated and operated by the Interfaculty Institute for Central and Eastern Europe (IICEE) at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). The programme is fully funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.

The project lasted for 15 months and its implementation in Macedonia started in May 2014. The leading partner was European Policy Institute (in cooperation with the Helsinki Committee Macedonia and the Center for Change Management), while European Policy Centre and Institute Alternativa from Podgorica were associates and provided exchange of regional best practices.

The main objectives of the project were: creating structured coordination between CSOs in Macedonia regarding the implementation of the areas covered by Chapter 23 of the Acquis – Judiciary and Fundamental rights; increasing the capacity of CSO to act as watch-dog organisations in the process of monitoring and evaluation of Chapter 23 on national and local level, through a concrete transfer of know-how; enabling a mechanism for CSOs to influence the policy making process through coordinated input on the network; and finally by raising awareness on the implications of Chapter 23 on the overall progress of the EU accession.

Within Network 23, an Analysis on Chapter 23 – Judiciary and Fundamental Rights was prepared, as well as a Brochure “Why Chapter 23 is the key to EU accession?”

The project was funded by the European Union through the IPA Civil Society Facility Programme 2013. The project was also financially supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands.