Virtual panel discussion: The Western Balkans regional economic cooperation: Charting a way forward?

Regional cooperation has been at the core of the EU accession process of the Western Balkans since the mid-1990s both in view of its economic and political transformation. Significant efforts have been made both by the EU and regional stakeholders to facilitate economic cooperation in view of stimulating growth and development and contributing to the political relationships within the region.   Whilst expectations from these efforts have been rather high, their realisation in practice has not.

A recent push in this direction is provided by the Economic and Investment Plan of the European Commission announced in early October 2020. In view of the opportunities the new EU momentum creates, the European Policy Institute in Skopje in cooperation with the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies organises an online panel discussion to take stock of previous initiatives and to discuss ways forward in the regional and EU economic integration of the Western Balkans.

The panel will serve as a presentation and discussion of the findings of the recent study “Pushing on a string? An evaluation of regional economic cooperation in the Western Balkans” published by Bertelsmann Stiftung and Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, evaluating the EU’ strategy of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans from an economic perspective. The discussants will reflect on the findings of the study and bring insight from their experience as to the way forward in deepening regional economic integration whilst in parallel with the EU accession process.

Register to take part in the discussion at the following link

After registering, you will receive the Zoom link to join the discussion.

The agenda for the discussion is avaliable at the link bellow