Think Tank representatives from the Western Balkans present their policy research in Brussels
The current challenges to the EU enlargement process formed the main topic of the meetings. There was an intensive discussion of both the political developments in the region and the new priorities of the newly elected European Commission. Naturally these discussions took account of the “enlargement break” that was recently declared by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. The participants had the opportunity to exchange views with staff members of various EU institutions and to present and debate their policy research.
The inter-governmental aspect of EU politics was the focus of visits to the German and Croatian permanent representations to the EU. The policy analysts were able to deepen their insight into the strategies of the member states to strengthen their positions, reach compromises, and form alliances. In addition, Croatian EU Ambassador Mato Skrabalo gave a first-hand account of his country’s recent experiences in the integration process. (Croatia is youngest member state in the EU.)
Together with representatives of the Brussels office of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), TRAIN participants deliberated on different approaches to convey research results to decision makers – and in this context especially broached the issue on specific challenges that think tank face in the Western Balkans. At the conclusion of the visit to Brussels, expectations for the enlargement policy of the next few years were formulated and debated at a round-table discussion jointly organized by DGAP and Carnegie Europe. The necessity to maintain and intensify the dialogue between the Western Balkans and the EU was particularly emphasized.
The visit to Brussels was part of the final seminar of this year’s TRAIN Programme. Funded by the German Federal Foreign Office (Stability Pact for South East Europe) TRAIN (which stands for Think Tanks Providing Research and Advice through Interaction and Networking) accompanied eleven participating policy analysts from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia as they developed policy research on topics relevant for the EU integration of their countries. After the meetings in Brussels, the participating think tanks will return to their respective countries in order to pursue dialogue with policy makers and the public and present their research.
