Following the recent publication of the European Commission’s Progress Reports on candidate and potential candidate countries, BCSDN reviewed them immediately. We have compiled a short analysis of the reports as they pertain to civil society and this is now available for download. Additionally raw data from the Progress Reports are available along with the benchmarks.
Author: anja
Our policy paper, “The Successes and Failures of the EU Pre-accession Policy in the Balkans: Support to Civil Society,” which was first presented at The Right to Be Heard: EU Enlargement Policy and Civil Society in Western Balkans workshop held in Brussels on 10th September is now available in English and four local languages: Albanian, Croatian, Macedonian and Serbian. Other local language translations will follow soon. The Successes and Failures of EU Pre-accession Policy in the Balkans: Support to Civil Society Sukseset dhe Deshtimet e Politikes se Para-anetaresimit ne Ballkan: Perkrahja per Shoqerine Civile (translation by Kosovar Civil Society Foundation)…
The aim of the workshop was to discuss the current challenges faced by the countries in the Western Balkans and solutions to which local CSOs can contribute in finding. Specifically, the agenda focused on the IPA Civil Society Facility, which is the main EC funding mechanism in support of civil society development in potential and candidate countries and the IPA Partnership principle, which lays the legal basis for involvement of civil society actors in the IPA programming, implementation and evaluation. On this occasion, a draft policy paper “ The Successes and Failures of the EU-Pre-accession Policy in the Balkans: Support…
The aim of the workshop was to discuss the current challenges faced by the countries in the Western Balkans and solutions to which local CSOs can contribute in finding. Specifically, the agenda focused on the IPA Civil Society Facility, which is the main EC funding mechanism in support of civil society development in potential and candidate countries and the IPA Partnership principle, which lays the legal basis for involvement of civil society actors in the IPA programming, implementation and evaluation. On this occasion, a draft policy paper “ The Successes and Failures of the EU-Pre-accession Policy in the Balkans: Support to Civil…
On the meeting, Mr. Yngve Engstroem, Head of Unit explained that the Commission approach in the region is to move away from donor dependency to building capacity of local stakeholders. In this context, the primary goal of the Civil Society Facility (CSF), as part of the IPA Multi-beneficiary (i.e. regional) Programmes is to enable the Commission to get continues influx of input for the IPA programming while also directly supporting networking and communication between CSOs. Reconciliation is and remains an important aspect of both the Multi-beneficiary programmes and the CSF. As a response to demand for local CSOs to be…
The meeting enabled sharing of experiences on functioning of national associations in different European countries and their relation with the Government. These showed when a “compact” between a Government and the civil society sector is established with a “top-down” approach this usually remains a “dead letter” (e.g. France), while if the approach is a “bottom-up” one (e.g. the UK), this has a much bigger rate of success. As in the case of Sweden, this often results from a crisis in relationship or a vacuum. The compact can take many forms, but all have some basic common features such as the…
The elected Board members are: Goran Djurovic (Chair) Executive Director, CRNVO, Montenegro; Tina Michieli (Deputy-Chair) Project Manager, CNVOS, Slovenia; Miljenko Dereta, Executive Director of Civic Initiatives, Serbia; Venera Hajrullahu, Executive Director, KCSF, Kosovo; Saso Klekovski, First Executive Director, MCIC, Macedonia; Aleksandar Krzalovski, Executive Director, MCIC, Macedonia. The current Secretariat of the network, the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) was confirmed as the Host institution. The current Coordinator Tanja Hafner Ademi was elected as the BCSDN Executive Director. Singing of the Founding Act of BCSDN Saso Klekovski, First Executive Director, MCIC, Macedonia Zeljana Buntic-Pejakovic, Vice-President, CenzuraPlus, Croatia Goran Djurovic, Executive…
The 17 CSOs ask: “If CSOs have been recognized as partners and motors of change in the Western Balkans, why then are only the Commission, Governments and RCC involved in the programming of the Civil Society Facility on meetings like the one in Zagreb?” The letter expressed the expectation that the design of the Civil Society Facility will be based on the following 3 principles: Local CSOs are regularly consulted on Civil Society Facility design. Consultations have been greatly improved on national level, but not in design of the Multi-beneficiary programme; Grant rather than technical assistance mechanisms for implementation of…
The 17 CSOs ask: “If CSOs have been recognized as partners and motors of change in the Western Balkans, why then are only the Commission, Governments and RCC involved in the programming of the Civil Society Facility on meetings like the one in Zagreb?” The letter expressed the expectation that the design of the Civil Society Facility will be based on the following 3 principles: Local CSOs are regularly consulted on Civil Society Facility design. Consultations have been greatly improved on national level, but not in design of the Multi-beneficiary programme; Grant rather than technical assistance mechanisms for implementation of…
By focusing on the current transformation process, mobilization of public opinion and state of regional cooperation the workshop brought diverse views in terms of country situation and solutions. In most countries, the current governments are finding populist solutions to complex economic and social problems, which bring votes but little promise of profound structural change. In this, media play an important role and its role in the process of transformation should be more closely monitored and studied. On the other hand, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), which is the successor of the Stability Pact for SEE, has been presented as a positive…