A new policy study by the Centre for Contemporary Politics (CSP), published in cooperation with the Jacques Delors Institute, finds that one in four laws adopted in the area of fundamentals across the Western Balkans between 2020 and 2025 received negative assessments from the European Commission, domestic civil society organisations, or both. Examining legislation across six Western Balkan countries, the study identifies persistent shortcomings in electoral, judicial and media reforms. It also reveals discrepancies between the Commission’s assessments and concerns raised by domestic CSOs, including cases where legislation received positive EU evaluations despite civil society warnings. The study calls for clearer standards for assessing reform quality, stronger engagement with domestic oversight actors and an early-warning mechanism to identify problematic legislation before adoption. Its findings raise broader questions about the effectiveness and credibility of EU rule of law conditionality when problematic reforms face limited consequences. Read more here.
Source: European Western Balkans