Group for Legal and Political Studies and six other Western Balkans civil society organisation have conducted a report entitled: ‘The Western Balkans and its EU Integration: Independent Analysis and Follow up of EC Country Reports on Western Balkans countries’ , which serves as a first attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of the EU integration efforts of the Western Balkan. The report has used a comparative approach and was conducted in Albania, Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. The report is based on the European Union (EU) Enlargement Strategy (2015-2019) and the annual reports issued by the European Commission (EC) for each enlargement country, which assess political criteria, economic criteria and their ability to take up membership obligations. The report examined the novelties introduced by the new EU Enlargement Strategy and their implications for the Western Balkan countries. Additionally, if provided a comparative overview of the progress accomplished by the enlargement countries in the most recent reporting period and the level of preparedness they achieved in becoming EU Member States.

This analysis revealed that, at the political level, the progress of Kosovo was slightly above the regional average, however it achieved the lowest score in the region concerning the level of preparedness in this area. On the economic level, Kosovo had one of the lowest levels of progress and also one of the lowest levels of preparedness. Similarly, concerning the ability to take up membership obligations, the progress of Kosovo was one of the lowest in the region, while the level of preparedness was the second lowest, considerably below the regional average. In general, in the case of Kosovo, the Commission noted the positive developments and the efforts undertaken by the government. However, it expressed concern with regards to the political situation and in particular the activity of the Assembly, which has been severely disrupted in recent months. Moreover, the EC observed that while the legal and institutional frameworks were largely in place, the government failed to properly implement these measures. For these reasons, the Commission repeatedly called upon the Kosovo government to display genuine commitment towards the reforms undertaken and ensure appropriate implementation of the legal provisions, policies and strategies in place. To access the report, please click Kosovo, Serbia, Albania, Montenegro, Macedonia and the General Overview.

To access the infographics, please click here.