On June 26-30, representatives of each of the TEN member organisations, together with civil servants from each of the Western Balkan countries, participated in a study tour to Bratislava (Slovak Republic) and Prague (Czech Republic), as part of the project “Raising capacities and advocacy potential towards more substantive involvement of CSOs of V4 and WB6”. The project is implemented by TEN and supported by the Visegrad Fund.

Participants had the chance to visit both the civil society organisations and the state institutions in charge of horizontal policymaking in the Slovak Republic and Czech Republic. In Slovakia, the visit was hosted by the partner organisation Slovak Governance Institute, whose director and senior researcher Mr. Ctibor Košťál welcomed the participants and introduced them into the Slovak context and presented the successful work of the SGI in Slovakia. The government’s experience in cooperating with CSOs was presented by Ms. Jana Kviečinská from the Office of the Minister, Ministry of Justice; Ms. Viktória Mlynarčíková from the Head of Development Cooperation Unit, International Relations Section, Ministry of Finance and Mr. Milan Andrejkovič from the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government for the Development of Civil Society. The practice of the civil sector was presented by Mr. Ján Hargaš from Slovensko.digital, Mr. Martin Kollárik from the Slovak Governance Institute, Mr. Pavel Hrica from the Pontis Foundation and Mr. Matej Hruška from the Stop Corruption Foundation. The interactive discussions served for gaining insights and ideas for improving the quality of the policymaking systems both in WB6 countries and in the Slovak Republic.

In the Czech Republic, the participants were welcomed by Mr. Michal Vit from the partner organisation EUROPEUM, who provided the introduction into the Czech context and presented their previous initiatives, projects and cooperation with the Western Balkan think tanks. The focus of the visit was placed on a very successful case of the Reconstruction of the State initiative, which was presented by Mr. Vít Šimral and Mr. Lukáš Kraus. In addition, participants had the chance to learn about a local initiative for better urban planning from Mr. Michal Volf from the NGO Břevnov, whereas the government experience was shared by Ms. Radana Kubová, Office of Goverment, and Mr. Jan Outlý.

The study tour focused on learning from the V4 partners about their legal and institutional framework for CSO involvement in policymaking, its enforcement, practical problems and obstacles for CSOs to effectively participate in policymaking. Slovak and Czech NGOs and state institutions shared their best practices, whereas a special focus was dedicated to the effects of EU membership to the quality of policymaking in Slovakia and Czechia and CSOs’ contribution in this respect. The study tour represented a significant opportunity to exchange views and experiences both among the colleagues from the WB6 with the civil servants as well as among the TEN representatives. In particular, the participation of civil servants, representatives of respective policymaking institutions from the Western Balkans, was aimed to raise knowledge of these individuals on comparative policymaking systems and contribute to cooperation between the state and civil institutions.

 

European Policy Centre, within the framework of the WeBER project, and in cooperation with the Visegrad Fund, organized a seminar “Effective monitoring of public policies”. The seminar was held in Novi Sad, April 19-22.

The seminar discussed the Concept Papers of the National Working Group on Public Administration Reform (PAR) and the establishment of the National Working Group in Serbia (NRG). The NRG is a national consultative mechanism for civil society participation in dialogue with relevant state bodies on the design and monitoring of the PAR process in Serbia.

Sena Maric, CEP Senior Researcher, talked about the policy-making cycle, EU standards and examples of good practice in policy-making and policy co-ordination, and about civil society monitoring in the context of EU accession. Miloš Đinđić, CEP Senior Researcher, spoke about WeBER’s approach to the monitoring process in the case of the PAR. Corina Stratulat from EPC, partner organization within the WEBER project, talked about policy research and analysis and how Western-European think tank organizations work, as well as about communication with stakeholders in the area of ​​public policy monitoring. Milena Lazarević, CEP Programme Director, spoke about WEBER PAR Monitor methodology, indicators for monitoring the PAR, as well as the research and analytical methods of PAR Monitor methodology.

The Weber Project is funded by the European Union and co-financed by the Kingdom of The Netherlands.

Working breakfast on the topic Achieving Excellence through Regional Cooperation was held on 24^th November in Belgrade, gathering members of the Think for Europe Network (TEN) as well as distinguished experts from the Regional Environmental Center (REC) and the Center of Excellence in Finance (CEF). Participants discussed the added value of pursuing a regional approach and shared their experiences in regional networking. The aim of the event was to formulate new ideas for inspiring creation of a more constructive regional initiatives in the Western Balkans region. Additionally, the event served as an opportunity to present the first Position Paper of the newly created Centre for Excellence in Policymaking (CEPS WeB), established by six think-tank organisations from the Western Balkans, members of TEN. The discussion was moderated by Simonida Kacarska, Research Coordinator at the European Policy Institute (EPI).

Representing the Center of Excellence in Finance, prof. dr Mojmir Mrak explained the success of CEF and gave insight into the challenges of its 15-year-long functioning. He emphasised that the CEF is a knowledge hub for the South Eastern Europe region. Additional regional learning opportunities were exemplified by Igor Kostić, who represented the Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe. He pointed out the fact that the regional approach could significantly contribute to the capacity development in the Western Balkan countries, as all countries have the same environmental problems.

Senior Researcher at CEP Sena Marić presented the CEPS WeB Position Paper, making a case for taking up regional approach in tackling and advocating for more evidence-based policymaking in the Western Balkans. She talked about the effect as well as the unused potential of the civil society organisations in pressuring for improved policymaking in the Western Balkan countries. She also added that legalistic administrative cultures in the Western Balkans are in need for more evidence to create better policymaking environments, while governments need to provide more data in order to enable quality policymaking and civil society monitoring.

This event was carried out in the framework of the project Centre of Expertise on Policymaking Systems in the Western Balkans-CEPS WeB, implemented by six partner organisations – TEN members: European Policy Centre – Belgrade,Institute Alternativa – Podgorica, European Policy Institute – Skopje, Foreign Policy Initiative – Sarajevo, Institute for Democracy and Mediation – Tirana, and Group for Legal and Political Studies – Pristina. The project is financed under the framework of the Regional Research Promotion Programme (RRPP). The programme is fully funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC).