BCSDN Policy Paper on the State of Civil Dialogue in the Western Balkans

The Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN) published a policy paper titled “The Missing Link. Development and Functioning of Civil Dialogue in the Western Balkans”. This policy paper is a continuation of the BCSDN effort to offer both local and international stakeholders, especially the EU institutions, analysis and recommendations related to development of civil society in the Balkans with a focus on its role in the EU accession process.

While drawing from findings and recommendations from the Balkan Civic Practices 6 - “The Successes and Failures of EU Pre-Accession Policy in the Balkans: Support to Civil Society” on support to development of civil society in the Western Balkan countries, the present paper focuses on analyzing the current situation in development and functioning of civil dialogue in the seven Western Balkans (pre-) accession countries. Furthermore, the paper draws conclusions on how the Enlargement policy could better support the ongoing local efforts on both regional and national level with recommendations addressed equally to the three stakeholders involved – the EC, national Governments and civil society. Experience of three New EU Member States, i.e. Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia are also included in order to explore the effect of the before and after EU entry as in many cases civil dialogue is a EU benchmark and thus, funded area by the EC in the accession period.

Thus, the paper is not a one-off activity, but part of targeted activities of the BCSDN Mid-term Programme 2009-2011, which in 2010 aim to improve influence of CSOs on the development and functioning of civil dialogue mechanisms in the Balkan countries. The paper is available in English and 3 main local language(s) groups - Albanian , Macedonian and Serbian . The English version is also available in hard-copy upon request from the BCSDN Executive Office .

Source of information: BCSDN