Regional cooperation

Viewing EU integration as the best development perspective and at the same time shared challenge for the Western Balkans countries, EMA works with partner stakeholders located in the region to achieve an accelerated journey towards meeting EU standards. We are committed to fostering dialogue and collaboration at regional level and are actively engaged in joint ventures developing comparative analysis and exchange of good practices. Projects and activities foreseen for 2011 include brain-gain issues, dialogue between CSO and WB governments, visa free regime within the WB, youth exchange and cooperation, etc.


Projects undertaken under this programme area are as below:

  • Advocating for "Brain Gain" policies aimed at reintegration of the high-skilled returnees in the Western Balkans (October 2010 - September 2011) supported by Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD), a Project of the German Marshal Fund. The overall aim of this project leaded by Group 484, Serbia was to identify the main obstacles for integration of the high skilled returnees in the Western Balkans Countries and to support the development of the policies and measures in regional level that would improve the situation of the high-skilled returnees.

  • Unity from mobility (January 2010 – January 2011) supported by European Commission, DG Education and Culture. The overall objective of this project was to set up a mentoring system based on solidarity between national councils of European Movement International by supporting the less development councils to profit from the longstanding experience of consolidated ones. EM Denmark was EMA’s mentor during the project implementation.

  • Improving IPA effectiveness in the Western Balkans Countries (June 2009 - February 2010) supported by the Local Government & Public Service Reform Initiative (LGI), Open Society Foundation. The main purpose of this initiative was to  identify main features of the first two components of IPA provided for the Western Balkans countries and to produce a policy document for the European Commission suggesting means to improve IPA. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Montenegro participated in the project.

  • Does it really matter? Visa Facilitation in the Western Balkans (March 2008 - August 2008) supported by King Baudouin Foundation and East-East Partnership without Borders Programe, Open Society Foundation in partnership with European Citizen’s Action Service and Stefan Batory Foundation. The project aimed at monitoring the implementation of the Visa Facilitation Agreements in Western Balkan countries by setting up hotline consulting visa applicants in Schengen Embassies and conducting a more in-depth quantitative survey in Schengen Embassies. This regional project was implemented simultaneously in Albania, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

  • Monitoring the Visa Facilitation Agreement of Albania as a Step Towards Visa Liberalization (December 2008 - April 2009) supported by Balkan Trust for Democracy (BTD), a Project of the German Marshall Fund. This initiative intended to examine the compliance of Schengen Embassies in Albania with the requirements of Visa Facilitation Agreement throughout a monitoring process. EMA collected and written up the stories of Albanian citizens who had to apply for a Schengen visa by conducting in this way a specific research on Albania’s visa roadmap implementation record in close consultation with European Stability Initiative (ESI) after the European Commission published its own assessments.

  • Towards White Schengen List- Road Maps Monitoring- Western Balkan Regional Response (December 2008 – January 2009) supported by East East Partnership Beyond Borders Program, Open Society Foundation. The aim of this initiative was to identify opportunities for creating the WB regional response to the migration issue and visa liberalisation process with EU. Group 484, Serbia was the team leader while the other regional partners included: EMA in Albania, Centre for Research and Policy Making in Macedonia (CRPM), The Association Alumni of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Studies (CIPS) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Centre for Democracy and Human Right in Montenegro (CEDEM).