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Below is the Summary of the report, highlighting particular outcomes and future recommendations that were a result of the discussions.

Executive Summary

Friends of Europe’s annual European Policy Summit on the Western Balkans, entitled “Balkans scorecard: Assessing the region’s key pointers,” saw a lively and informative discussion on the current state of affairs of the accession process of “Europe’s courtyard.”

Keynote speaker Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement, noted that the countries in the region have made great progress towards stability in the last decade. With the accession of Croatia set to occur on 1 July 2013, hopes have been high this year that the other countries are moving closer to their goal of joining the European Union (EU). Serbia and Montenegro are both waiting to hear the results of the European Council on 9 December concerning their accession processes.

The successes of Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro in the enlargement process can be applied all throughout the region, suggested Igor Lukšić, Prime Minister of Montenegro, as all the countries there share the same goal of acceding to the EU.

The optimism coming from this year’s promising developments is tempered by the recognition that many problems do still need to be overcome in the region, the speakers agreed. The weight of the region’s conflict-torn history is still in evidence.

The scorecard quickly came out in the conference as high-level Balkan government officials discussed the challenges they face. Chief among these challenges is a shift towards a European perspective, which needs to be managed by strong, democratic leadership in upcoming years.

Co-moderator Tim Judah, Western Balkans Correspondent for The Economist, outlined some of the difficult questions facing the region. Tensions between Kosovo and Serbia continue, though a promising dialogue has been established. The former Yugoslav Republic of (FYR) Macedonia continues to be at odds with Greece over the name issue that has been holding back its accession process for far too long.

Bosnia and Herzegovina, now without a government for over a year, has not been able to make inroads on reforms owing to its political paralysis. Since June of last year Albania too was in a state of political paralysis until recently. This has meant that it has missed opportunities to capitalise on the fact that its economy is performing relatively well.

Overall, many speakers agreed, the economic crisis which has spiked a crisis of confidence in the Eurozone has not directly held back the economies in the region. Growth is continuing quite strongly and as each year passes, more investment and development opportunities are becoming apparent. In order to really capitalise on this interest, however, the region needs support for infrastructure growth.

Also discussed was the need to demolish the culture of impunity for corruption and organised crime in the region. For years, some of the high-level political elites were closely tied to criminal organisations. While this has changed, there is a lack of trust between citizens and governments that remains, insisted Drago Kos, President of the Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) and Former Chair of the Slovenian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Though governments have drafted reforms and created institutions aimed at combating crime and corruption, many have been suffering from a lack of resources and the political will necessary to implement and maintain efforts in this direction.

There is the sense in Europe that, following Croatia’s accession, it would be unlikely that any other country in the region would join the EU for several years. The Western Balkan countries need to use the time they have available to them in the framework of the stabilisation and association agreements to bring themselves in line with European values, insisted Božidar Đelić, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration of Serbia.

While much remains to be done on the side of the Western Balkans in terms of accession, the EU is also taking stock of the process and applying lessons learned in order to improve it, explained Stefano Sannino, European Commission Director General for Enlargement.

Enlargement fatigue from the member states due to the economic crisis and a lack of credibility in the process is being addressed by new proposals and mechanisms to ensure that enlargement can continue to be one of the EU’s most successful policies.

Joining the Western Balkans to the EU will require a lot of effort from both sides of the equation but is a necessary step forward in unifying Europe.