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Podiumsdiskussion “EU enlargement and the role of CSO in the Western Balkans’ democratic development”

Maja Bobić, Sonja Nita, Katrin Böttger, Nedzma Dzananovic, Manuel Sarrazin (v.l.n.r.)

The panel discussion set focus on the civil society in the Western Balkans. It discussed the role of civil society organi­sa­tions (CSO) regarding the democratic develo­pment and European integration of the region. The topic was addressed from three different angles: Ms Sonja Nita, Center of Thematic Expertise on Civil Society Support, DG NEAR, repre­sented the European Commission and gave an overview of the roles and functions that are taken up by CSOs to contribute to the democratic develo­pment of the region. Ms Maja Bobic, Secretary General, European Movement in Serbia,
Belgrade, and Dr Nedžma Dzananovic, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Political Science of the University of Sarajevo, shared their practical experience as members of the Serbian and Bosnian civil society respec­tively. Member of Parliament Manuel Sarrazin, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, Hamburg/Berlin, took the German viewpoint and elabo­rated on the German support to the Western Balkans’ democra­tis­ation in general and to the civil society in particular.

The panel discussion at the Vertretung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt beim Bund was moderated by Dr Katrin Böttger, Deputy Director, IEP. According to Ms Sonja Nita civil society organi­sa­tions play a crucial role in the democratic develo­pment of the Western Balkans. She highlighted three areas of action

1) Watchdog function

The freedom of CSOs to fulfill their role as a watchdog exists on paper, but is often restricted in practice. Especially freedom of expression and freedom of association are not thoroughly guaranteed in the region. Therefore, the European Commission monitors the compliance with the guide­lines for CSO support annually.

2) Engagement in policy development

Ms Nita empha­sized that CSOs need entry points to engage in policy develo­pment in order to be involved from the beginning. It is a precon­dition that civil society builds up the necessary expertise which must be recognized by the governing bodies. CSOs mut be equipped with suffi­cient personal, technical and financial capacities to maintain appro­priate relati­onships to policy makers. She shared a best practice example from Kosovo regarding the law on telecom­mu­ni­ca­tions interception.

3) Bridge function

Ideally, CSOs function as a bridge between autho­rities and citizens. When it comes to funding schemes,  grassroot organi­sa­tions should not be let out of sight. Rather, the donor community should consider regranting schemes and insti­tu­tional opera­tional grants. The latter is offered by DG NEAR Center of Thematic Expertise on Civil Society Support within a limited financial envelope that helps to contribute to a transition from a donor-driven agenda to a community-driven agenda.

Finally, civil society is not to be understood as a sector in itself. It is important to under­stand that civil society is relevant and functions across all sectors.

Ms Maja BOBIC empha­sized that the EU policy towards the Western Balkan states builds on the lessons learnt during the accession process of the new member states. As a conse­quence, the EU tries to reinforce condi­tio­nality towards the candidate states in the Western Balkans by negotiating chapter 23/24 (Judiciary and funda­mental rights/Justice, freedom and security)first. CSOs strongly approve of the attention the EU pays to reforms in the areas rule of law, public adminis­tration reform (PAR), compe­ti­ti­veness and economic gover­nance. According to Ms Bobić the success of these reforms is crucial to the overall credi­bility and endor­sement of the European integration process. As a result, she called upon the EU not to trade the quality of reforms for stability in the region. Such a trade-off is already doing harm to trust and reform endor­sement within the population. Instead, a track-record for transition has to be built and political dialogue with all stake­holders needs to be reinforced.To illus­trate which role CSOs can play in the accession process, Ms Bobić shared a best practice example from Serbia. To get a say in the accession negotia­tions, civil society self-organised and created the National Convention on the EU. This coalition of organi­sa­tions covers all negotiation chapters and engages in monitoring, consulting and informing the citizens, in short, in all areas named by Ms Nita. Finally, the parti­ci­pation of the National Convention in the negotiation working groups was recognized and institutionalized.

Mr Manuel SARRAZIN stated that the crucial role of CSOs for the democratic develo­pment of the Western Balkan states remains unques­tioned by the German executive and legis­lative. In his opinion, neither “no enlar­gement nor bad enlar­gement is an option”. According to Mr Sarrazin civil society engagement can make the diffe­rence in creating successful enlar­gement stories in the Western Balkans. To reach this aim, the govern­ments in the region should start to take the civil society into account, before the messages of CSOs come back to the autho­rities as a boomerang from Brussels.

Ms Nedžma DZANANOVIC opened her statement with the question “Why are countries ready to accept the enlar­gement process”? After all, it is the EU that sets standards and holds the candidate states accoun­table for them. She stated that in Bosnia and Herze­govina the answer is connected to stability, prosperity and borders. According to Ms Džananović, no major political idea exists that could substitute the idea of European integration. Overall, the wish for European integration is shared by appro­xi­m­ately 80% of the Bosnian population and is valid across ethnic boundaries. However, this pro-European attitude is not reflected by the political actors. CSOs must engage to hold them accoun­table. As a good practice example Ms Džananović named a group of CSOs insisting on regular meetings in parliament to overcome trenches between parlia­men­ta­rians and imposing a reform-oriented agenda.

The discussion with the audience proved to be vivid and rich in content. As regards the current (in)stability of the Western Balkan states, different opinions were stated, not only concerning internal factors, but also external influences, e. g. by Russia and Turkey. The question of sustaina­bility of both German and EU engagement was also raised, with regard to the shifting political focus (e.g. Ukraine, migration) of both actors. All panelists agreed that it is essential to conti­nuously support the democra­tis­ation processes in the Western Balkans. In this context, the question of appro­priate funding of civil society initia­tives was discussed. It was consensus that funding schemes should be diver­sified and regranting mecha­nisms should be imple­mented in order to include single-issue and grassroot organi­sa­tions into the process.

Both panelists and audience welcomed the event to keep the discourse on the political develo­pment of the Western Balkans on the public (western) agenda – beyond the European migrant crisis.

By Anne Bercio, Constanze Aka, Martin Stein