25.03.2009 All News

The Role of Think Tanks in the Policy Process

The Role of Think Tanks in the Policy Process and their Relevance for EU Integration – Case Study on Environmental Policy

BELGRADE – The European Fund for the Balkans and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Serbia organised a one-day seminar „The Role of Think Tanks in the Policy Process and their Relevance for EU Integration – Case Study on Environmental Policy in the Western Balkans“. The seminar was held in the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Belgrade, on March 19, 2009.

The seminar was opened by Mr. Oliver Dulić, Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning of the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Mrs. Hana Hubackova, the Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Serbia, H.E. Mr. Josep M. Lloveras, the Head of the European Commission Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, and Mrs. Hedvig Morvai Horvat, the Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans.

Emphasizing the importance of environmental protection and expressing gratitude for the help the Czech Republic provided to the Republic of Serbia in this area, Minister Oliver Dulić said: „The environmental problems cannot be solved successfully without NGOs and the society at large involvement.“ Mr. Josep M. Lloveras, the Head of the European Commission Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, said that expert organisations were important to policy-makers for reaching the best decisions. „In the times of crisis, the protection of environment is considered to be an expensive item. However, the protection of the environment must not be forgotten. The expert organisations have the important role here since the crisis is also an opportunity for those who see further and think wider, especially in sustainable development the direction “, said Lloveras. The Czech Ambassador, Her Excellency Hana Hubackova, emphasised the cooperation of Prague and Belgrade on the projects of environmental protection and announced that the cooperation would be increased and intensified in the future.

The Executive Director of the European Fund for the Balkans, Hedvig Morvai Horvat said that Thinks-Tanks, policy institutes and NGOs were all the places for discussing and developing ideas on the topics most relevant to the countries of the region. „The European Fund for the Balkans has been engaged in strengthening the capacities of expert organisations, which can be valuable partners of politicians and decision-makers in designing policies for their countries.“, said Morvai Horvat.

In order to show how public policy can be influenced by the civil society and especially by expert organisations, one part of the seminar was devoted to presentations of six organisations, grantees of the European Fund for the Balkans, who conducted research on topics related to environmental policy in the Western Balkans, within the Funds’ „Think and Link“ programme.

The seminar brought together representatives of non- governmental organisations, Thinks-Tanks, and policy institutes as well as researchers from all the countries of the Western Balkans. The speakers in the seminar included experts who dealt with capacity building of this type of organisations, donor agencies active in this field as well as leaders of some of the most relevant expert organisations from the region and Central and Eastern Europe.