The political elite in Western Balkans countries should clearly comprehend what member-state building means in practice. Parties – journalists, civil society representatives, academics, interest groups – that shape policy debates have a responsibility to constructively contribute to meeting these challenges.   

A broad and shared understanding of the Europeanisation process is paramount for overcoming competing and conflicting agendas which frequently generate difficulties in building and sustaining reform coalitions. Therefore, countries of this region should develop strategies, plans and priorities which are followed up by genuine domestic debates, and exercise ownership for achieving sustainable institution building and actual transformation.
Ownership of the European integration process cannot be gained by the countries and societies of the Western Balkans without a clear vision or realistic and result oriented understanding of the challenges, costs and opportunities of genuine EU member state building. It also requires the integrated efforts of all layers of society to adopt European values.

The Fund will provide support through programmes focused on individual and collaborative research and policy development projects as well as media outreach initiatives, with a view to:

• Supporting inclusive and evidence-based research and policy-making;
• Strengthening the think tank capacity in the Balkans or in the EU regarding Balkan issues;
• Bringing EU integration into public perception;
• Linking emerging policy institutes from the Balkans with EU-based think tanks;
• Stimulating regional exchanges and transfer of know-how within the wider region.