Annual Report onImplementation of theMulti-Annual Action Planfor a Regional Economic Areain Western Balkan Six
Good.Better.Regional.
Title: Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area
in Western Balkan Six
Publisher: Regional Cooperation Council
Trg Bosne i Hercegovine 1/V, 71000 Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Tel. +387 33 561 700, Fax. +387 33 561 701
E-mail: [email protected]
website: www.rcc.int
Authors: Regional Cooperation Council, CEFTA
Editor: Pranvera Kastrati
Consulting editors: Gazmend Turdiu, Maja Handjiska Trendafilova, Emir Djikic
Design: Sejla Dizdarevic
© RCC2018 All rights reserved.
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
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Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-
Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in
Western Balkan Six
June 2018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................... 6
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................... 7
OVERVIEW ........................................................................................................................10
1.1 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE REPORT .............................................................10
1.2 COORDINATION, MONITORING AND REPORTING ..............................................................10
1.3 TRADE ................................................................................................................12
Overall state of play/progress ...............................................................................12
Policy 1.1. Facilitation of trade in goods ..................................................................13
Policy 1.2. Harmonisation of CEFTA Markets with the EU .............................................14
Policy 1.3. Creating NTMs and TDMfree Region .........................................................14
Policy 1.4 Facilitation of free trade in services .........................................................14
1.4 INVESTMENT ........................................................................................................15
Overall state of play/progress ...............................................................................15
State of implementation at objective level ..............................................................18
Obstacles and challenges .....................................................................................21
Recommendations and next steps ..........................................................................22
1.5 MOBILITY ............................................................................................................23
Overall state of play/progress ...............................................................................23
State of implementation at objective level ..............................................................25
Obstacles and challenges .....................................................................................32
Recommendations and next steps ..........................................................................32
1.6 DIGITAL INTEGRATION .............................................................................................33
Overall state of play/progress ...............................................................................33
State of implementation at objective level ..............................................................36
Obstacles and challenges .....................................................................................40
Recommendations and next steps ..........................................................................41
Conclusions and recommendations ........................................................................42
ANNEXES ..........................................................................................................................45
ANNEX 3 – REGIONAL REPORTING TABLE ...........................................................................45
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Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
BEREC Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications
CCP Component Contact Points
CEPT European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations
CSIRT Computer Security Incident Response Team
DSO Digital Switch Over
EA Economies Authorities
EC European Commission
ECO EuropeanCommunicationsOffice
ENISA European Union Agency for Network and Information Security
GÉANT pan-European data network for the research and education community
MAP REA Multi-annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area
MFN Most Favoured Nation
NC MAP Coordinator at economy level
RCC Regional Cooperation Council
REA Regional Economic Area
RLAH Roam Like at Home
RRA Regional Roaming Agreement
RSPG Radio Spectrum Policy Group
SEDDIF South European Digital Dividend Implementation Forum
SEED Systematic Electronic Exchange of Data
WB6 Western Balkans Six
WRC World Radio Conference
ABBREVIATIONSThe Multi-annual Action Plan (MAP) for a Regional Economic Area (REA) in the Western Balkans Six (WB6), endorsed at the Trieste Summit of 12 July 2017, puts forward a strategic joint agenda for the Western Balkan economies to further regional economic cooperation with a view to unleash the potentials for growth, create conditions for better, transparent and predictable investment climate and improve the overall economic competitiveness of the WB6 economies. The actions introduced in the MAP REA are expected to be implemented until 2020, with some extensions until 2023, focusing on four key components: Trade, Investment, Mobility and Digital Integration.
A credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans, launched on 6 February 2018, demonstrates the embedding of MAP REA within the core EU accession process. The strategy and itsflagships on socio-economicdevelopment anddigital agenda are directly related to MAP REA. Moreover, actions put forward in the Action Plan under “Supporting socio-economic development” and “A Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans” defineclearactionstobeimplementedby2019-with some by 2020 – which are fully aligned with the MAP REA objective and actions.
The Declaration made at the Western Balkans Summit in Sofia on 17May 2018 calls for urgentaction to implement the Multi-annual Action Plan for the Development of a Regional Economic Area and announces the continued EU support in the efforts invested by Western Balkans. Moreover,the Statement of support for the digital agenda for the Western Balkans endorsed at the occasion of the EU-WB6 Summit highlights the importance of a market- and investment-friendly environment in the Western Balkans to move faster towards a digital economy, and as part of Sofia Priority Agendaannounces the launch of a Digital Agenda for the Western Balkans, including a roadmap to facilitate lowering the cost of roaming; and to launch a substantial technical assistance package for the identification of potential digital investments(including broadband) through Western Balkans Investment Framework/Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance.
The MAP REA actions are aligned with strategic documents in particular with the Economic Reform
Programmes, as the key mid-term economic policy coordination documents. The cross-reference analysis between MAP REA and the ERPs 2018-2020revealsagoodfitbetweenthetwostrategicframeworks and high prioritisation of MAP REA measures within the ERPs.
The overall coordination for the MAP REA implementation in each WB6 economy is the responsibility of the MAP Coordinator (MAP NC). Moreover, each economy has designated the MAP Component Contact Points (CCPs) for each of the four MAP REA components to steer the work of various working mechanisms within Trade, Investment, Mobility and Digital Integration components of the MAP REA. Coordination, reporting and monitoring in each participating economy is ensured through the MAP NCs while at regional level the coordination role for the Trade component is performed by CEFTA Secretariat and for the Investment, Mobility and Digital Integration components coordination is performed by the RCC Secretariat. Regular reporting to the MAP NCs meeting and PM Sherpas’ meeting, European Commission and other international organisations is in place. In addition, business-to-government (B2G) discussions were held back-to-back with the MAP NCs meetings, organised in cooperation with WB CIF, to ensure greater synergies amongst differentactors.
The MAP REA Stock Taking and Needs Assessment report has been finalised. The process ofneeds assessment was carried out through self-identification of needs, complemented furtherby desk research and validated through the consultations held in all WB6 capitals. The gaps identified through the process are translatedinto practical lists of needs across the four areas, categorised as technical assistance/capacity building, analytical support, prospective multi-annual regional project interventions and capital investment support. RCC has supported the regional donor coordination in areas of relevance for MAP REA -the Fourth Meeting on Donor Coordination was held in Brussels on 13 March 2018, having great focus on MAP REA implementation and regional MAP REA-related needs.
The Guidelines on Governance, Coordination and Reporting for the MAP REA and the methodology on MAP REA monitoring and reporting have been
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
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endorsed by the MAP NCs. This report is prepared in compliance with the methodology on MAP REA monitoring and reporting, offering a snapshotof MAP REA implementation. Other horizontal activities to increase visibility and information sharing on MAP REA have been also undertaken.
In the investment policy area, progress is recorded in particular in establishing a harmonised level playing field for investment. The MAP REAmeasures are focused on the removal of barriers to investments, in the areas of investment entry and establishment, investment protection and retention, and investment attraction and promotion, which will enable the WB6 economies to reap the benefits of economies of scale, andenablegeographicallydiversifiedbusinesses,moreefficientallocationofresourceswithinaregionalmarket, ultimately providing significant newopportunities for the private sector. To this end, the Regional Investment Reform Agenda (RIRA) has been adopted and the next step ahead will be to translate it into national action plans. The South East Europe Investment Committee (SEEIC) will continue to be the main platform for supporting RIRA, although economies still need to establish focus groups at the level of individual economies to discuss and steer proposed policy reforms.
Furthermore, Western Balkan economies will work on the joint promotion of the region as a unique investment destination. In this endeavour, the region will identify the sectors of economy with common grounds for joint promotion, namely the sectors where the participating economies will identify added value opportunities for development ofregionalvaluechains.Identificationofprioritysectors for investment promotion will be aligned with the MAP REA pillar on smart specialisation.
Lastly, there is a strong need for closer coordination at domestic level amongst relevant stakeholders for successful implementation of MAP REA, namely amongst the MAP National Coordinators, MAP Component Contact Points and line ministries and relevant institutions. To secure quality and sustainability of the regional dialogue, regional platforms for implementation of MAP REA must include adequate representation with pertinent decision-making mandate from the relevant institutions.
In an increasingly global economy, the extent to which international high-skilled mobility channels are formed within the region and between the region and the EU is a question of great importance. Better integration of high-skilled
professionals and academics into professional and research networks, the European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area will yield significant benefits for the migratory region ofWestern Balkans.
AlloftheWB6economieshavesteppedupeffortsand demonstrated good progress in removing obstacles to mobility of researchers. All WB6 economies have prioritised mobility of researchers in their respective strategic frameworks. In response to the identified obstacles to mobilityof researchers, which include financial barriers,majority of the economies have created grant schemes to support mobility of researchers at the level of individual economies. All WB6 participate in Horizon2020 with varied success rates, as well as the Marie Curie Sklodowska Actions where success rates of the WB6 researchers are particularly low. With regards to actions aimed at supporting research infrastructure and the development of centres of excellence in the region progress has been slower and variation between economies more prominent.
Despite initial delays, technical preparations for opening of the negotiations on the Mutual Recognition Agreement of Professional Qualifications for Doctors of Medicine, Dentistsand Architects have been completed and the joint Working Group on Recognition of Professional Qualifications has agreed at its meeting on 7thof May 2018 to recommend the opening of the negotiations. Provided that all governments finalise their internal procedures and inform theRCCSecretaryGeneralthereof,thefirstmeetingof the negotiating teams could take place during July 2018.
The planned actions on removing obstacles to recognitionofacademicqualificationsareaheadofscheduled timeline; therefore, advanced progress in the region can be noted. During December 2017, the participants agreed to launch a joint exerciseonrecognitionofacademicqualificationsto identify and analyse similarities/differencesin recognition of foreign degrees and to suggest furtherjointactiontoreducethedifferencesbasedon which Joint Guides on Recognition of Academic Qualifications will be prepared. The deepenedregional cooperation on recognition of academic qualifications was reinforced by additionaldomestic efforts to shorten, simplify and create“student-friendly” procedures for recognition of academic qualifications. The new legislativeframeworks adopted across WB6 in the last year
open multiple opportunities for MAP measures to contributesignificantlytothemodernisationofthehigher education systems in the region.
Digital integration is characterised by a mixed level of preparedness amongst WB6 with Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia being at moderate level of preparedness regarding chapter 10 of the EU acquis, and Kosovo*1 and Bosnia and Herzegovina following behind. Digital transformation of WB6 holds great potential for enhancing growth in the region. The results of a regional analysis on the impact of digital transformation in WB6 shows that 10% increase in the digitisation index is associated with 0.63% GDP growth.
The WB6 are progressing in the transposition of the EU acquis in the area of electronic communications and information society although progress again varies amongst WB6 economies. Broadband mapping has well advanced during 2018, even though the measure is planned to be finalised in 2020. Inspectrum policy harmonisation, WB6 economies are at an uneven level of preparation, with regulatory and institutional frameworks that provide for efficient overall spectrum management in placeand uneven development in freeing up frequencies. Good progress is being made in harmonising regional roaming policies. Moreover, WB6 have committed to support and facilitate the processes of lowering the roaming costs for the full coverage of consumers in the Western Balkans region. The Western Balkan Digital agenda launched during the Digital Assembly on 25 June 2016 will support the digital transformation of the WB6 and prepare the region to integrate better into the EU Digital Market. Moreover, theDeclarationof theSofiaSummit,of17 May 2018, announced €30 million in technical assistance for digital projects, including broadband, within WBIF. A joint ICT Regulatory Dialogue between WB6 with the European Commission was launched in June 2018 and is foreseen to take place annually.
WB6areundertakingeffortstoimprovecybersecurity- in general, they have adopted relevant policies and legislation for privacy, data protection and digital security and prepared some strategies in the area of cybersecurity. They are at an initial stage of alignment with Network and Information Security (NIS)DirectiveandfurthereffortstoparticipateinENISA work and activity is needed. On this note, RCC has recently initiated communication with ENISA
1 * This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence
to explore the prospects of participation of WB economies in the work and activities of the agency. All WB6 economies have established CSIRTs but they are underdeveloped and need longer-term capacity building programmes. RCC networked the CSIRTs from the WB6 and provided initial capacity building to their representatives. A regional Conference of CSIRTs is planned to be held in October 2018.
TheWB6 Digital Summit organised on 18-19 April2018, in Skopje - the first ever in this format –reconfirmedthecommitmentofWB6toworkonaregionaldigitalagendaforthebenefitofitscitizensand the region as a whole. The conclusions of the DigitalSummitreaffirmedthecommitmentofWB6to work on: digital skills, trust and security, digital connectivity and digital economy and society. All WB6 economies have established forms of central portals for open data and regular updates of data are carried out. However, no regional dialogue exists as of yet on regional exchange of data. In addition, WB6 economies have adopted e-authentication frameworks and made progress in improving their e-authentication schemes. E-signature legislation is adopted and e-government services are gradually being aligned with the National Interoperability Frameworks. Moreover, there is a commitment to establish a regional framework for recognition of certificatesofelectronic signatureand facilitationof cross-border trusted services. There are several digital hubs and innovation parks across the WB6. Most have been developed with donor funding (including EU, the World Bank, GIZ, USAID and other bilateral donors), private sector funding, or both.
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Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
OVERVIEW1.1 INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE OF THE REPORTMAP REA aims to promote further trade integration, introduce a dynamic regional investment space, facilitate regional mobility and create a digital integration agenda for WB6 economies. Actions introduced in MAP REA offer synergies with thereform agendas currently undertaken in all WB6 driven by the EU integration process, based on EU rules and principles and following the commitments deriving from the SEE 2020, CEFTA and Stabilisation and Association Agreements. Most of the actions are expected to be implemented until 2020, with some extending into 2023.
The Enlargement Strategy embeds MAP REA within the core EU accession process, having some of its flagships directly related to MAP REA. Moreover,during the Sofia Summit, the EU launched Sofia Priority Agenda for the EU and the Western Balkans, annexed to the Declaration, which emphasises actions in socio-economic development, business environment and digital agenda – most of which are already embarked on as part of MAP REA-related reform processes.
This report is organised in two parts. First part provides an overview of horizontal aspects related to the MAP coordination, monitoring and reporting and the second offers a detailed presentation ofthe implementation of MAP REA across the four components, both at objective and regional level, as well as conclusions and recommendations on key next steps. It aims to take stock of the developments within the four components of MAP REA, describe the state of play and capture the progress made in WB6 as a region. The report is prepared by RCC in cooperation with CEFTA Secretariat in accordance with the endorsed Methodology on MAP REA monitoring and reporting.
The reporting is based on the inputs and contributions providedbytheWB6followingpredefinedreportingtemplates put forward within the Methodology. The report on MAP REA implementation will enable the WB6 leaders to review the progress, or the lack thereof, in each component. The insights from the monitoring will also help inform further formulation and fine-tuning of the actions, including possible
adjustments to the timelines, making them more realistic and achievable. This report is largely based on qualitative inputs received from the economies. The report also uses data from Balkan Barometer - a survey of public and business perceptions - where appropriate and of added value. The focus of next reports will be to improve user-friendliness, visualisation of progress and impact based on key outputindicators–tobedefinedinclosecooperationand consultation with MAP structures.
1.2 COORDINATION, MONITORING AND REPORTINGThe overall coordination for the MAP REA imple-mentation in each WB6 economy is the responsibil-ity of the MAP Coordinator (MAP NC). In addition, each economy has designated the MAP Component Contact Points (CCPs) for each of the four MAP REA components to steer the work of various working mechanisms within Trade, Investment, Mobility and Digital Integration components of the MAP REA. Coordination, reporting and monitoring in each participating economy is ensured at two principal levels - the first between the representatives inthe regional mechanisms and the MAP CCPs, and the second amongst the Component Contact Points and the MAP Coordinator. At the regional level, the coordination role for the Trade component is performed by CEFTA Secretariat, while the Invest-ment, Mobility and Digital Integration components are coordinated by the RCC Secretariat.
Beyond the coordination role, the RCC and CEFTA Secretariats also provide assistance in policy for-mulation, support to internal coordination process-es and cross-sectoral consultations, and support in implementation of actions resulting in regional deliverables.
The coordination mechanisms for MAP REA are es-tablished in each WB6 economy, with the appoint-ments of National Coordinators and Component ContactPointsfinalised.Inadditiontotheinternalmechanism, designated persons for each compo-nent from CEFTA and RCC Secretariats and DG NEAR of the European Commission are appointed to facil-
itate the coordination of work. Regular meetings of the MAP NCs (i.e. Brussels, on 31 October 2017 and 30 January 2018 in Trieste) and MAP CCPs (Brussels, 12 March 2018 and Tirana, 15 May 2018) are held to review the progress on the MAP REA measures and discuss future activities and deliverables. In addition, business-to-government (B2G) discussions were held back-to-back with the MAP NCs meet-ings, organised in cooperation with WB CIF, to en-suregreatersynergiesamongstdifferentactors.
RCC has finalised the StockTaking andNeedsAs-sessment report, in cooperation with the CEFTA Secretariat, undertaking a considerable coordina-tioneffort,bothatnationalandregionallevel,tocomplete the needs assessment process, mainly through self-identification of needs. The reportidentifiesthemajorpolicygapsandneeds,includ-ing assistance through bilateral or regional pro-jects, and proposes a set of measures needed to overcomethemwithaviewofeffectiveandtimelyimplementation of the MAP REA as a whole. The findingsofthereporthavebeenvalidatedthroughthe consultations - meetings held in all WB6 capi-tals during November 2017 and January 2018 – and presented during the second meeting of MAP NCs. Moreover, the report was shared with all coordi-nation mechanisms across WB6 for comments and suggestionswhichweredulyreflectedinthefinalversion. The gaps identified through the processare translated into practical lists of needs across the four areas, categorised as technical assistance/capacity building, analytical support, prospective multi-annual regional project interventions and capital investment support.
The Guidelines on Governance, Coordination and Reporting for the MAP REA and the methodology on MAP REA monitoring and reporting have been endorsed by the MAP NCs. In accordance with the methodology on MAP REA monitoring and reporting, reports on implementation will be prepared twice a year: Annual Report - prepared mid-year to inform the WB6 Prime Ministers Summit; and Abridged Re-port - prepared at the end of each calendar year. Regular reports to the MAP NCs, the PM Sherpas2, European Commission and other international or-ganisations are prepared within the monitoring context.
RCC has supported the regional donor coordina-tion in areas of relevance for MAP REA. The Fourth Meeting on Donor Coordination was held in Brus-sels on 13 March 2018 with particular focus on MAP
2 The last reporting for Sherpa was on 11 April 2018 and 20 June 2018.
REA implementation and regional MAP REA-related needs – the later systematised by RCC for the three components (i.e. Investment, Mobility and Digital Integration) and CEFTA Secretariat for Trade. Ad-ditionally, Economy Fishes with state of play and recommendations were compiled and shared with all the participants of the Fourth Meeting on Donor Coordination.
Other horizontal activities have been undertaken to increase visibility and information sharing on MAP REA. Namely, as part of the RCC Website – MAP REA sub-page3, an online calendar for MAP REA ac-tivities4 has been prepared to allow all actors and partners to get information on the events and ac-tivities.LeafletandvideotopromotetheMAPREAand share information with larger audience on the activities and results have also been prepared5.
3http://www.rcc.int/priority_areas/39/map-rea4 http://www.rcc.int/events_calendar/635 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWBjcNJUWuw&feature=youtu.be
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1.3 TRADE6 Overall state of play/progress TheSofiaandLondonsummitshaveputsomeofthepriorities that had to be accomplished by the CEFTA Parties by July 2018. In this respect the majority of CEFTAPartieshaveratifiedtheAdditionalProtocol5 that entered into force on the 18th of April 2018. The CEFTA Joint Committee acknowledged the importance of discussions amongst CEFTA Parties about the best possible instruments to strengthen the enforcement of CEFTA rules through more ef-fective dispute settlement mechanism. The CEFTA Parties agreed to launch negotiations on a trade dispute settlement mechanism, so far referred as the Additional Protocol on CEFTA Dispute Settle-ment7. The draft text has been prepared and is due to internal procedures for the appointments of the negotiating teams. The statistical Portal has been prepared and launched and Parties are populating the data on trade in goods, services, FATS and FDI. Besides the abovementioned achievements, the CEFTA Parties concluded the nego-tiations on the CEFTA Sec-retariat’s functions, budget andstaffing8. This one is ex-pected to be enforced until the London Summit.
Besides the main outputs, several other activities have taken place in the context of the MAP, such as the desig-nation of the single date of entry into force of the CEFTA Decision on Duty Drawback (1st of July 2019), themonitoring actions for the smooth implementation of the Agreement like public procurement and com-petition assessment.
6 The input for the Trade Component of MAP is provided by the CEFTA Secretariat and is introduced in its integral form, including on referencing the region’s economies7IndifferentframeworkssuchasCEFTAAgreementandtheREA Multi-annual Action Plan8 Pending completion of the internal procedure by Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Parties, on the economy level, have started some of the reforms that would lead to the imple-mentation of the MAP priorities such as the estab-lishment of the National Trade Facilitation Commit-tees which were established in all of the Parties with the objective to enhance the public-private dialog.
The implementation of activities detailed in the MAP is within the realm of responsibility of the CEFTA Parties Authorities, with the support of the regional and international organisations active in thespecificpolicyareas.TheTradeComponentofthe MAP is coordinated by the CEFTA Secretariat for the regional perspective and by the CEFTA Contact Points. CEFTA bodies are involved in the work of all other MAP Components.
Related to the Trade Component, the progress made in the implementation of the MAP was the following as of May 2018 (see Figure below):
Figure 1: Trade – State of Preparedness of MAP Im-plementation in WB6 at the Level of Objectives9
9Scoresatthelevelofobjectivesaresimpleaveragesofactivity-level scores. Scoring is performed on a scale that assesses the stage of preparedness in MAP implementation, and includes the following scores: 1 – early stage (no actions taken), 2 – some level of preparation (preliminary steps undertaken), 3 - moderately prepared (implementation started, structures and mandates in place), 4 – good level of preparation (implementation advanced with preliminary results evidenced), and 5 – well advanced (measure fully implemented). Further information on scoring available in the Methodology on monitoring and reporting on the Multi-annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in the Western Balkans (MAP).
REVIEW OF IMPLEMENTATION PER COMPONENT
0
01
2
3
4
5
1.1. Facilitation of trade in goods
1.2. Harmonisation of CEFTA Markets
with the EU
1.3. Creating NTMs and
TDM-free Region
1.4. Facilitation of trade
in services
3.2
4.0
2.8
2.9
Policy 1.1. Facilitation of trade in goodsObjective I.1.1. Strengthening the monitoring and enforcement capacity of CEFTADuring the reporting period the CEFTA Parties have discussed the 3 proposed options for the establish-ment of the Dispute Settlement mechanism. The progress was achieved in dismissing the option No 3 and at the moment the 2 remaining options are under consideration. The negotiations have been launched by the Special Joint Committee con-clusion adopted in Pristina on 27 April 2018 that states: “WE acknowledge the importance of discus-sions amongst CEFTA Parties about the best possi-ble instruments to strengthen the enforcement of CEFTA rules through more effective dispute set-tlement mechanism. The CEFTA Parties agree to launch negotiations on a trade dispute settlement mechanism, so far referred as the Additional Pro-tocol on CEFTA Dispute Settlement10. Negotiations will also take into account further legal analysis and opinions provided by the CEFTA Secretariat. The exploratory talks were held under the auspices of the CEFTA Committee of Contact Points by the Sofia Summit until the official negotiation teamsshall be appointed”. As the activity is completed the score is 5.
Objective I.1.2. Adoption of Additional Protocol 5 and start of its implementation
a) Regarding the adoption of validation rules for mutual recognitions, the concept notes have already been prepared. It is expected that the first draft of ImplementingProvision of Mutual Recognition of AEO will be submitted to the relevant CEFTA bodies in June 2018. For the mutual recognition of border documents, the draft decision is expected to be submitted in the 4th quarter of 2018. The score is 3, which is moderately prepared.
b) During the reporting period the Additional Protocol 5 on Trade Facilitation entered into force for Macedonia, Moldova and Montenegro. Albania and Bosnia and HerzegovinahavealsoratifiedtheAdditionalProtocol 5 during the reporting period. The restofCEFTAPartiesareexpectedtofinaliseall the required parliamentary ratification
10IndifferentframeworkssuchasCEFTAAgreementandtheREA Multi-annual Action Plan
inthefirsthalfof2018.Thescoreis5astheAP 5 entered into force for the three CEFTA Parties on 18 April 2018 and is expected to enter into force for all CEFTA Parties by the end of 2018 as planned.
c) Regarding the start of Implementation of Mutual Recognition Programmes, there will be regional piloting project to test the mutual recognition of AEO programmes according to the AP 5. The score is 2, as the piloting project will provide necessary feedback for the timely start of mutual recognition of AEO.
Objective I.1.3. Concluding Party level IT interconnections for data exchange between Agencies at the national level
a) The levels of the investments were provided to the Parties at the Rome meeting of the SEED Steering Committee in June 2017. In the further discussions it is possible that some amounts would be reduced due to the usage of TRACES. The score is 5, as this activity is completed.
b) Each CEFTA Party needs to confirm theamount which has been allocated from either their l budget or through international assistance. The CEFTA Secretariat cannot report this activity. Based on the reports of the Parties the score is 3 as most of the Parties have secured some of the funding for the hardware.
Objective I.1.4. Initiating exploratory talks on joint risk management, border controls and one-stop shop border controls
a) Once the AP 5 enters into force for all CEFTA Parties, the relevant action will start. The CEFTA Secretariat will run a questionnaire to analyse the level of preparedness of SPS Authorities for risk management. The tender for the questionnaire is awarded and the company should start with the activities during the next period. The score is 2.
b) Once the AP 5 enters into force for all CEFTA Parties, the relevant action will start. There are relevant CEFTA Structures which have been created with an appropriate mandate, the score is 2.
Objective I.1.5. Initiating exploratory talks on mutual cooperation between market surveillance control authorities of CEFTA Parties
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a) The CEFTA Secretariat is in the initial phases of the discussions related to the market surveillance authorities and is working closely with the Quality Infrastructure Project which includes Market Surveillance Authorities. The score is 2.
b) The CEFTA Parties have selected two sectors that will be assessed by GIZ. Depending on the results of the GIZ Project one sector will be selected by the CEFTA Parties. The score is 3.
c) Development of the timeframe to conclude MRA is relied on the results of actions under b). The Score is 1.
d) Assessing potential to extend MRA in other supply chains with regional interest will be dependent on the previous actions b) and c). The score is 1.
Policy 1.2. Harmonisation of CEFTA Markets with the EUObjective I.2.1. Initiating the application of SAP+ and Full Cumulation
a) The derogation of PEM Convention is obtained. There are still a number of CEFTA Parties to conclude the relevant FTAs with EFTA or Turkey in order to complete SAP + cumulation. The score is 4.
b) The CEFTA Joint Committee of April 2018 recommended the application of full cumulation to start on 1 July 2019. Thescore is 4.
Objective I.2.2. Potential approximation of CEFTA MFN to EU CETCEFTA and World Bank will prepare a study on impact assessment of the potential approximation of CEFTA MFN rates to EU CET. The results will be presented at the annual ministerial meeting scheduled for November 2018. The score is 4 and further actions will arise from the results of the Study.
Policy 1.3. Creating NTMs and TDM-free RegionObjective I.3.1. Administrative Cooperation between Competition and State Aid Monitoring Authorities
a) The CEFTA has enough legal grounds and a specificMinisterialDecisionregulatingstateaid schemes reporting. There is no concrete progress in other actions. The score is 1.
b) The CEFTA has enough legal grounds and a specificMinisterialDecisionregulatingstateaid schemes reporting. There is no concrete progress in other actions. The score is 1.
c) The EBRD commenced implementation of the regional project on competition. The competition day was organised in Belgrade in April. CEFTA will cooperate with the EBRD regarding establishment of the links between the Competition Authorities and regular cooperation to bring efficiency inthe state aid reporting processes. The score is 2.
Objective I.3.2. Eliminating any remaining discriminatory practices in public procurement markets
a) The CEFTA Secretariat has outsourced a company that will provide the assessment. At the moment the Inception Report is upon revision by the Parties. The full report was delivered in April 2018. The results were provided to the Parties for consideration withaviewtohavethefinalreportapprovedsoon. The results will be presented to the Joint Committee during the next meeting of the JC. The score is 4.
Objective I.3.3. Systemic Monitoring of NTMs in trade in goods and servicesThe CEFTA Market Access Barriers Database (MABD) is up and running, and regularly updated. Modali-ties to improve the identification of NTBs at thelocallevelaretobeexploredforfurtherefficientinputs in the MABD. Furthermore, the CEFTA Parties have been systemically employing bilateral con-sultations to eliminate the NTBs amicably. Regard-ing the elimination of structural NTBs CEFTA needs well-functioning dispute settlement. The score is 3.
Policy 1.4 Facilitation of free trade in servicesObjective I.4.1. Implementation of CEFTA Additional Protocol 6 on Trade in Services
a) The Additional Protocol 6 is pending adoption by the CEFTA Joint Committee, as the issue of denomination of CEFTA Parties
isstillnotresolved.Thefirststepstowardssecuring the future AP6 implementation have been already taken by developing concepts of establishment of contact points forservicestosecurethefulfilmentofthecommitmentstatedinArticle9para3.Thescore is 1.
b) The constraints on the adoption of AP6 are not allowing this activity to start. The Score is 1.
c) The tenders have been prepared for this activity and companies selected. The start of the implementation is expected during the month of June 2018. The score is 2.
d) The activities under this action are planned with GIZ. The first workshop was held inMarch 2018 to assess the project proposal. The proposal was submitted by GIZ to the BMZ and the positive outcome is expected. The score is 2.
e) Not started yet
f) Not started yet
g) Not started yet
h) The CEFTA Secretariat has developed the Reporting System on Trade in Services, FATS and FDI Services and an adequate dissemination platform. The CEFTA Statistical Portal is set up and features widespread data covering all aspects of trade in services statistics, FATS and FDI statisticsaswellas indicatorsdefinedandapproved by the Working Group on Trade in Statistics and Subcommittee on Trade in Services. The portal is accessible via CEFTA Secretariat website, and data can be read and downloaded in professional and user-friendly manner. The score is 4 due to the population of the data by the Parties.
Objective I.4.2. Conclusion of agreements on intra-regional regulatory cooperationIn its Ministerial Conclusions of 27 April 2018, the Parties have considered the importance of trade without regulatory barriers and took steps to-wards negotiating suitable forms of arrangements amongst regulators in charge of services. The sec-tors mutually selected by the CEFTA Parties where the potential conclusion of intra-regional coopera-tion amongst regulatory authorities can be reached included: communication, road transport, tourism and travel, construction and related engineering,
as well as computer related services sectors. The best practice instruments such as harmonisation, sector-specific legallybindingagreementandMu-tual Recognition Agreements proved to be most efficient in increasing efficiency of intraregionaltrade.
Objective I.4.3. Development of disciplines on domestic regulationThe importance of the domestic regulatory envi-ronment as a context for trade has been widely recognised in Article 10 of the Additional Protocol 6 and in the Ministerial Conclusions. The issues should be dealt within the Subcommittee on Trade in Services.
Objective I.4.4. Launching dialogue on regulatory issues in electronic commerceIn accordance with Article 28 of CEFTA and Article 18 of the Additional Protocol 6, regional dialogue on regulatory issues in e-commerce is set to be launched, coupled with the activities of the RCC under Digital Integration Agenda. First actions have been dedicated to the analysis of the existing legal framework, barriers in e-cross border trade as well as geo-blocking measures. CEFTA Subcommittee on Services will serve as an umbrella for the activities related to the Electronic Commerce with recom-mendations and next steps for the trade compo-nent.
1.4 INVESTMENTOverall state of play/progress The objective of the MAP REA investment agenda is to prioritise and implement reforms in investment-related policies in the WB6 to harmonise them with the EU standards and international best practices, and to promote the region as a sound investment destination to the global business community. This effort is complementedwith initiatives toembedsmart growth approaches into WB6 economic de-velopment strategies through introduction of smart specialisation. Finally, a more diversified privatesectoraccesstofinanceisalsoaddressedthroughMAP REA with actions aimed at further regional capital markets development to increase business activitythroughfinancialintermediatorsotherthanbanks.
Theeconomiesareatdifferentstagesofdevelop-ment on the three components of the investment agenda.Thesedifferenceshavebeentakenintoac-
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count when preparing the regional deliverables for MAP REA.
Albania is in thefinal stagesofenacting theUni-fied Investment Law, to be followed by relevantbylaws (including the Investor Grievance Mecha-nism). Along with evolving the investment policy legal framework, there is also a strong need to strengthen the capacities of institutions in charge of implementing the investment agenda. Mixed progress is seen in smart growth with a need to fo-cuseffortsonadoptionoftheStrategyonResearchand Development, further strengthen the capacity of the National Agency for Science, and formalise the governance structure for the smart specialisa-tion strategy.Albania S3 team has identified rel-evant experts for data collection, and completed the first phase of the S3 roadmap, with plannedsupport from JRC on the development of the smart specialisation strategy. Furthermore, the mapping of economic, innovative and scientific potentialis anticipated to be completed by the end of the third semester of 2018. External expertise will be needed in the process and Albania is seeking fund-ing support from donors and JRC on this.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, investment policy and legal framework is in place, but in need of im-provement, with a particular focus on International Investment Agreements and Bilateral Investment Treaties Reforms, along with the need for capacity building in investment promotion. On other parts of the investment component, although the market authorities, regulators and operators are in place and functional on entity levels, Bosnia and Herze-govina would be well advised to further consolidate itsfinancialmarketthroughclosercoordinationofstock exchanges, securities commissions and line ministries.
Kosovo’s* investment policy and legal framework, althoughlargelyinplace,wouldbenefitfromfur-ther upgrading, with a particular focus on Inter-national Investment Agreements. In terms of the financial market development, the establishmentof the stock exchange or other securities trading platform would help expand and diversify access to finance.Goodprogressisseeninsmartgrowth,inparticular with the set of initiatives on innovation policy which need to be fully implemented once adopted through a coordinated inter-ministerial approach. Support to raise awareness on smart spe-cialisation strategies would be important.
Montenegro’s investment framework is in place, but can be subject to further improvements, par-
ticularly on aspects related to modernising the net-work of bilateral investment treaties and updating their investor-state dispute settlement provisions. Given that Montenegro does not have the invest-ment promotion strategy, developing strategic plans for investments would be needed. Investment promotion in Montenegro needs further support by strengthening the currently understaffed invest-ment promotion agency.
UNCTAD has launched the e-procedures portal in Montenegro to map out all administrative proce-dures from business establishment to registering an employee, getting an electricity connection, etc. Asforthefinancialmarkets,Montenegrohasadopt-ed the new Law on Capital Markets introducing fur-ther compliance with EU acquis in this area and setting the basis for further alignment with imple-menting directives and regulatory technical stand-ards. Good progress is noted in smart growth, with a set of initiatives on innovation policy that are to be adopted in a coordinated inter-ministerial ap-proach.ThenewStrategyofScientificResearchAc-tivity (2017–2021) with the Action Plan was adopted by the Montenegrin Government in December 2017 and the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) is under preparation. Within the S3 development, Monte-negro started with the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP) in May 2018 and is currently carrying out a second round of consultations with private, public, academic and civil sectors regarding S3 pri-ority sectors. The Ministry of Science implemented the Pilot Call for Innovative Projects in November 2017 and plans to publish the call for larger innova-tive grants 2018-2020 by the end of June 2018. Fur-thermore, Montenegro co-signed, along with other (wider SEE) economies a Declaration of Intent for Establishment of the Scientific Institute in SouthEast Europe, which is anticipated to stimulate the education of young scientists and engineers based on knowledge and technology transfer from Euro-pean laboratories like CERN and others, and would enable international competitive research in South East Europe.
In case of Serbia, although no input has been re-ceived as of yet, it can be noted that the legis-lation pertinent to investments is in place, along with the new Investment Promotion Strategy, with further reform to be undertaken within the RIRA context. Serbia has made considerable progress in capital markets development by having in place an advanced trading platform/stock exchange as well as functional and effective regulators,with someadditional needs for policy and technical level im-provements. In case of smart specialisation, Serbia
is placed amongst the advanced economies in the region, having S3 platform in place.
The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has adopted the new programme for investment sup-port as well as the new Law for Financial Support to Investments (Law on Investments) accompanied with the respective by-laws for its implementation. Inthefinancialmarketsarea,TheFormerYugoslavRepublic of Macedonia has the institutions (regula-tors and operators) in place, with planned upgrades through policy interventions and technical support underpinned by regional-level dialogue.
Across the region, a strong need is evident for bet-ter coordination at the level of individual econo-mies – namely amongst the MAP REA National Co-
ordinators, Component Contact Points and line ministries and relevant institutions. To ensure quality of deliberations and sustainability of the regional dialogue, regional platforms for MAP REA implementation must include adequate represen-tation with clear decision-making mandates from the relevant institutions. In addition to the regional level (via RCC-supported platforms and communi-cations channels), the work of the regional plat-forms (i.e. working groups on investments, capital markets, and others) must be channelled back into the domestic context and coordinated amongst representatives in the regional platforms with MAP REA National Coordinators. This is necessary so as to align the vertical and horizontal coordination processes of MAP REA implementation.
Figure 2: Investment - State of Preparedness of MAP REA Implementation in WB6 at the Level of Objectives
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II.1.3. Implement
and monitor investment
reforms in WB6
II.1.2. Formalize
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II.1.5. Diversification
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On the overall state of play, the region stands on a moderate level of preparation in the investment component of the MAP REA. WB6 has advanced in preparing the regional investment reform agenda, building/upgrading the smart specialisation plat-form, as well as establishing the regional platform
on capital markets and agreeing on the need for a regional strategic approach to this part of the agenda (see Figure 2). The regional deliverables have been agreed upon at the existing/newly es-tablished platforms as follows:
Table 2: State of play of the RCC facilitated regional deliverables
Deliverables Output indicatorConsensus on regional investment reform agenda (RIRA) with pertinent set of policies
RIRA endorsed through consultations at individual economy level, and structural regional dialogue through SEEIC-CEFTA Joint Working Group on Investments, SEEIC plenary and ultimately SEEIC ministerial meeting
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Deliverables Output indicatorReaffirmedmandateofSEEIC-CEFTAJointWorkingGroup on Investments
Terms of Reference of SEEIC-CEFTA Joint Working Group on Investments amended with a focus on MAP REA and adopted, with mandated participants in charge of investment policy, investment promotion, investment agreements and CEFTA contact points
Established regional capital markets platform Working Group on Capital Markets established and official, comprised of representatives fromMinistries of Finance, Central Banks, Securities Commissions and Stock Exchanges, with adopted Terms of Reference with a focus on MAP REA
Regional project initiative for financial marketscoordination and diversification of access tofinancethroughcapitalmarkets
Multi-annual regional programme proposal for capital markets developed under the guidance of the Working Group on Capital Markets
Initiation of introduction of Smart Specialisation to strategic industrial development documents
S3 teams established and S3 roadmaps drafted in 5 economies
State of implementation at objective levelII.1. Investment policyThe WB6 as a region is on a good track in imple-mentation of the investment component of the MAP REA. During the reporting period, all economies delivered necessary inputs and took part in prep-aration of RIRA, both through individual economy consultations and the regional dialogue (through sessions of SEEIC-CEFTA Working Group on Invest-ments and SEEIC plenary and ministerial fora). Fur-thermore, the region has focused on the agenda for the diversification of finance through the capitalmarkets, by establishing a new regional platform – Working Group on Capital Markets – and develop-ing a multi-annual regional programme proposal for capital markets development.
RIRA has been developed under the guidance of the SEEIC-CEFTA Joint Working Group on Invest-ments and technical support of the World Bank Group through an EU-funded regional programme on investment policy and promotion. It sets out the pathway for creating a dynamic investment space in the WB6, according to the MAP REA, within the context of the SEE 2020 Strategy and CEFTA legal framework, and pursuant to the individual econo-my SAAs. It puts the priorities of the private sector at the centre stage while recognising the individual development priorities of the WB6 economies.
In line with these twin objectives, the agenda fo-cuses on core areas of investment policy as well as related policies that matter most to the private sector and the governments of the region. RIRA is
intended to contribute and add value to individual investmentreformeffortsundertakenbytheecon-omies of the region. The agenda acknowledges the differing reformbaselinesaswellas implementa-tion capacities across the economies of the region, as well as the different stages of EU integrationprocess. RIRA ensures transparent and fair compe-tition amongst the economies by mitigating a “race to the bottom” whilst not hindering the interests of the WB6 economies. The ultimate goal of the agen-da is to improve the attractiveness of the region as a whole for foreign and intra-regional business, and hence facilitate higher inflowof investments andgenerate higher entrepreneurial activity, trade, and ultimately jobs. Hence, the WB6 are commit-ted to design and implement a regional investment reform agenda which will lead to greater harmoni-sation of regional investment policies aligned with EU and international standards and best practices, andwill provide significant newopportunities forthe private sector.
The WB6 succeeded to implement the MAP REA measures prescribed for the 1st half of 2018 under the investment component, as follows11:
Objective II.1.1. Develop and establish a regional investment reform agendaThe region has implemented the MAP REA measures forthisspecificdimensionwithinthetimeframeforthefirsthalfof2018.Detailedmappingofforeign
11 MAP REA Investment component measures not mentioned under this heading are intended for the later stage, after the WB6 Summit in London and are taken into consideration under the Next Steps heading
investments in the WB6 region has been performed, with the input and access to FDI-relevant data pro-vided by the WB6 economies. Based on this data, a comprehensive inventory/database of key invest-ment policy barriers and inhibitors has been iden-tified and compiled, and best practices outlined.This work has been performed through in-depth consultations with the private sector and review of existing analysis, with economies providing neces-sary data on existing policies, laws, and regulations pertaining to investment, relevant system of incen-tives as well as legal and other comprehensive pro-tection of the acquired rights of investors12. With this, and other data taken into account, a regional investment reform agenda proposal has been for-mulated and this agenda has been consulted with the participating WB6 economies on the individual economy level.
Given that the RIRA is comprised of heterogeneous mixofpoliciespertinenttoinvestments,differentinstitutions in charge of those policy areas took part in the consultations and provided their inputs, under the coordination of the MAP REA Investment Contact Points. Individual-economy consultations were used to help align the proposed measures with different investment context in each of theWB6 economies, as well with the diverse priorities contained in individual economy strategic objec-tivesandreformefforts(i.e.EconomicReformPro-grammes). Following the consultations, RIRA was further discussed through the SEEIC-CEFTA Joint Working Group on Investments, both in direct work-ing group sessions as well as continuous online con-sultations throughout the reporting period. As the Working Group on Investment operates under the auspices of the SEE Investment Committee (SEE-IC), thefinalproposaloftheRIRAwasauthorisedat the SEEIC Plenary meeting on 27 April 2018 and ultimately endorsed by the Ministers of Economies at the SEEIC Ministerial meeting on 11 May 2018. Basedonthefinalministerialdecision,RIRAwillbeforwarded to the region’s Prime Ministers for adop-tion at the upcoming WB6 Summit.
RIRA entails measures on the following policy areas:
I. Investor Entry and Establishment
1. Enhancing entry and establishment opportunities for investors
2. Improving business establishment policies and procedures
12 More than 750 multinational corporations have been surveyedinordertofindoutwhatmotivatesinvestors’decision-making, with access to new markets (including regional) or new customer being the top priority rather than just the domestic market of one host economy.
II. Investment Protection and Retention
3. Aligning the legal frameworks for investment, including IIAs, with in-ternational good practice and EU standards
4. Strengthening investment retention mechanisms in the region
III. Investment Attraction and Promotion
5. Developing a regional investment promotion initiative
6. Streamlining incentives, and im-proving their transparency and gov-ernance
Objective II.1.2. Formalise the regional investment reform agenda through appropriate instrumentsActions under this objective are planned for the secondhalfof2018andnospecificactivitiescanbe reported to date.
Objective II.1.3 Implement and monitor investment reforms in WB6 as per established regional investment reform agendaThe regional dialogue on RIRA has been strength-ened and guided under the existing RCC’s SEEIC-CEFTA Joint Working Group on Investments. The regional platform has developed and endorsed an updatedTermsofReference,withaspecificfocusgiven to the implementation of MAP REA Invest-ment component. The updated ToR requires con-tinuous participation in the Working Group by the economies’ representatives in charge of investment policy, investment promotion, investment agree-ments and CEFTA contact points. This work is sup-ported by the MAP REA Investment Contact Points, appointed by the MAP REA National Coordinators. Sofar,severaleconomieshaveclearlydefinedandmandated representation of the relevant public in-stitutions with appropriate decision-making power in implementation of the agreed regional invest-ment reform agenda, while others are anticipated to do so in the upcoming period.
Objective II.1.4. Promote WB6 region as a unique investment destination RIRA also includes a joint investment promotion ini-tiative for WB6 in priority sectors. This initiative, also stipulated by the SEE 2020 Strategy, includes identifying and selecting additional priority sec-torsunderthesmartspecialisationeffortthatwill
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have the priority focus in the investment promotion activities in the upcoming period. The operational platform for investment promotion already exists under the RCC’s SEEIC-CEFTA Joint Working Group on Investments and its participants mandated by the investment promotion authorities will take the lead in implementing this part of MAP REA. The work on the regional investment promotion takes into account the development of the online region-al platform for promotion of the WB6 undertaken by the Chamber Investment Forum – CIF.
Objective II.1.5. Diversification of financial systems to boost investment All measures planned to be implemented under this objective during the reporting period have been executed. The RCC supported establishment of a Working Group on Capital Market set up in Decem-ber 2017, comprising policymakers (Ministries of Finance and Central Banks), capital market regula-tors (Securities Commissions) and operators (Stock Exchanges) with the objective of spearheading cap-ital market development matters and enhancing co-ordination on regulatory and supervisory regimes in the region and beyond. Terms of Reference for the Working Group have been adopted, with a focus on implementation of capital markets measures under MAP REA, intended to expand and diversify access tofinancebeyondthebankingsectorandcontrib-ute to the creation of a more dynamic investment space in the region. Capital markets development needsidentifiedinthefirstMAPStocktakingReportwerealsoconfirmedbythegroup,whichalsoputforward other measures and activities, beyond the stipulations of MAP REA, including:
� Determining detailed gaps, barriers, and needs of development of capital markets, and articulating them into concrete reform proposals: regional strategy for development of capital market
� Addressing the barriers and challenges to capital market development through targeted policy interventions by integrating them into individual-economy strategic documents and implementing the proposed reforms on the individual-economy levels
� Establishingnewplatformsforaccesstofinances(i.e. crowdfunding, venture capital, etc.)
� Increasing capacity of existing capital market structures and initiating establishment of capital market structures where non-existing
� Upgrading joint regional trading platforms
These proposals have been consolidated into a con-cept note for multi-annual regional programme for capital market development that is currently being proposedforconsiderationforfinancingandfutureimplementation.
Objective II.1.6. Smart GrowthResearch and innovation policy frameworks and ini-tiatives have been very dynamic in all economies of the region over the past year. Majority of econo-mies have started to engage in developing policies, instruments and institutions to directly support in-novation in the private sector, enhance cooperation between the academia and industry, and promote technology transfer and commercialisation of re-search.
Development of smart specialisation strategies has been placed on the agenda as one of the priorities for 2018 by all economies. Montenegro and Serbia have progressed in the development of the smart specialisation strategies, while the other four economies have initiated the process of the devel-opment of smart specialisation strategies by ap-pointing the coordinating institution and the team to work on the preparation of the smart specialisa-tion in early 2018. RCC and the Directorate-General Joint Research Centre (DG JRC) of the European Commission co-organised a joint Workshop on the Governance of Smart Specialisation and Training on the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP) in the Western Balkans, which was held at the Ljubljana Technology Park in April 2018.
During the course of the workshop, Albania, Bos-nia and Herzegovina, Kosovo* and The Former Yu-goslav Republic of Macedonia have completed the firstdraftsoftheRoadmapsfortheDevelopmentofthe Smart Specialisation Strategies, while Montene-gro and Serbia have started to prepare operational plans for the implementation of the EDP process. AlbaniahasfinalisedthefirstphaseoftheS3road-map having obtained a letter of intention from the JRC regarding the collaboration on the develop-ment of smart specialisation strategy. Also, the in-stitutional capacity building phase of the roadmap was concluded, and the desk research of existing policiesandstrategiesrelatedtoS3hasbeenfinal-ised. The decision to have a S3 - while also piloting the Region 2 - was taken in close collaboration and consultation with the RDA2. The Albanian S3 team is working closely with JRC following the steps foreseen in the jointly agreed roadmap. Montene-gro started with Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP) in May 2018 and is now holding the second round of consultations with private, public, aca-
demic and civil society sectors regarding S3 priority sectors.
The Western Balkan region has significantly im-proved innovation performance in the last ten years. However, in catching up with other European regions, the focusof innovationefforts shouldbeenhanced. Although some Western Balkan econo-mies have seen increases in patent activity, patent intensity in the region is still low, while, on the oth-erhand,scientificpublicationproductiondisplaysa stable growth trend. Exports are still far more focused on medium- and low-technology products. Innovative effortsmostly accommodate tradition-allystrongsectors,whichdonotnecessarilyreflectthe ideal competitiveness paths for economies in the region13.
According to the 2018 Balkan Barometer Business Opinion Survey, almost every fourth company in SEE has reported introducing new products and/or services and every third company has improved production and/or service delivery process in the past three years. In terms of sectors, companies fromeducational-scientificsectortendtoinnovatemore, while those in transport, trade and tour-ism seem to innovate the least of all compared to othersectors.Only9%oftheintroducedinnovationcomes from cooperation with the universities in the region.
A multi-country IPA project aimed at supporting technology transfer and innovation in the Western Balkans – EU4Tech – managed by DG NEAR and DG Joint Researcher Centre was launched at the begin-ning of 2016. Fifteen organisations in the ecosys-tem for TT capacity building in the WB6 have been identifiedwithintheprojectandtargetedcapacitybuilding and trainings are to commence in 2018.
Furthermore, the European Investment Bank (EIB) is conducting a feasibility study for a regional Centre of Excellence which should propose institution(s)/hub(s) with highest potential for Centre of Excel-lence based on research agenda, capacity to inte-graterelatedfields,enableindustrialconnectivity,and ensure visibility and sustainability. Due to de-lays, the study has not yet been made available, but it is expected to be published later in 2018.
Investments to support innovation, as well as com-mercialisation of public research are of crucial im-portance. Serbia has set up a functional innovation fund, as did The Former Yugoslav Republic of Mace-
13 Supporting Innovation Agenda for the Western Balkans: Tools and Methodologies, EU (2018). Available at http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/bitstream/JRC111430/2018-04-24_western-balkans-report_online.pdf
donia.AlbaniaalsoofferspublicgrantstoSMEsthatfocus on innovation and technology by supporting audit of innovation and technology needs, partici-pation in innovation and technology national and international fairs, procurement of technology-intensive/innovative equipment/machinery, etc. Other economies have started introducing differ-ent innovation voucher schemes on a smaller scale. Under the Western Balkans Enterprise Development and Innovation Facility (WB EDIF), the World Bank is implementing technical assistance to support de-velopment of an enabling venture capital ecosys-tem and assist with investment readiness of SMEs. Investment readiness pilots are being implemented throughout the region.
The EU4Tech project, mentioned above, has re-viewedexistingavailableTTfinancial instrumentsinregion.Basedontheidentifiedgaps,JRC’sthe-maticexpertiseandEIB’sfinancial know-howwillbe used in a synergetic way to launch a small-scale WB6 pilot initiative funded through the multi-coun-try IPA, which will represent the next, and firstpractical,stageintheeffortstocoverthesocalled“valley of death” between research and industry.
Obstacles and challenges The implementation of the investment component of the MAP REA encounters some difficulties andrisks that need to be addressed both at individual-economy and regional level. The main challenges relate to capacity of public administration to com-ply with this demanding agenda, as well as coor-dination amongst the relevant institutions at the level of each individual economy. Although some technical assistance to support implementation of one part of the measures put forward in MAP REA Investment component has been available, further assistance is needed, particularly on the legal side of RIRA, more comprehensive investment promo-tion, and implementation of the measures devel-oped under the capital markets segment.
The challenges in implementing investment compo-nent measures entail:
� The level of harmonisation of the domestic legislation with the respective EU acquis is uneven across WB6 as economies are at differentstagesofEUintegrationprocesswithown plans for legislative harmonisation process. This may in certain areas collide with the need to have regional positions or deploying regional actions. Due consideration is to be given to this, alongwiththeattentiontothedifferentlevels
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of development and reform priorities in each of the participating economies.
� Both the available expertise and human capacity is a challenge across the region. The administrations are usually understaffed(particularly investment promotion agencies, but situation is not much different in theministries either) or lack technical and expert capacity and need support in designing and implementing the activities dedicated to regional cooperation, as this usually represents work on top and beyond the usual scope. Thus, technical assistance is needed at several levels to support the administrations in implementing MAP REA measures.
� Administrative and bureaucratic obstacles to the implementation of the measures may hinder the process of implementation of agreed MAP REA measures at individual economy levels and dilute the quality of reforms. The effective implementation of reforms willentail a complexed chain of decision-making at the individual economy levels. For this reason, dedicated and effective coordinationand communication amongst the relevant stakeholders in each of the economies will be needed amongst to successfully implement the measures.
� There is a clear need to integrate WB6 closer into the EU programmes and initiatives, as there are several actions intended to facilitate the participation of WB6 in EU programmes, initiatives and institutions. This also requires a proactive and positive response by EU institutions and other potential partners involved, and a need for DG NEAR to coordinate this process.
Recommendations and next stepsThis section provides a blueprint for next steps to be undertaken in the coming period so as to reach the set objectives under the MAP REA Investment component. The recommendations represent a nat-ural sequence of implementation of the Investment component, taking into account that the measures foreseen for the reporting period have been ful-filled.
II.1.1. Develop and establish a regional investment reform agenda
� Formulate individual-economy action plans reflecting the regional investment reformagenda and streamlining the individual-economy reformefforts
� Adopt individual economy action plans, reflecting the regional investment reformagenda and streamlining the individual economy reformefforts
II.1.2. Formalise the regional investment reform agenda through appropriate instruments
� Conduct analysis and propose options for appropriate instrument(s) acceptable to WB6 economies based on the content of the agreed regional investment reform agenda
� Decide on the feasibility, format, and scope of appropriate instrument(s) for implementation of the regional investment reform agenda
� Initiate and conclude negotiations on regionally suitable instrument(s), depending on the decision reached.
II.1.3. Implement and monitor investment reforms in WB6 as per established regional investment reform agenda
� Establish individual-economy focus groups in charge of implementation of agreed investment reforms on individual economy level
� Review the progress of implementation of the regional investment reform agenda and conduct impact assessment through a regular regional dialogue under the RCC-CEFTA Joint Working Group on Investment Policy and Promotion meetings and reports
� Report on the implementation and impact of the regional investment reform agenda through the RCC-CEFTA Joint Working Group on Investment Policy and Promotion and SEE Investment Committee Ministerial Platform and the WB6 summit
II.1.4. Promote WB6 region as a unique investment destination
� Implement a small set of focused investment outreach activities in core sectors targeted by the SEE 2020 Strategy
� Dedicate part of the individual activities of investment promotion agencies to promoting the region as a sound investment destination
1.5 MOBILITYOverall state of play/progressRetention and subsequent leveraging of human intellectual capital is of fundamental importance for developing knowledge-based economies in the Western Balkans. In an increasingly global econo-my, the extent to which international high-skilled mobility channels are formed within the region and between the region and the EU is a question of great importance. Better integration of high-skilled professionals and academics into professional and research networks, the European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area, will yield significant benefits for the migratory region ofWestern Balkans.
The Western Balkan Enlargement Strategy empha-sised the need to ensure full integration of the WB6 into the European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area to support integration of the students, researchers and academics into the ex-isting European networks. Furthermore, the SofiaDeclaration of the EU – Western Balkans Summit callsforincreasedeffortsonrecognitionofquali-fications.
AlloftheWB6economieshavesteppedupeffortsto prioritise and remove obstacles to mobility of researchers, resulting in overall good progress in this area. The WB6 have prioritised mobility of re-searchers in their respective strategic frameworks. In response to the identified obstacles to mobil-ity of researchers, which include financial barri-ers, majority of the economies have created grant schemes to support mobility of researchers at the level of individual economies. All of the WB6 par-ticipate in Horizon2020 with varied success rates, as well as the Marie Curie Sklodowska Actions where success rates of the WB6 researchers are low. For thefirsttimesomeofthe2018EUProgressReportshaveflaggedtheparticipationratesoftheWB6inthe MCSA. In the past year majority of WB6 have conducted specific capacity building measures tosupport active participation and increased success rates in available EU programmes. In the light of the preparations of the next generation of the EU programmes, inparticulartheFP9,theWB6havean opportunity to formulate joint positions and propose concrete measures to tackle the challeng-es currently faced.
With regards to actions aimed at supporting re-search infrastructure and the development of cen-tres of excellence in the region, progress has been
slower and variation between economies more prominent. All the WB6 economies apart from Ko-sovo* have representatives in the European Strat-egy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). Montenegro completed mapping of research infra-structureandfinalisedtheResearchInfrastructureRoadmap in line with ESFRI, while Serbia is in the finalstageofcompletingthemappingexerciseandthe Research Infrastructure Roadmap. Additional resources and technical expertise is needed to sup-port the mapping of RI and the development of RI Roadmaps in other four economies.
Despite initial delays, technical preparations for opening of the negotiations on the Mutual Recog-nitionAgreementofProfessionalQualificationsforDoctors of Medicine, Dentists, Architects and Civil Engineers have been completed marking good pro-gress on removing obstacles to recognition of pro-fessional qualifications. The joint Working Groupon Recognition of Professional Qualifications hasagreed on the 7th of May 2018 to recommend the opening of the negotiations on the Mutual Recog-nitionAgreementofProfessionalQualificationsforDoctors of Medicine, Dentists, Architects and Civil Engineers in a multilateral framework. Based on the recommendation of the Joint Working Group on Recognition of Professional Qualifications thegovernments of the WB6 are expected to provide the mandates and to appoint the Lead Negotiator, Deputy Lead Negotiator and the negotiation teams. Provided that all governments complete their pro-cedures and inform the RCC Secretary General thereof,thefirstmeetingofthenegotiatingteamscould take place during July 2018. In addition, the Joint Working Group on Recognition of Professional Qualifications also agreed to recommend to thegovernments to appoint a coordinator for the Da-tabase on ProfessionalQualifications inWB6witha mandate to coordinate the data collection and submit the data to the Database on Professional Qualificationsbythe30thofJune2018.
One of the key conclusions of the JWG on MRPQ was to ensure the alignment of the recognition models proposed in the MRA to the EU recognition model as established in the Directive 2005/36/EC on Pro-fessional Qualifications. Therefore, the regionalnegotiationsandeffortstotransposetheDirective2005/36/EConProfessionalQualificationsaremu-tually reinforcing. Significant differences in pro-gress in the transposition of the Directive are no-ticeable amongst the WB6. To ensure this potential is fully captured, additional resources to support institutional capacity building and ensure expert supportonthespecificitiesoftheDirectivethrough
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active support of the relevant line DGs (DG GROW) throughout the negotiations are indispensable.
The planned actions on removing obstacles to rec-ognition of academic qualifications are ahead ofscheduled timeline; therefore, advanced progress in the region can be noted. The regional and do-mestic efforts to remove the obstacles to recog-nition of academic qualifications are particularlytimely from an EU perspective as well. The Euro-pean Higher Education Area Ministerial Conference which took place in May 2018 has reinforced the importance of recognition of academic qualifica-tions. Furthermore, the EU is preparing a Commu-nicationofRecognitionofAcademicQualificationsto be endorsed by the EU Council during the Aus-trian Presidency of the EU.
The Working Group on Recognition of Academic Qualifications has agreed during December 2017to launch a joint exercise to identify similarities/differences in recognition of foreign degrees andto suggest further joint action to decrease the dif-ferences based on which Joint Guides on Recogni-tion ofAcademic Qualifi-cations will be prepared. An initial set of principles for recognition of aca-demic qualifications hasbeen discussed and is to be finalised at the nextmeeting of the Working Group on Recognition of Academic Qualifications.In addition, to facilitate information exchange and increase transpar-ency and cooperation in recognition of academic qualifications, a regional dialogue and regularmeetings of the ENIC/NARIC centres and the Qual-ity Assurance Agencies in the WB6 have been estab-
lished. Finally, the Working Group on Recognition ofAcademicQualificationshasagreedonaninitialconcept of the joint online system to share infor-mation, including on higher education institutions, qualificationsanddecisionstaken.Thisinformationwould thus be available to all ENIC/NARIC centres and ministries responsible for higher education in theWB6whichputstheprocesssignificantlyaheadof the proposed schedule.
The deepened regional cooperation on recognition of academic qualifications was reinforced by ad-ditional domestic efforts to shorten, simplify andcreate “student-friendly” procedures for recogni-tion of academic qualifications. The new legisla-tive frameworks adopted across WB6 in the last year open multiple opportunities for MAP actions to contributesignificantlytothemodernisationofthehigher education systems in the region.
Figure 3: Mobility - State of Preparedness of MAP REA Implementation in WB6 at the Level of Objec-tives
The regional deliverables have been agreed upon at the existing/newly established platforms as fol-lows:
0
1
2
3
4
5
Objective: III.1.1.Removal of obstacles
tomobility of researchers
Objective: III.2.1.Removal of obstacles
to recognitionof professionalqualification
Objective: III.3.1.Removal of obstacles
to recognitionof academicqualification
3.0 3.0
4.0
Table 3: State of play of the RCC facilitated regional deliverables
Deliverables Output indicatorSupport integration of the WB6 into the EU initiatives on R&D and Open Science policies in the WB6
WB6 participated in the EU Member States Meeting of the National Contact Points for Open Science as observers
EUReportonOpenSciencewillforthefirsttimeinclude a chapter on Western Balkans
Deliverables Output indicatorCompleted technical preparations for the opening of the negotiations on the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Recognition of Professional Qualifications for Doctors of Medicine, Dentists,Architects and Civil Engineers
Recommendation on opening the negotiations on the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Recognition of Professional Qualifications for Doctors ofMedicine, Dentists, Architects and Civil Engineers agreed by the Joint Working Group on Mutual RecognitionofProfessionalQualifications
Draft legal text of the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Recognition of Professional Qualifications forDoctors of Medicine, Dentists, Architects and Civil Engineers prepared
Structured approach on Recognition of Academic QualificationsinSouthEastEuropewasagreedandendorsed
Initiated work on technical preparation for a model ofautomaticrecognitionofacademicqualificationsin the WB6
Initiated work on the joint information system, i.e. regional on-line system to facilitate recognition of academic qualifications was prepared anddiscussed with the WG on RAQ
Kicked-off the network of ENIC/NARIC and QAagencies in the WB6
Formalised the Working Group on Recognition of Academic Qualification which adopted Terms ofReference and Work Plan for 2018
Comparative study which included policy recommendations on removing obstacles to recognition of academic qualifications after acomprehensiveconsultationprocesswasfinalised
Principles of a model of recognition of academic qualificationspresentedanddiscussed
Joint Exercise on Recognition of Academic Qualifications outlining the objectives,methodology, results and next steps to facilitate recognitionofacademicqualificationswasinitiated
First concept of the joint information system, i.e. regional on-line system to facilitate recognition of academic qualifications was prepared anddiscussed with the WG on RAQ
Network of ENIC/NARIC and QA agencies met for thefirsttimeinMarch2018
State of implementation at objective levelPolicy: III.1. Mobility of Researchers
Objective: III.1.1. Removal of obstacles to mobility of researchersAlloftheWB6economieshavesteppedupeffortsmarking overall good progress on removing obsta-cles to mobility of researchers. All WB6 have pri-oritised mobility of researchers in their respective strategicframeworks.AdditionaleffortsweremadebyAlbaniawheretheNationalAgencyforScientificResearch and Innovation prepared a report for Min-istryofEducationwiththemainfindingson legalbarriers to mobility of researchers, as well as on-line version of the Incoming Researchers Mobility
Guide. In Bosnia and Herzegovina establishment of the Registry of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, training, volunteer service, schemes or educational projects was initi-ated; together with Ministry of Security and Service forForeigners’AffairsofBosniaandHerzegovina.Serbia has identified legal barriers tomobility intheStrategyforScientificandTechnologicalDevel-opment of Serbia for the period from 2016 to 2020 - “Research for innovation” – and prepared an Action Plan be adopted in 2018. In response to the identi-fiedobstaclestomobilityofresearchers,whichin-cludefinancialbarriers,majorityoftheeconomieshave created grant schemes to support mobility of researchers. In Kosovo* the Ministry of Education and Science has allocated EUR 60,000.00 for mo-bility for 2018; in 2017, 84 researchersbenefited
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from this mobility fund. The 2018 Mobility Call has also been announced, and will remain open from February until October 2018 - 23 researchers have been supported during April-May.14 In The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the Ministry of Edu-cation and Sciences provides financial support toyoungscientific-researchstaffwithgrantingschol-arshipsfortheacademicyear2018/2019forsecondand third cycle of studies at the top 10 ranked uni-versitiesinallscientificfieldsofstudyandatoneof thefirst100 rankeduniversities in thefieldoftechnical sciences according to the Academic Rank-ing of World Universities (ARWU).
All WB6 economies participate in Horizon2020 with varied success rates, as well as the Marie Curie Sk-lodowska Actions where success rates of the WB6 researchers seem to be low. According to EU’s Pro-gress Report in Albania the applicants to H2020 pro-grammehadincreasedto249from146in2016,butthesuccessrateremainscomparatively low(7.9%compared to 14.7% overall for Horizon 2020). Fur-thermore,participationinMarieSkłodowska-CurieActions have been increasing steadily over the last years, counting a total of 21 funded talented re-searchers since 2014. Regarding the participation inH2020,BosniaandHerzegovinahassofar29suc-cessful projects with 45 participants from BiH, and has received EUR 4.1 mil, with success rate 14.4 versus 14.7 EU average. Bosnia and Herzegovina participates in all EU mobility schemes, particular-ly in MSC Actions. So far, BiH had 1 application in IF, 11 applications in ITN, 16 in RISE, and 2 researches involved in COFUND. Progress report for Kosovo* states that so far Kosovo* has participated 10 times in H2020 projects (2 new ones in 2016 and 1 new in 2017)andhashadthefirstexperiencedresearcherfundedthroughtheMarieSkłodowska-CurieActionslast year.15 During 2018, Kosovo* approved a regula-tionforthedefinitionandfunctionalisationoftheNCP seeking to increase Horizon 2020 participation. Montenegro’s participation in the framework pro-gramme Horizon 2020 (H2020) is quoted in progress report to be 13 projects; however it is underscored that the success rates have improved and are close to the European average.16 According to EU’s pro-gress report Serbia continues to be active and suc-cessful in the EU research programme Horizon 2020 as well as in EUREKA, COST and the NATO Science
1419participatingintheinternationalconferences,and4othersinscientificresearchers.15 https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180417-kosovo-report.pdf16 https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180417-montenegro-report.pdf
and Peace for Security programmes. It also empha-sises that the number of early-stage or experienced researchersparticipatinginMarieSkłodowska-CurieActions has increased steadily over the last years, counting a total of 126 funded talented researchers since 2014.17 The progress report for The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia cites that annual participation in the Horizon 2020 programme has doubled in 2016 and preliminary figures for 2017show a continuation of this very positive trend. Overall, the Horizon 2020 success rate is low at 9.7%.18
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have been participating successfully in COST actions which support integration of researchers into Eu-ropean networks and raise their capacity. Albania has joined COST only this year (2018) while Ko-sovo* joined COST as a Near Neighbour Country. To support participation of WB6 (and others) in Horizon2020 the EU has opened special sub-pro-grammes - Widening measures, including Twinning, ERA Chairs and Widening Fellowships – in which the WB6 participate.
MatchingeffortshavebeeninstigatedbytheWB6economies which have in the past year conducted specificcapacitybuildingmeasurestosupportac-tive participation and increased success rates in available EU programmes. In Albania the Ministry of Education and Science through the National Agency forScientificResearchandInnovationhasforeseento train a group of 100 researchers on accessibil-ityandbenefitopportunitiesfromtheHorizon2020programme. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Na-tional Contact Points for Horizon 2020 organised 20 info days, workshops and seminars in cooperation with universities, development agencies and cham-bers of commerce. Also, within the same structure, the Guideline for the Horizon 2020 programme was prepared and a grant scheme in the amount of BAM 444,000 was disbursed by the Ministry of Civil Af-fairs both in 2016 and 2017 as a support to research and academic institutions, SMEs and other R&D in-stitutions for preparing and submitting H2020, COST and EUREKA applications. In Montenegro training to improve the development of project proposals was providedwhiletheH2020NationalOffice,nationalfocal points, and the system of delegates to the H2020 Programme Committees were reorganised,
17 https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180417-serbia-report.pdf18 https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180417-the-former-yugoslav-republic-of-macedonia-report.pdf
and awareness raising measures resumed accord-ing to this year’s progress report. In The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia an action plan for enhancing participation in Horizon 2020 and MSC actions respectively has been prepared foreseeing promotional activities and capacity building activi-ties.
In the light of preparations for the next generation oftheprogrammes,theso-calledFP9programme,the experience of the WB6 should be taken into ac-count when designing particular instruments and measures of the programme, particularly as the WB6 experiences are not unique and are shared with many Central, Eastern and Mediterranean countries of the EU. Experiences of the FP7 where particular calls were directed at the WB research-ers and institutions were highlighted as particularly useful for the capacity building of the WB institu-tions and have had significant positive impact onthe increased success rates of the WB institutions in competing with EU member states on a more equal footing. These actions should be considered for replication in FP9 and possibly the remainingcalls under Horizon2020.
Western Balkan economies’ active participation in the Programme Committees of Horizon 2020 is im-portant, given the perspective of EU membership highlighted by the European Commission’s new en-largement strategy. As concluded at the last meet-ing of the Western Balkan Platform on Research and Development and Innovation19, the Western Balkan ministers might wish to consider addressing a joint letter to the European Commission proposing full voting rights in the Programme Committees to con-tribute to the discussions undertaken in the com-mittees.
Furthermore, each government has signed several bilateral agreements with economies of the region and outside the region to promote research coop-eration. However, the implementation of the bilat-eralagreementsisstalledduetolimitedfinancialresources. Therefore, some of the MAP mobility contact points have initiated discussions on a po-tential multilateral agreement which may elevate someoftheexistingfinanciallimitations.
With regards to actions aimed at supporting re-search infrastructure progress has been slower and variation between economies more prominent. All the WB6 economies apart from Kosovo* have representatives in the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). Montenegro
19Seefullconclusionshere:https://wbc-rti.info/object/news/17083
completed mapping of research infrastructure and finalised the Research Infrastructure Roadmap inlinewithESFRI,whileSerbiaisinthefinalstageofcompleting the mapping exercise and the Research Infrastructure Roadmap. Albania and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have announced preparation of the mapping of research infrastruc-ture in the upcoming period. Only Serbia has ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) contact point and is one of the founding members of the Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium (CERIC-ERIC) and participates in Digi-tal Research Infrastructure for Arts and Humanities ERIC (DARIAH-ERIC20) and European Social Survey ERIC (ESS-ERIC21).
The Working Group on Open Science (WGOS) was formed under the auspices of the Regional Coop-eration Council (RCC) with the aim of accelerat-ing policy reforms in favour of Open Science in the Western Balkan economies and in particular to en-sure synergies between planned and new domes-tic e-infrastructures to support Open Access and Open Data policies in the region. Ensuring synergies amongst e-infrastructures at European and global level and designating a National Point of Reference for Open Access is essential for integration of the WB into the European Research Area. To support the process of Opening Science in the Western Balkans the DG R&D invited the WB6 to attend as observ-ers the regular meetings of the network of National PointsofReferenceonScientificInformation(NPR)of EU member states as well as included them into the upcoming cycle of regular EU reporting on Open Science.
The regional initiative, led by Montenegro, to es-tablish a South East European International Insti-tute for Sustainable Technologies (SEEIIST) aims
20 DARIAH is a European Research Infrastructure Consortium(ERIC), a pan-European infrastructure for arts and humanities scholars working with computational methods. It supports digital research as well as the teaching of digital research methods. Currently DARIAH has 17members: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, as well as cooperating Partners with eight non-member countries: Bulgaria, Finland, Hungary, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. https://www.dariah.eu/21 The European Social Survey (ESS) is an academically driven cross-national survey that has been conducted across Europe since its establishment in 2001. Prior to the award of ERIC status, the ESS was funded on a round-by-round basis. The central coordination and design was funded through the European Commission’s Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Framework Programmes, the European Science Foundation (ESF) and national funding councils in the participating countries.
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to build a regional centre of excellence centred around a research nucleus with the newest tech-nologywhichwouldofferafirst-classresearchandhave long-term effects on economic growth. Theinitiative has gained wide regional support whereby the Declaration of Intent to establish SEEIIST was signed on 25 October 2017 at CERN by Ministers of Science and other representatives of the respective economies.ThefirstmeetingoftheSEEIISTSteer-ing Committee took place on 30 January 2018 in Sofia,duringtheBulgarianPresidencyoftheCoun-cil of the EU.
All of the WB6 economies, with an exception of Ko-sovo*, have established the EURAXESS Service Cen-tres and associated EURAXESS Jobs Portals, yet lit-tle information on researcher job vacancies in the region is available through the EURAXESS portal. Majority of the economies are investing additional resources to raise capacities of their respective EU-RAXESSoffices.
Policy: III.2. Mobility of Professionals
Objective: III.2.1. Removal of obstacles to recognition of professional qualificationsDespite initial delays, technical preparations for opening of the negotiations on the Mutual Recog-nitionAgreementofProfessionalQualificationsforDoctors of Medicine, Dentists, Architects and Civil Engineers have been completed marking good pro-gress on removing obstacles to recognition of pro-fessionalqualifications.
The Working Group on Recognition of Professional Qualifications has agreedon the 7th ofMay 2018to recommend the opening of the negotiations on the Mutual Recognition Agreement of Professional QualificationsforDoctorsofMedicine,Dentists,Ar-chitects and Civil Engineers in a multilateral frame-work. Based on the recommendation of the Joint Working Group on Recognition of Professional Qual-ificationsthegovernmentsoftheWB6areexpectedto provide the mandates and to appoint the Lead Negotiator, Deputy Lead Negotiator and the nego-tiation teams8. To facilitate the internal govern-mental procedures the RCC has provided the draft legal text of the Mutual Recognition Agreement of ProfessionalQualificationsforDoctorsofMedicine,Dentists, Architects and Civil Engineers.
Once the governments have completed the inter-nal governmental procedures they are to inform the RCC Secretary General. Once all WB6 have completed the procedures and have informed the RCCSecretaryGeneralthefirstmeetingofthene-gotiating teams will be called by the RCC where
the Rules of Procedures for the negotiations will be discussed. If all the governments complete their procedures and inform the RCC Secretary General thereof by the 30th of June 2018 as agreed, the firstmeetingof thenegotiating teamscould takeplace in July 2018.
In addition, Working Group on Recognition of Pro-fessionalQualificationsalsoagreedtorecommendto the governments to appoint a coordinator for the DatabaseonProfessionalQualificationsinWB6witha mandate to coordinate the data collection and submit the data to the Database on Professional Qualifications. To facilitate the establishment oftheDatabaseonProfessionalQualificationsinWB6the RCC has contracted a service provider to create the Database on Professional Qualifications. Theinitial data for the Health and Construction sectors has already been collected by the RCC. Therefore, once the governments have appointed the coordi-nators for theDatabaseonProfessionalQualifica-tionstheverificationofthedata,uponwhichthelaunching of Database depends, will be possible.
One of the key conclusions of the JWG on MRPQ was to ensure the alignment of the recognition models proposed in the MRA to the EU recognition model as established in the Directive 2005/36/EC on Pro-fessional Qualifications. Therefore, the regionalnegotiations and individual economies ‘efforts totranspose the Directive 2005/36/EC on Professional Qualificationsaremutuallyreinforcingandenablebuilding technical capacities of the administrations to conduct the negotiations and transpose and prepare for the implementation of the Directive 2005/36/EC on Professional Qualifications at thesame time. However, to ensure this potential is ful-ly captured additional resources to support institu-tional capacity building and ensure expert support onthespecificitiesoftheDirective2005/36/EConProfessional Qualifications through active supportof the relevant line DGs (DG GROW) throughout the negotiations are indispensable.
Albania aims to amend the Law No. 10171 (of 22.10.2009.)onRegulatedProfessions toapproxi-mate it with the Directive 2005/36/EC on Profes-sionalQualifications.Tothisend,aworkinggroupwas established by the Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth which will conduct a wide consulta-tions process and analyse the current procedures to identify possible issues to address by developing concrete mitigation measures.
Bosnia and Herzegovina has prepared a Roadmap for implementation of EU Directive on Regulated
Professions 2005/36/EC adopted by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Coordination institution and the contact point for the implemen-tation of the Directive on regulated professions at the level of BiH, as well as sub-coordination insti-tution and sub-contact points at entity, canton and Brcko District BiH were nominated in late last year in accordance with the Decision adopted by the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina22. Two meetings of the coordinator, contact point, sub-coordination institution and sub-contact points were held (December 2017 and March 2018). To support capacity building of all relevant BiH insti-tutionstheMinistryofCivilAffairsappliedforTAIEXproject Capacity-building for relevant institutions in BiH for transposition of EU Directive on regulated professions in the area of architecture and medi-cine to be held by the end of the year pending the necessary approvals.
In Kosovo*, on 28 October 2016, the Parliament of Kosovo* has approved the Law on Professional Qualifications(no.05/L-066)whichisalignedwiththe Directive 2005/36 / EC on professional quali-fications. The Law on Regulated Professions ap-proved in 2016 has created the legal bases to open the negotiations on mutual recognition agreements ofprofessionalqualificationsbetweenKosovo*andthe other WB economies for Doctors of Medicine, Dentists, Architects and Civil Engineers in a mul-tilateral framework. Even though the need for in-stitutional capacity building on the recognition of professionalqualificationsandtherelevantEUDi-rectives has been recognised, no institutional ca-pacity building has been secured in the past year.
In Montenegro, the draft version of the Law har-monised with Directive 2005/36 and amended Di-rective 2013/55 has been completed. The Law is to be adopted by the Parliament of Montenegro in the second quarter of 2018. The Law will enter into force with the accession of Montenegro into the EU. In accordance with the draft version of the Law a single point of contact will be established by the state administration authority competent for the economicaffairs.Creationofthelistofregulatedprofessions will be carried out by the Ministry of La-bourandSocialAffairs,usingexerciseoftranspar-ency forms, in close cooperation with all relevant ministries which are obliged to deliver suggestions regarding the list of their regulated professions.
Having in mind the importance of the regional co-operation and following up on the agreed conclu-
22 Only nomination of sub-contact point from the Ministry of Education and Culture of Republika Srpska is missing.
sions of the Joint Working Group on Mutual Rec-ognitionofProfessionalQualifications,Montenegrohas already conducted initial consultations on the negotiation teams with the relevant ministries and professional chambers. For the time being the rec-ognition of all diplomas and qualifications, regu-lated or not, permanent stay or temporary stay, is carried out in accordance with the uniform Law on the Recognition of Foreign Educational Credentials andQualificationsEquivalence.
Serbia has prepared a Draft Law on Recognition of ProfessionalQualifications23. Serbia prepared a pre-liminary list of regulated professions and the data-base for mutual recognition of professional quali-fications has been developed, based on an opensource solution that can be installed on any future platform. Furthermore, in order to ensure a system that shall provide minimum training conditions for occupations where an automatic system has been envisaged, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development has sent a factsheet to all relevant institutions so that they may harmonise their curricula with the prerequisites laid down in Directive 2005/36/EC. Analysis of this document is under way.
In The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the Law on Recognition of Professional Qualificationwas adopted in 2010. A draft Law and draft by-laws onMutualRecognitionofProfessionalQualificationsaligned with the Directives 2005/36/EC, 2013/55/EU have been prepared, as well as recommenda-tions for harmonisation of the relevant legislation and alignment of the domestic educational pro-grammes with the minimum training requirements for the professions that are automatically recog-nised. The draft list of regulated professions has been completed. The database and software (web-site) for mutual recognition of professional quali-ficationshavebeendeveloped,basedonanopensource solution that can be installed on any future platform. The registry at this moment is incom-plete, but the input of the information into the database is planned to start after the transfer of the website into the Ministry’s data centre. Fur-thermore, the institutional capacities of the Inter-Ministerial Group and other relevant actors in the implementation process of the Law on Mutual Rec-ognition of Professional Qualifications have beenstrengthened through extensive awareness and training activities; including a production of video
23 The Working Group has 16 members (of which 12 are representatives of relevant ministries and 2 are representatives of the Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development).
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recorded training materials for an online e-learning platform for future generations of newly recruited staffininstitutionswithanactiveroleintheimple-mentation of the Law and bylaws on Recognition of ProfessionalQualifications.
With regards to the preparations for the opening of the negotiations on the MRA, the Ministry of Educa-tion and Science has continuous coordination with all relevant institutions and professional organisa-tions, especially with those professional organisa-tionsresponsibleforthefiveregulatedprofessionsthat are stipulated by the JWG MRPQ for the future Mutual Recognition Agreement.
Policy: III.3. Mobility of students and highly skilled
Objective: III.3.1. Removal of obstacles to recognition of academic qualifications The planned actions on removing obstacles to rec-ognition of academic qualifications are ahead ofscheduled timeline. The deepened regional coop-eration on recognition of academic qualificationswas reinforced by additional domestic efforts toshorten, simplify and create “student-friendly” procedures for recognition of academic qualifica-tions. Therefore, advanced progress in the region can be noted.
The regional and domestic efforts to remove theobstaclestorecognitionofacademicqualificationsare particularly timely as the European Higher Edu-cation Area Ministerial Conference that took place during May 2018 reinforced the importance of rec-ognitionofacademicqualifications24 and as the EU is preparing a Communication of Recognition of AcademicQualificationstobeendorsedbytheEUCouncil during the Austrian Presidency of the EU.
At the regional level, the Working Group on Recog-nitionofAcademicQualificationshasbeenformal-ised in December 2017. The Working Group on Rec-ognitionofAcademicQualificationsoperationalisedand set forward an ambitious timeline to achieve the objectives set out by the MAP REA ahead of the initial schedule.
Since December 2017, the Working Group on Rec-ognitionofAcademicQualificationshasagreed tolaunch the joint exercise on recognition of aca-demicqualificationswithanobjective to identifysimilarities/differences in recognition of foreigndegrees;toanalyseanddiscussthedifferencesand to suggest further joint action to decrease the dif-
24 http://www.ehea2018.paris/Data/ElFinder/s2/Communique/EHEAParis2018-Communique-final.pdf
ferences based on which Joint Guides on Recogni-tion ofAcademicQualificationswill be prepared.Differentmodels for the recognition of academicqualificationshavebeendiscussedbytheWorkingGroup on Recognition ofAcademicQualifications.An initial set of principles for recognition of aca-demicqualificationshasbeendiscussedandistobefinalisedatthenextmeetingoftheWorkingGrouponRecognitionofAcademicQualifications.
In addition, to facilitate information exchange and increase transparency and cooperation in recogni-tionofacademicqualifications,aregionaldialogueand regular meetings of the ENIC/NARIC centres and the Quality Assurance Agencies in the WB6 have been established.
Furthermore, the Working Group on Recognition ofAcademicQualificationshasagreedonaninitialconcept of the joint online system to share infor-mation, including on higher education institutions, qualifications and decisions taken, available toENIC/NARIC centres and Ministries responsible for higher education in the WB6 which puts the process significantlyaheadoftheproposedschedule.
At the domestic level, all of the legislation is aligned with the Lisbon Recognition Convention and all of the ENIC/NARIC centres are members of the European network of the ENIC/NARIC centres apart from Kosovo*. Majority of the economies have been investingadditionaleffortstofurthersimplifyandcreate “student-friendly” recognition procedures over the past year.
In Albania, the secondary legislation on diploma recognition issued by Ministry of Education, Sport and Youth was further improved in January 2018. The number of the required documents for the di-ploma recognition was reduced to just 4 (the same for the PhD) and the procedure of diploma recog-nitionwasfurthersimplifiedbycreatinganonlineapplication procedure for applicants.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the BiH Centre for In-formation and Recognition of Qualifications inHigher Education (CIP) conducted a comprehensive analysis of regulation on recognition of academic qualificationsandfoundthatthepracticeofnostri-ficationcontinuestobeimplemented,contrarytothe Lisbon Recognition Convention. Furthermore, the established legislative framework is incoher-ent, in key recognition issues, and still lacking in other important issues in the area of recognition (for example, joint degrees, regulated professions, non-formal education and informal learning, recog-nitionofqualificationsforrefugeesanddisplaced
persons, etc.). CIP provided several recommen-dations to support the competent recognition au-thoritiestomitigatesomeoftheidentifiedissues.Furthermore, through the EU funded STINT project amodelforrecognitionofacademicqualificationsat public higher education institutions has been de-veloped and presented in all public higher educa-tion institutionstogetherwithtrainingofstaffonrecognitionofacademicqualifications.
In Montenegro, initial discussions have taken place with regards to possible changes to create more ef-fectiveand simplified recognitionprocedures,es-peciallywith regards to the issueofqualificationequivalence. Furthermore, Montenegro is in the process of creation of a database of recognition decisions with a clear overview of all recognition applicationsclassifiedperorigin,typeofHEI,studyprogramme,typeofqualification,etc.Theon-linesystem will facilitate recognition procedures and will be very useful for the planned joint regional online system of cooperation. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has already established an automatic recognition procedure for some academ-icqualificationsinanefforttosimplifytherecog-nition processes. In this regard the recognition is automaticforqualificationsawardedbythehighereducation institutions in top 500 on the Shanghai ranking list and the Times Higher Education rank-ing. Furthermore, to facilitate the recognition process in WB6 The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has signed Mutual Agreements for Rec-ognition of Qualifications with Serbia, entered inforceon22/09/2016,andwithAlbania,enteredinforce on 16/02/2002.
To support the procedures for recognition within the EHEA, several tools have been developed in the framework of the Bologna process. The National Qualifications Frameworks help to identify “therelationbetweenthedifferentlevelsofanationaleducational system and itsmain types of qualifi-cations and provide generic learning outcomes for all NQF levels.” (EAR HEI 2016: 102). In Kosovo*, Montenegro and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the NQF has been established through relevant legislation and respective QFs have been referenced to theEuropeanQualificationsFrame-work(EQF)andself-certifiedagainstthequalifica-tions framework of the EHEA. In Albania the Law on theAlbanian Qualifications Framework (AQF)wasadopted in 2010 and is aligned with developments in the EU.25 However, the NQF has not yet been certified and self-referenced towards the EQF. In
25https://www.ehea.info/pid34250-cid101090/albania.html
Serbia the Law on the NQF came into force only recently in April 2018.
In addition, the Diploma Supplement describes the qualification and the education system it belongsto, helping to further understand the qualifica-tion and thus facilitating its recognition (EAR HEI 2016:96).WithregardtotheDiplomaSupplement,it seems that majority of higher education institu-tions in the WB6 are issuing the Diploma Supple-ment, however it remains unclear to which extent are the HEIs issuing DS automatically, free of charge and in English language as agreed within the Bolo-gna framework.
It is important to note that within the Bologna framework an Advisory Group on the Revision of the Diploma Supplement (DS) has been established with a mandate to make recommendations to the Council of Europe, the European Commission and UNESCO in reviewing the Diploma Supplement, in cooperation with stakeholders. The Advisory Group prepared a comprehensive proposal for revision of the Diploma Supplement which aims to streamline the Diploma Supplement to include references to learning outcomes, as well as information on in-ternships and mobility experiences, references to extracurricular learning achievements and the recognition of prior learning, and recommended to the HEIs to embark on the digitalisation of DS and student data exchange, with a commitment to collect student data in a secure, machine-readable format, in line with data protection legislation. The recommendations of the Advisory Group have been endorsed by the European Higher Education Area Ministers in Paris on 25 May 2018. In the light of the European-level developments, the Working Group on Recognition of Academic Qualificationshasagreedtokick-offajointexerciseonDiplomaSupplement implementation in the WB6 to facili-tate preparation for the implementation of the re-vised Diploma Supplement in the region following the Ministerial agreements made in Paris.
Quality assurance of HEIs and study programmes is the underlying foundation of the recognition pro-cess. All of the WB6 have established QA bodies, but currently only CAQA – Commission for Accredi-tation and Quality Assurance of Serbia is registered in European Quality Assurance Register. However, the domestic legislation for higher education has undergone significant changes in thepast year inMontenegro, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Re-public of Macedonia. In all three economies the new legislation envisages establishment of full-fledgedAgenciesforQualityAssuranceinlinewith
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the European Standards and Guidelines for Qual-ity Assurance. Kosovo* Accreditation Agency (KAA) functions as an independent agency since 2008, and uses Standards and Guidelines for Quality As-surance based on ESG 2015.
Obstacles and challenges The Mobility agenda has seen dynamic progress, in particular in reaching the key milestone in re-moving obstacles to recognition of professional and academic qualifications. Further implementationwill require increased administrative capacities of the authorities involved in the two processes. To support the implementation, technical assistance to build further the domestic institutional capaci-ties will be needed. However, more importantly, the two processes open possibilities to support syn-ergies with the European processes, domestic ef-forts to transpose the relevant EU acquis and to integrate further into the existing European institu-tions. To enable the positive spill-overs and release thepotentialofthemultiplyingeffectscontainedin these two agendas it is essential to ensure addi-tionalfinancialresourcesandtechnicalassistanceto add on activities which would enable these ef-fects (for instance in supporting the development of the QA systems, their alignment with the ESG and registration of QA bodies from the WB in the EQAR).Therecognitionagendabenefitedfromtheexisting operationalised work plans, a similar joint work plan is missing in the agenda on the Mobility of Researchers. This is partly due to the nature of the actions, which are predominantly in domain of individual economies.However, benefits could bedrawn from a joint work plan which would support furthertheeffortsmadeatthelevelofindividualeconomies. The main challenges to the implemen-tation of the actions outlined in the Mobility of Re-searchers of MAP relate to availability of technical assistance to implement some of the actions put forwardinMAP,asspecifiedbelow,andlackofcap-ital investment into research infrastructure.
The challenges in implementing mobility compo-nent measures entail:
� The research systems are specific and variedacross the region. This poses challenges to creating a joint operational action plan to address the identified challenges as majority of theactions outlined in the Mobility of Researchers requires targeted domestic measures. However, the potential for joint actions where they can reinforce the measures undertaken at level of individual economies should not be missed.
� The level of harmonisation of the domestic legislation with the respective EU acquis on recognition of professional qualifications isuneven across WB6. This poses challenges to the dynamics of the planned negotiations in particular if the EU model of recognition is to be fully applied in the WB. On the other hand, it creates an uneven level playing filled withregards to technical preparation and capacity of the relevant institutions to conduct the negotiations.
� The pace of change of the European and domestic strategic and legislative frameworks across all three policy areas of the Mobility component of MAP is extremely high. This provides real opportunities for MAP actions to reinforce the individual efforts to modernisetheir research and education systems and contributes significantly to full integration ofthe WB6 into the EU and European frameworks. This also creates additional pressures to ensure that the MAP actions are always fully aligned and up to date with all the developments.
� WB6 need to increase their exposure to EU programmes and initiatives – there are actions intended to facilitate the participation of WB6 in several EU programmes, initiatives and institutions. In relation to the next generation of EU programmes, there are ample opportunities to formulate joint positions and the existing regional fora should be used by the governments. However, to ensure that the full potential of these opportunities is used, a proactive and positive response by EU institutions and other potential partners is essential.
Recommendations and next stepsThis section provides main recommendations and next steps for all objectives under the MAP REA Mobility component. The recommendations repre-sent the next steps needed to implement the Mo-bility component and are aligned with the agreed operationalised work programmes and conclusions of operational Working Groups responsible for the implementation of the MAP Mobility component. The recommendations also take into consideration that the measures foreseen for the reporting period havebeenfulfilled.
Policy: III.1. Mobility of Researchers
Objective: III.1.1. Removal of obstacles to mobility of researchers
� Consider operationalisation of a regional work programme on Mobility of Researchers to ensure the full potential of regional cooperation is utilised to reinforce the continuing domestic efforts.
� Consider preparing a joint Western Balkan positiononthenextgenerationoftheEUFP9programme.
Policy: III.2. Mobility of Professionals
Objective: III.2.1. Removal of obstacles to recognition of professional qualifications
� Complete internal governmental procedures to open negotiations and appoint negotiating teams by 30 June 2018. Inform the RCC Secretary General of their position on opening negotiations and of the composition of their negotiating teams by the 30th of June 2018.
� Following the information on the appointments of the negotiating teams the RCC will convene thefirstmeetingofthenegotiators.
� Following the appointment of the negotiating teams the JWG on MRPQ will seize to exist.
� Ensure technical support of the relevant line DGs (DG GROW) throughout the negotiations.
� Explore possibilities to support institutional capacity building on the relevant EU acquis (the Directiveonprofessionalqualifications)toensuretechnical capacity to conduct the negotiations andreinforceeffortstotransposetheEUacquisat the level of individual economies.
Policy: III.3. Mobility of students and highly-skilled
Objective: III.3.1. Removal of obstacles to recognition of academic qualifications
� Finalise the concept of automatic recognition model for the WB6 by the end of 2018.
� Finalise the concept and launch the joint information system on recognition of academic qualificationsbytheendof2018.
� Continue the joint exercise on recognition of academicqualifications.
� Kick-off the joint exercise on DiplomaSupplement implementation by the end of 2018.
� Ensure technical support of the relevant line DGs (DG EAC) throughout the process to ensure alignment with the EU developments on recognitionofacademicqualifications.
� Explore opportunities for a comprehensive action to support the development of quality assurance systems across WB6 as an underlying condition for fast track and automatic recognitionofacademicqualifications.
1.6 DIGITAL INTEGRATIONOverall state of play/progress The objective of the MAP REA digital agenda-relat-ed actions is to integrate the region into the pan-European digital market on the basis of a future-proof digitisation strategy, an updated regulatory environment, improved broadband infrastructure and access as well as digital literacy. Embracing digital transformation, ensuring greater availability of digital infrastructure, and enabling better regu-latory frameworkand levelplayingfieldcanhelpour region grow, increase the convergence rates with the EU, improve the business environment and encouragecross-borderservices;thusofferingbet-ter life for the citizens.
The Western Balkan Enlargement Strategy puts great emphasis on WB6 Digital Agenda - being one of itsflagships -andreconfirmed interestand in-volvement of EC in implementing this agenda. Moreover, the unprecedented dedication and work of Commissioner Gabriel and EC services has put the WB6 Digital Agenda in focus of EC work, making significantstridesinintegratingWBinEU’scurrentinitiatives and frameworks such as the Western Bal-kans Investment Framework, the Broadband Com-petence Office Network, the Cross-border DigitalInternship Scheme, the Digital Skills and Jobs Coa-lition, EU’s Code week initiative, etc.
The EU-Western Balkan Summit declaration reaf-firmedthe importanceof theWB6DigitalAgendafor the regional integration, having digital agenda includedintheSofiaPriorityAgendaandtheState-ment of support for the Digital Agenda of WB6 en-dorsed by the WB6 Leaders. Moreover, during the WesternBalkansSummitinSofiaEUannouncedfol-low-up actions in the area of connectivity, includ-ing €30 million in technical assistance for digital projects in the region. The Western Balkan Digital Agenda was launched during the Digital Assembly on 25-26 June 2016 to support the digital transfor-mation of the WB6 and prepare the region to inte-grate better into the EU Digital Market.
The MAP REA digital agenda is aligned to a great extent with strategic documents in particular with
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the Economic Reform Programmes, as the key mid-term economic policy coordination documents. However, the EC assessment of ERPs highlights the need for WB6 economies to further focus on digi-tal agenda-related reform measures within ERPs. Some of the WB6 economies have prioritised digi-tal investment projects within their national single project pipelines (NSSPS).
The recently launched OECD Competitiveness Out-look 2018 recognises the positive steps undertaken by WB6 in expanding broadband and increasing access to e-business and e-commerce. Moreover, the analyses show that WB6 rank closely alongside the Central Europe and Baltics (CEB) in the Net-work Readiness Index of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
In addition, Network Readiness Index (NRI)26 for WB6 ranges from the lowest 3.0 points to the high-est 4.4 points in the Global Information Technol-ogy Report 2016; Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) - index 2017 - measured by Serbia is 0.3658, ranking it at 27 place; Cybersecurity Index 201727 shows that Bosnia and Herzegovina is at initiating stage while Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia are at ma-turing stage.
The Balkan Barometer 2018 shows that half of the WB6businesscommunityissatisfiedwiththedigi-tal services across WB6 and compared to the last year there is a notable improvement in this con-text. On the contrary, in comparison with 2016 sur-vey results, public satisfaction with social life and accessibility of public services via a digital channel (online services, website, smartphone app) is sig-nificantlylower.For38%ofthepublicacrossWB6the skills needed to be learnt or improved are pri-marily those related to digital/ICT competences.
The 2018 EU Enlargement report underlines that Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Mac-edonia are at moderate level of preparedness in chapter 10 of the EU ac-
26 World Economic Forum – Network Readiness Index measure the performance in leveraging information and communications technologies to boost competitiveness, innovation and well-being, on a scale from 1 to 7 points27 ITU Global Cybersecurity Index 2017
quis with Kosovo* and Bosnia and Herzegovina fol-lowing behind.
TheWB6DigitalSummitwhichtookplaceon18-19April2018, inSkopje - thefirsteverorganised inthisformat–reconfirmedtheexpressedwillingnessand commitment of WB6 to work on a regional digi-talagendaforthebenefitsof itscitizensandtheregion as a whole. The conclusions of the Digital SummitreaffirmedthecommitmentofWB6toworkon: digital skills, trust and security, digital connec-tivity and digital economy and society.
The reporting from WB6 on MAP REA state of im-plementation in the Digital Integration Component shows that WB6 are at a varied level of implemen-tation and preparation in the digital agenda (please seefigure4), lessprepared indevelopingdigitalsskills and more advanced in roaming policy coordi-nation and promotion of the uptake of smart tech-nologies – although the scoring of the later is posi-tivelyaffectedbythesuccessfulcompletionoftheWB6DigitalSummitandfinalisationoftheindustry-led study “The Impact of Digital Transformation on the Western Balkans – Tackling the Challenges to-wards Political Stability and Economic Prosperity” rather than by any more comprehensive digitisation advances in WB6.
The results of the study suggest that the process of digital transformation of societies is growth-en-hancing for WB6. Hence, 10 percent increase in the digitisation index is associated with 0.63 percent of GDP growth; 1 percent increase in the digitisation index corresponds to 0.67 percent and 2.12 percent greater productivity in services and manufacturing; 1 percent digital transformation corresponds to 1.16 percent increase in employment.
Figure 4: Digital Integration - State of Preparedness of MAP REA Implementation in WB6 at the Level of Policies/Objectives
0
01
2
3
4
5
IV.1. Digital environment networks and
services connectivity and access
IV.2. Trustand security indigital services
IV.3. Digitaleconomy
and society
IV.4. Digitaleconomy andsociety, data
economy, standards and interoperability,
innovation
2.5 2.52.0
2.9
WB6 have moderately advanced in harmonising do-mestic legislation with the respective EU acquis in the area of electronic communications, as part of the EU integration agenda. However, the monitor-ing of MAP REA implementation does not asses the level of compliance with the respective EU acquis but only takes note on completion of the legislative process.
The regional deliverables in digital agenda, facili-tated by RCC and jointly agreed by WB6 to be com-pleted prior to the upcoming high-level Summits inSofiaandLondon,aresuccessfullyimplemented(please see Table 4).
Table 4: State of Play of the RCC-facilitated regional deliverables
Deliverables Output indicatorStructured high level regional political dialogue on WB6 digitisation through Annual WB6 Digital Summits based on full WB6 ownership and government-industry collaboration
Western Balkans Digital Summit held in Skopje, on 18-19April2018.
Strengthened cybersecurity capacities and enhanced regional cooperation amongst WB6 CSIRTs
RCC networked the CSIRTs from the Western Balkans and extended capacity building to their representatives. A regional project proposal on cybersecurity capacity building is prioritised in the SEE 2020 Programming Document 2018-2020 and presented in the Fourth Meeting on Donor Coordination.
Commitment to reduce roaming prices (intra WB and WB-EU)
Statement of support for the digital agenda for the Western Balkans endorsed at the occasion of the EU-WB6 Summit: “WB Leaders have agreed to support and facilitate the processes of lowering the roaming costs for the full coverage of consumers in the Western Balkans region”and“To support the implementation of a roadmap to facilitate lowering the costs of roaming, between the Western Balkans and the European Union” RCC commissioned Study to assess the impact of lowering roaming prices
Western Balkans is integrated in EU programmes and initiatives
Technical assistance for digital projects within WBIF
Western Balkans is integrated in Broadband CompetenceOffice,digitalcross-bordertraineeshipinitiative, EU’s Code week initiative;
At theEU-WBSummit inSofiaEUannounced€30million in technical assistance for digital projects, including broadband within WEBIF/IPA
Annual ICT regulatory dialogue WB6-EC launched First meeting of Western Balkan Regulators and BEREC was held on 15 June 2018
Digital Agenda for Western Balkans Launched on 25 June 2018 during the Digital Assembly
Scaled-up regional interventions on digital literacy and skills
To be announced during the London Summit
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State of implementation at objective levelPolicy IV.1. Digital environment networks and services, connectivity and access
Objective IV.1.1. Boost digital infrastructure development and regional connectivity, while creating a level playing field for digital networks and services to flourishThe progress in transposing the EU Broadband Cost Reduction Directive is uneven; Albania and The For-mer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia have already transposed it while the other three economies are at preparation stage. Montenegro plans to advance with the transposition during 2018 and adopt it by 2019,Kosovo*haspreparedafirstdraftandTAIEXmission is foreseen to be held during 2018 to sup-port with the screening and Serbia is at preparation phase.
The preparation of the broadband infrastructure mapping is ongoing in all economies. Albania is in the process of updating the atlas of broadband in-frastructure; Montenegro started the process of mapping and advancement is expected in 2018; Serbiacompletedthemobilemappingandthefixedbroadband mapping, as part of the new Law on Elec-tronic Communications, currently in the process of adoption; Kosovo* extended the broadband infra-structure – 4 pilot projects launched and contracts signed - 3 additional pilots expected to be launched by mid-2018 and Electronic Atlas on Broadband Tel-ecommunication Infrastructure is in the process of updating; in The Former Yugoslav Republic of Mac-edonia, the National Operational Broadband Plan is expected to be completed during 2018 and the mapping of current NGA infrastructure and identi-fying the areas for intervention (white zones) are finalised.Thereisgoodprospectforthebroadbandmapping to have mature advancement during 2018 in all WB6 economies although the action is to be completed by 2020.
Digital connectivity necessitates outstanding capi-tal investment in broadband, both from the national budgets as well as from private investors. There are someeffortsunderwayinAlbaniaandSerbiatoas-sess overall capital investment needs in broadband infrastructure while in The Former Yugoslav Repub-lic of Macedonia the efforts are concentrated onassessing future public investment in areas where no commercial interest exists (so-called white are-as). Moreover, digital has become an eligible sector for WBIF funding as of its last Steering Committee
meeting,withthefirstdigitalapplicationendorsedat the WBIF SC meeting in June 2018. The EU an-nounced EUR 30 million support to develop digital projects, including broadband.
The regional dialogue and exchange on business and PPP models to address low connectivity and commercialisationofthesparefibreopticassetsisat an early stage. On the annual International Regu-latory Conference 201828 dialogue for strengthening cooperation amongst the regulatory authorities in the region related to the latest developments in the ICT sector and boosting broadband access was established. Although there are developments in each economy in this regard, there is a need to fur-ther improve regional cooperation to share experi-ence and similarities amongst the WB6 economies. In Serbia, the EBRD-led project launched in 2016 will support identificationofcostneeded for fur-ther broadband development – including potential business/financing models for development. TheFormer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia intends to establish BCO to improve broadband connectivity in rural areas. In addition, the economy-level intra-sectoral dialogue has been established, especially in view of the ongoing World Bank’s study. Mapping ofpotentialspareopticfibreinalmostallecono-mies has been undertaken and awareness on the need to optimise their use has increased. There is a need though to establish a proper regional dia-logue upon the completion of the World Bank study, which should provide information and identify com-mercialmodels for addressing sparefibre capaci-ties.
Four out of six regulators from WB6 have an ob-server status to BEREC and their dialogue within the context of BEREC is improving. There is a need thoughtodefinepropermechanismsforBosniaandHerzegovina and Kosovo* to become associated in this dialogue. Ways to strengthen the regional di-alogue amongst WB6 regulators as part of BEREC need to be explored and further strengthened. The firstBEREC-WesternBalkanmeetingwasheldinthemargins of the BEREC plenary session on 15 June 2018 discussing the possible cooperation between BEREC, EU National Regulatory Authorities and WB National Regulatory Authorities. The first meet-ing focused on regulatory issues and may lead to follow-up activities aiming to share knowledge, ex-pertise and the best practice.
28 http://www.aec.mk/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2247&Itemid=465&lang=mk - organised by The Former Yugoslav Republic of Republic of Macedonia, on 15-16 of May 2018
The regional interconnection and integration into pan-European GÉANT is not complete - Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo* are not integrated in GÉ-ANT yet while in The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia only one university is integrated in the network - two more state universities are to be connected through MARNET to GÉANT in 2018. Al-though regional interconnection and integration is to be completed by 2023, advancement/improve-ment can be reached through regional actions. To this end, a proposal on cross-border connectivity of WB NRENs is prioritised in the SEE2020 Program-ming Document 2018-2020 – to be further devel-oped should assistance be secured.
Objective IV.1.2. Harmonise spectrum policy to ensure timely and efficient availability and boost deployment of standardised 5G networksWB6 economies are at an uneven level of prepara-tion in spectrum policy harmonisation. Regulatory and institutional frameworks that provide for ef-ficientoverallspectrummanagementareinplaceacross the region – with uneven development in freeing up frequencies. Albania, Bosnia and Her-zegovina and Kosovo* have not completed the DSO process; in Albania, it is expected that 70% of the population will be covered with digital service by mid-2018; in Montenegro -700 MHz is free and available for mobile radio communication service; in Kosovo*, the tendering to allow the use of cur-rently unused mobile spectrum is underway.
Broader coordination on radio spectrum issues takes place within RSPG regional group, SEDDIF as wellaswithinWRC-19preparatoryprocess.Amul-tilateral framework agreement between all SEDDIF members (with the exception of Albania) is already signed in December 2017. Initial regional dialogue on spectrum policy harmonisation took place at the Western Balkans Roaming Policy Meeting, held in April 2018 in Brussels. Good progress is being made in 5G in Montenegro – speeds for 5G prepared and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – sec-ondary legislation to implement 5G technology prepared. Upon request from Albania, a dedicated meeting on spectrum policy harmonisation and WB6 readiness for 5G networks was held on 12 June 2018 in Prague, back-to-back with ITU Regional Develop-ment Forum for Europe.
On World Radio Conference (WRC) participation and cooperation, economies participate indepen-dently in WRC’s work. Kosovo*, not part of WRC, has expressed interest to participate in its work
and other regional groups related to spectrum policy management. Yet, no regional discussion has started on having potential regional positions on aspects of joint interest on WRC, CEPT/ECO. WB6 part-took for thefirst timeat theCOM-ITU/CEPTMeeting, held in Prague on 12 June 2018.
Objective IV. 1.3. Coordinate roaming policies towards a roaming free economic areaGood progress is being made in harmonising region-al roaming policies. Regional Roaming Agreement amongst 4 economies (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and The Former Yugoslav Re-public of Macedonia) is successfully implemented29. The WB6 Roaming Policy meeting held in Brussels on 5th April 2018 underlined the trends in the 4 participating economies, highlighting the need to focus more on data rather than voice. Moreover, theWB6confirmedtheirwillingnesstoextendthescope of the agreement and work on a new succes-sor agreement, potentially with provisions of RLAH within WB6. Experience of EU in particular for RLAH model will be further explored and used. Al-bania and Kosovo* have expressed their willingness to join RRA and official letters to inform other 4economies are submitted. Technical and procedural consultations will follow in this regard. Moreover, WB6 have committed to support and facilitate the processes of lowering the roaming costs for the full coverage of consumers in the Western Balkans re-gion and implementation of a roadmap to facilitate lowering the costs of roaming between the Western Balkans and the European Union30.
WB6 economies discuss coordination of roaming policy in regular regional meetings and there is an expressed willingness and need to continue this di-alogue, in the future, with the help and facilitation of RCC and EU.
RCC has commissioned a study to assess the impact of abolishment of roaming charges with the EU, with theconsultancyprocurementfinalisedandthefirstfindingsand resultsalreadyprepared.ARoadmapto facilitate lowering the costs of roaming, based on voluntary commercial agreement and made in an inclusive approach, as part of the Enlargement Strategy’s WB6 Digital Agenda will be prepared by
29Thewholesaleandretailpriceswerereducedatthelevelof Roaming III Regulation (i.e. Regulation (EU) No 531/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2012 on roaming on public mobile communications networks within the Union Text with EEA relevance)30 The Statement of support for the digital agenda for the Western Balkans endorsed at the occasion of the EU-WB6 Summit
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EC. There are series of roundtables and discussions organised by Commissioner Gabriel with the opera-tors to support the process of roadmap preparation. The Digital Agenda for Western Balkans, launched on 25 June 2018, will cover lowering the cost of roaming, deployment of broadband, development of e-Government, e-Procurement, e-Health, and digital skills, capacity building in digital trust and security, inparalleltoeffortstoenhancedigitali-sation of industries, adoption, implementation and enforcementoftheacquis(seealsothefigurebe-low).
Policy IV.2. Trust and security in digital services
Objective IV.2.1. Enhance Cyber Security, trust services and data protectionThe WB6 economies have adopted relevant policies and legislation for privacy (Directive (2002/58/EC), data protection and digital security. Albania, Ko-sovo*, Montenegro and Serbia have adopted dedi-cated cybersecurity strategies while The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is at final stagesof approval. No uniform progress in implementa-tion of the strategies amongst WB6 is noted. The EU Network and Information Security Directive (NIS) is transposed in Albania and Serbia. Montenegro partially implemented NIS Directive31 whilst other economies are in process of preparation and/or in public consultation phase. WB6 lacks the capaci-ties to implement the requirements of Annex 1 of the NIS Directive, thus a proposal on capacity build-
31 CSIRT Team was established, Law on Information Security has been adopted, critical information infrastructure was definedandtwocybersecuritystrategieshavebeenadopted,1st 2013-2017, 2nd 2018-2021
ing in the area of cybersecurity is prioritised in the SEE2020 Programming Document 2018-2020.
Process of critical IT infrastructure identificationand the respective legislative approval is ongoing: Albania and Kosovo* already adopted the legisla-tive acts on critical IT infrastructure; Serbia has identified and adopted the list of ICT systems ofparticular importance for the public interest, and adopted and implemented internal procedures to reportsignificantincidents;inTheFormerYugoslavRepublic of Macedonia many of the critical infra-structure operators were identified, but there isno official decision on identification of critical ITinfrastructure; and in Montenegro the Methodology and its Action Plan for selecting critical informa-tion infrastructure have been adopted - critical sectors and services as well as critical information systemsweredefined,theDecreeonmeasuresforthe protection of critical information infrastructure in accordance with the Amendments to the Law on Information Security is to be adopted in the third quarter of 2018. There is no explicit input from the economies on the level of protection of critical IT infrastructure.
All WB6 have established Computer Security In-cident Response Teams (CSIRTs). Although under-developed and lacking capacity, CSIRTs from WB6 haveparticipatedindifferentbilateralorregionalevents in the area of cybersecurity. CSIRT from The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has signed memorandums of understanding with the CSIRTs from Kosovo* and Albania and regarding other gov-ernment CSIRTs from WB economies the signing of MoUs is ongoing. Albania is also working on having MoUs with other CSIRTs.
RCC networked the CSIRTs from the Western Bal-kans and provided capacity building to their rep-resentatives. The discussion in this regional format will continue and the discussion will be further for-malised through the establishment of permanent groups in the area of cybersecurity with members from ICT ministries and Regulators. A Regional Con-ference of CSIRTs proposed by The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is to be organised in Octo-ber 2018, during the European Cybersecurity month and will gather representatives and heads of all the CSIRTs from the broader region, including all WB6 economies.
Following on the WB6 Digital Summit conclusions, RCC has recently established communication with ENISAinanefforttofacilitateWB6participationinENISA activities.
FOCUS AREAS OF THEDIGITAL AGENDA FORWESTERN BALKANS
LOWERINGROAMING CHARGES
CONNECTIVITY
CYBERSECURITY, TRUSTAND DIGITALISATION OFINDUSTRY
DIGITAL ECONOMY &SOCIETY
RESEARCH &INNOVATION
Policy IV.3. Digital economy and society, Inclusive digital society
Objective IV.3.1. Develop and strengthen supply of digital skills
The need to address digital skills development is commonly recognised by WB6. The digital economy allows and encourages remote work and it opens up a world of opportunities for young people, wom-en and disadvantaged groups and the society as awhole.Theeffortshouldbefocusedto identifyskills necessary for government leaders, civil serv-ants, and other citizens, especially women, youth and disadvantaged groups and private sector to ac-quire digital economy competencies.
The progress in developing digital skills across WB6 is uneven although some attempts to develop digi-tal skills programmes exist. Hence, Serbia is at the finalstageofapprovaloftheDigitalSkillDevelop-ment Strategy and the Action Plan for IT Industry Development is approved; Kosovo* has undertaken a study on digital skills with the support of the World Bank aiming to develop a programme focus-ing on young people; Albania has addressed digital skills as part the Strategy for Secondary Education. In The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, National Comprehensive Education Strategy 2018-2025 was adopted in January 2018, where one of the priorities is ensuring widespread use of ICT in education, training and digital literacy at all lev-els (i.e. pre-school, primary education, secondary education, vocational education and trainings, uni-versity, etc.) and a new Law on Mathematics and Information Gymnasium was adopted in April 2018. A proposal on digital skills and competences is pri-oritised within the SEE2020 Programming Document 2018-2020. WB6 Digital Summit also recognised the need to work on digital skills programmes - reaf-firmingtheinteresttowardsintegrationwithintheEU Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition, by endorsing the objectives and principles of the Coalition.
Some of the economies have invested efforts intraining and increase of knowledge in digital skill for targeted groups. In Kosovo*, Ministry of Eco-nomic Development supported by the World Bank implemented the project Women in Online Work (WoW) – trainings were carried out for unemployed and under-employed young women in 5 munici-palities, and additional trainings are carried out through the support of USAID and Helvetas Swiss Intercooperation, with plans of the Government to scale up the work; Serbia is at an advanced stage of preparing a dedicated Digital Skills Strategy; The
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is prepar-ingaNationalICTStrategy–roadmaptobefinal-ised in August 2018 and the draft of the strategy by December 2018 – and has conducted trainings for basic IT skills and advanced IT skills for the unem-ployed.
There are also mature projects targeting digital skills to be implemented in some economies: in Ko-sovo* a 3 MEUR EU IPA 2017 project is being rolled out to develop capacities for digital economy and support for digital businesses; in The Former Yugo-slav Republic of Macedonia trainings for advanced IT skillsunderIPAprojectsareongoing-thefirstcen-tre in The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the region, HubIT, under USAID Social Inclusion Project,wasopenedinSkopje,offeringservicestoyoung people with disabilities and enabling them to start careers in the IT sector; in Serbia the Gov-ernmentoffersincentivestoNGOsprovidingdigitalupskilling for women – as part of the IT Industry De-velopment Strategy and is funding projects to train retireesinICTduringthefirsthalfof2018.Finally,the World Bank is currently mobilising resources to implement a WB6 wide project dealing with digital skills and scaled-up regional interventions in digital literacy and skills to be launched during the London Summit.
Policy IV.4. Digitization, Data economy, Standards and Interoperability, Innovation
Objective IV.4.1. Promote uptake of Smart Technologies and Accelerate DigitizationThe WB6 High-level Digital Summit organised on 18-19April2018, inSkopje-thefirstever inthisformat–reconfirmedwillingnessandcommitmentof WB6 to work on a regional digital agenda for the benefitofitscitizensandeconomies.ThisSummitestablished a structured high-level regional politi-cal dialogue on WB6 digitisation - based on full WB6 ownership and government-industry collaboration and reconfirmed the commitment to engage in apermanent dialogue in this area. Prominent speak-ers from the region, EU institutions, international organisations, academia, civil society and success-fulbusinessesofferedagreatplatformfordiscus-sion on all aspects of digital transformation of the WB6 and underlined the challenges ahead. Through the Digital Summit conclusions, the WB6 commit-ted to work on digital skills, trust and security, digi-tal connectivity and digital economy and society. The next Digital Summit will be held in Serbia and RCC will support its co-organisation.
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The industry-led study The Impact of Digital Trans-formation on the Western Balkans –Tackling the Challenges towards Political Stability and Economic Prosperity was presented during the WB6 Digital Summit. The extent to which the study’s recom-mendations will be translated in domestic policies or regional actions will be discussed within regional mechanisms.
With respect to Data Economy, except for Koso-vo*, all WB6 economies are members of the Open Government Partnership initiative. Discussion on regional coordination on OPG can be further pro-moted through regional mechanism, such as the e-Government Working Group operating under ReS-PA’s auspices, with a view of jointly formulating fu-ture activities in areas that include e-Government/Open Government/Open Data, and e-Participation.
Currently, all WB6 economies have established forms of central portals for open data and regular updates of data are carried out. The data in the upgraded central open data portal of The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia can be exchanged with the Central Europe open data portal and may be available to any interested WB6 economy; in Al-baniathecentralportaloffers550onlineservicesto businesses and citizens, a policy on open data is adopted in February 2018 and a special agency on open dialogue established during 2017; Kosovo* has already established a central portal that aims to improve public services and increase public integri-ty. No regional dialogue exists as of yet on potential regional exchange of data.
All WB6 economies have adopted e-authentica-tion frameworks and made progress in improving their e-authentication schemes. In addition, WB6 economies have different level of harmonisationof domestic legislation with eIDAS regulation, with Albania, Serbia and Montenegro having already transposed eIDAS in new laws, and in The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia the new draft law is in the process of public consultation. E-govern-ment services are gradually being aligned with the National Interoperability Frameworks which are functional in Albania, The Former Yugoslav Repub-lic of Macedonia, recently approved in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to a certain extent in Serbia where e-government services are not yet deployed on the e-NIF framework. A regional project intervention onthecross-borderrecognitionofthecertificateswith e-signature is jointly prioritised by WB6 in the SEE 2020 Programming Document 2018-2020.
Across the region there are several digital hubs and innovation parks. Most have been developed with
donor funding (including EU, the World Bank, GIZ, USAID and other bilateral donors), private sector funding, or both. The pan-European network of Dig-ital Innovation Hubs Catalogue Project lists around 20 hubs from the region and provides opportunities for cooperation, as do Horizon 2020 and EU Ter-ritorial and Cross-border Programmes. The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has a Fund for Inno-vation and Technology Development for supporting innovative projects; feasibility study for establish-ment of Science and Technology Park in The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has started. Addi-tionally, the project innovation ecosystem in the cross-border area has commenced as part of the IPA 2 Cross-Border Programme between The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Albania. Ser-bia has also set up an innovation fund while other economieshavestartedintroducingdifferentinno-vation voucher schemes on a smaller scale.
Obstacles and challenges The implementation of the digital component of theMAPREAencountersdifficultiesandrisksthatneed to be addressed both at domestic and region-al level. The main challenges relate to capacity of public administration to comply with this demand-ing agenda, availability of technical assistance to implement many of the actions put forward in MAP REA and capital investment mainly for broadband infrastructure.
The challenges in implementing digital integration component measures entail:
� The level of harmonisation of the legislation with the respective EU acquis is uneven across WB6aseconomiesareatdifferentstagesofEUintegration process, associated with differentdynamics of the legislative harmonisation process. This may in certain areas collide with the need to have regional positions or regional actions and therefore due attention should be given.
� Administrative capacities and capacity of the domestic structures are not at the level necessary to successfully implement some of the measures. Strengthening the capacities of the structures across all areas of the digital agenda is jointly recognised by the WB6 economies. In particular, in the area of cybersecurity (i.e. WB6 CSIRTS), WB6 digitisation (i.e. agencies dealing with open data, e-services and e-government) require dedicated capacity building programmes to ensure effective implementation of theactions put in MAP REA.
� General level of knowledge and skills in the area of digital integration needs to be increased. Although MAP REA anticipates regional training programmes for several target groups, namely citizens, IT specialists, women and people from disadvantaged groups, etc. a holistic approach to digital skills and competences is needed. Private sector and government digital skills needs should also be addressed and tailor-made training programmes need to be prepared.
� Having regional positions in many areas of the WB6 digital agenda is essential. This is particularly important in the area of cybersecurity, where the impact across the region will be high, and in spectrum policy coordination. There is no specific mechanism or instrument to achievethisandthereforeadditionaleffortsshouldbeinvested to explore prospective regional tools to be used in this respect.
� WB6 needs to increase its exposure to EU programmes and initiatives – there are actions intended to facilitate the participation of WB6 in several EU programmes, initiatives and institutions. It is unclear how this can be achieved as it involves a broader group of economies than just the WB6. This also necessitates a proactive and positive response by EU institutions and other potential partners involved.
Recommendations and next stepsThis section provides in a blueprint the main rec-ommendations and next steps for all objectives un-der the Digital Integration Component. The recom-mendationsintendtoofferasolutiontothemainfindings and/or needs anticipated in the state ofimplementation section.
IV.1. Digital environment networks and services, connectivity and accessIV.1.1. Boost digital infrastructure development and regional connectivity, while creating a level playing field for digital networks and services to flourish
� Advance with the transposition of EU Directive 2014/61/EU in all WB6 and complete the broadband infrastructure mapping.
� Launch the regional dialogue on business incentive models and PPPs to address low connectivity. Organise a regional workshop during the second half of 2018.
� Participate in the new EU Broadband CompetenceOffice(BCO)Networkinitiativeandestablish BCOs.
� Intensify the regulatory dialogue amongst all WB6 regulators and intensify the launched WB6-EC regulatory dialogue.
� Complete regional interconnection and integration into the pan-European GÉANT.
� Utilise the available technical assistance in relation to digital connectivity projects, including broadband infrastructure mapping, zoning and identification of most suitablebusiness models or through WBIF.
IV.1.2. Harmonise spectrum policy to ensure timely and efficient availability and boost de-ployment of standardised 5G networks
� Finalise DSO in the whole region, i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo*.
� Improve regional cooperation on spectrum coordination with a view to address spectrum coordination needs in WB6.
� Launch regional discussion amongst regulators ahead of ECO, CEPT meetings as well as before WRCs to align regional positions for issues of joint interest.
IV. 1.3. Coordinate roaming policies towards a roaming free economic area
� Continue the processes of lowering the roaming costs for the full coverage of consumers in the Western Balkans region.
� Support the implementation of a roadmap to facilitate lowering the costs of roaming, between the Western Balkans and the European Union.
IV.2.Trust and security in digital servicesIV.2.1. Enhance Cybersecurity, trust services and data protection
� Complete the transposition of the EU Directive 2016/1148/EU.
� Complete the identification of the critical ITinfrastructures and seek technical assistance to support the WB6 economies in implementing the requirements of Annex of the EU NIS Directive.
� Build CSIRTs capacity and strengthen the regional CSIRT network, as well as promote regional cooperation on NIS dialogue and information exchange amongst WB6 CSIRTs.
� Organise the Regional Conference of CSIRTs with a view to share experience amongst WB6 CSIRTs and other advanced CSIRTs from EU or other partners.
42 43
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
� Establish cooperation with ENISA including on NIS alignment process and preparation of cybersecurity strategies.
� Establish forms of cooperation to ensure transfer of knowledge amongst WB6 economies and coordination with partners/organisations active in the area of cybersecurity.
IV.3. Digital economy and society, Inclusive digital societyIV.3.1. Develop and strengthen supply of digital skills
� Engage in regional discussion to define waysin developing digital skills; pilot a regional intervention aimed at enhancing basic digital skills for citizens to engage online; support the WB6 to implement the EU Digital Competence Framework.
� Pilot a regional intervention aimed at enhancing skills for IT specialists and IT skills for government officials.
� Scale up pilots already implemented in the region such as WoW, aiming to mobilise and upskill youth, women, and people with disabilities.
� Scale up the British Council’s pilot project on digital literacy and skills.
� Explore ways how to better integrate WB6 economies in the EU New Skills Agenda for Europe and the EU Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition initiative.
IV.4. Digitisation, Data economy, Standards and Interoperability, InnovationIV.4.1. Promote uptake of Smart Technologies and Accelerate Digitisation
� Advance with the preparations of the National Interoperability Frameworks in the economies that have not done it so far. Exchange experience and ensure peer-to-peer learning from advanced economies.
� Coordinate regional activities on interoperability standards and facilitate alignment of standards, complementarity of interoperability frameworks and introduce a pan-European dimension, in line with the European Interoperability Framework (EIF).
� Involve private sector to assess the multi-faceted benefits of the online platforms andonline services.
� Launch a structured dialogue amongst the appropriate regional authorities responsible
for harmonisation and implementation of legislation with eIDAS regulation.
� Launch a structured dialogue amongst the appropriate regional authorities to standardise and improve the quality of open data portals and explore potentials to regionally exchange of available data.
� Start preparations to organise the up-coming WB6 Digital Summit in Belgrade. Re-convene the Steering Committee meeting to contribute to an early and structured multi-stakeholder dialogue in this respect.
Conclusions and recommendationsThe MAP REA implementation is an ambitious en-deavour and a credible monitoring and reporting function is essential, both in demonstrating the progress being made, as well as in maintaining the momentum across WB6.
MAP REA actions are increasingly internalised in domestic strategic documents and implementa-tion is in progress. While political commitment is present, the complexity of MAP REA necessitates strong cooperation between MAP Coordinators and Component Contact Points and line ministries, and efficient intra-governmental coordination. This isnot always the case – this report does not include inputs from all WB6.
The Western Balkans Enlargement Strategy rec-ognised the importance of the Regional Economic Area, putting it in the core of the EU accession pro-cess. The Enlargement Strategy’s Action Plan em-beds a considerable number of MAP REA measures. Thus, pro-active involvement, advice and guidance of line DGs and DEUs in the implementation of MAP REA will be needed. Furthermore, technical assis-tance, capacity building and direct implementation support extended through EU-funded actions will be instrumental in achieving MAP REA goals. The Declaration made at the Western Balkans Summit inSofiaon17May2018callsforurgentactiontoimplement the Multi-annual Action Plan for the Development of a Regional Economic Area and an-nouncesthecontinuedEUsupportintheeffortsin-vested by Western Balkans. Moreover, the Vienna Economy Ministerial meeting and London Summit are also expected to take stock of progress on REA andreaffirmfuturecommitmentstowardsfullim-plementation of REA Roadmap.
Several actions planned under MAP REA are sched-uled to begin implementation at a later date, or their start is dependent on other processes, out-
side of the scope of MAP REA. This depreciates the overall scores as well and it should be taken into consideration when assessing the level of progress made by the WB6 economies so far.
Coordination at economy level needs to be im-proved, so as to ensure adequate representation at theregionalplatformsandeffectivechainofdeci-sion making, which is to contribute to more success-ful implementation of the agreed measures on the individual economy level and consequently regional level. Moreover, where needed, experts should be properly mandated to ensure decision making.
Regional investment reform agenda has been adopted with the next step of translating it into na-tional action plans. The South East Europe Invest-ment Committee (SEEIC) will continue to be the main platform for supporting the regional invest-ment reform agenda, nevertheless economies still need to establish focus groups on the domestic lev-el which will discuss and steer proposed concrete policy reforms. The capacities of the relevant insti-tutions should be increased especially when talking about Investment Promotion Agencies, both human andfinancial.WesternBalkaneconomieswillhavetoagreeonspecificsectorstheywanttopromoteinternationally and work jointly towards develop-ment of Joint Investment Promotion Initiative with the aim of promoting WB6 as a single investment destination. What is evident in most of the econo-mies is that investment laws are in place, but what is missing is adequate implementation. There is ev-identneedforfurthersupportofdiversificationoffinancialmarkets,particularlycapitalmarketsanddevelopment of alternative financing instrumentsin all economies. Needs assessment should be car-ried out for development of a regional strategy for capital markets development.
The Western Balkan Enlargement Strategy empha-sised the need to ensure full integration of the WB6 into the European Research Area and the European Higher Education Area to ensure integration of the students, researchers and academics into the exist-ing European networks providing additional impe-tus to the Mobility component of MAP.
The Mobility agenda has seen dynamic progress, in particular in reaching the key milestone in re-moving obstacles to recognition of professional and academicqualifications.Theseeffortsareparticu-larly timely as the European Higher Education Area Ministerial Conference reinforced the importance of recognition of academic qualifications and asthe EU is preparing a Communication of Recogni-tionofAcademicQualificationstobeendorsedby
the EU Council during the Austrian Presidency of theEU.Furthermore,theSofiaDeclarationoftheEU – Western Balkans Summit calls for stepping up workonrecognitionofqualifications.
Further implementation will require increased ad-ministrative capacities of the authorities involved in the two processes. To support the implementa-tion, technical assistance to build further the insti-tutional capacities of the relevant authorities will be needed. However, more importantly, the two processes open possibilities to support synergies with the European processes, domestic efforts totranspose the relevant EU acquis and to integrate further into existing European institutions. To en-able the positives overspills and release the poten-tial of themultiplying effects contained in thesetwoagendasitisessentialtoensureadditionalfi-nancial resources and technical assistance of the line DGs, in particular DG GROW and DG EAC.
Therecognitionagendaprofitedfromtheexistingoperationalised work plans, a similar joint work plan is missing in the agenda on the Mobility of Re-searchers. This is partly due to the nature of the actions, which are predominantly in the domain of eacheconomy.However,benefits couldbedrawnfrom a joint work plan which would support further the domestic efforts. The potential to influencethe next generation of EU programmes for the WB6 should not be missed. The joint activities and the existing regional cooperation for R&D would enable aneffectivepreparationofjointpositionsifthere-gion wished to do so.
The Digital Integration Component envisages a regional approach to the Digital Agenda for WB6 economies, reinforced further by the Enlarge-ment Strategy and its flagship, to support digitalinfrastructure development and improved regional connectivity, harmonised spectrum policies, coor-dinated roaming policies, enhanced cybersecurity, trust services and data protection, and cooperation in policies that stimulate the data economy. WB6 record a mixed level of preparedness in the digi-tal integration. The EU reports 2018 underline that Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and The Former Yugo-slav Republic of Macedonia are at a moderate level of preparation in digital agenda while Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo* are lagging a bit behind. The reporting from WB6 on MAP REA state of im-plementation in the Digital Integration Component shows that WB6 are at a varied level of implemen-tation and preparation in the digital agenda, less prepared in developing digitals skills and more ad-vanced in roaming policy coordination and promo-tion of the uptake of smart technologies.
44 45
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
WB6 have implemented all regional RCC facili-tated deliverables in digital integration. Hence, WB6DigitalSummitheld inSkopjeon18-19April2018, co-organised by RCC, reconfirmed politicalcommitment to work on a regional digital agenda. Moreover, a structured high-level regional political dialogue on digitisation is established, based on full WB ownership and government-industry col-laboration; Regional Roaming Agreement has been successfully implemented leading to substantial decrease of the roaming prices and WB6 have ex-pressed the commitment to continue the processes of lowering the roaming costs for the full coverage of consumers in the Western Balkans region. This effortwillbecomplementarytotheEU-ledeffortson Roadmap for lowering roaming costs between Western Balkans and EU.; cybersecurity capacities have been strengthened and regional cooperation amongst WB6 CSIRTs enhanced through the estab-lished network of CSIRTs from the Western Balkans.
Finally, the monitoring of the MAP REA implementa-tion poses particular challenges listed as follows:
i. Measures that are continuous in nature are not action oriented or where tangible outputs are difficult to define or quantifyrequire a more systematic effort withinthe regional structures to properly defineintermediary measures and milestones, to articulate the desired outputs, as well as to identify the outcomes and impact, within a coherent logical framework. Moreover, these measures are not properly reported from the economies nor adequately scored, as the progress assessment for these meas-ures is usually “on-going”. To this end, regional mechanism should address the concerntofindfeasibleandappropriateso-lutions;
ii. Non-actionable measures need further de-tailing – many of the measures put forward by MAP REA require additional activities/milestones/steps in order for the action to be implemented. For example – “Coor-dinate regional positions….”; “Initiate re-gional cooperation…”; “Foster cooperation ….”, etc. There is a need for these types of actions to be further detailed;
iii. Reporting from the economies does not re-late in full and directly to the implemen-tation of MAP REA measures (i.e. activities and steps undertaken from July 2017) but it ratheroffersthestateofplayunderallactions. This does not allow monitoring the
progressandriskstoreplicatethefindingsof the MAP REA Stock Taking and Needs As-sessment Report. The reporting from the WB6 economies should be improved to al-low monitoring of progress, and RCC will work with MAP NCs and MAP CCPs to assist in providing further details/methodologies to streamline the inputs;
iv. Limited availability of technical assistance – almost all measures of MAP REA, except for some of the measures in the Investment Component, require technical assistance for successful implementation. RCC facilitated theprocessofidentificationoftheregionaltechnical assistance needs, preceded by a self-identificationofneedsfromeachWB6economy and validated through the consul-tation processes in all WB6 during February 2018. This has been further digested and systematised into practical regional inter-ventions projects included in the SEE2020 Programming Document 2018-2020 and pre-sented during the Fourth Meeting on Donor Coordination. Regional interventions can be further developed should the financial as-sistance be secured;
v. Use of existing funds – for some of the iden-tifiedneeds,inparticularcapacitybuildingon all MAP REA components, the existing TAIEX instrument could be more proactively used, especially in terms of outlining a pre-dictable pipeline of capacity building ac-tivities.
vi. Scores at the level of objectives are cal-culated as simple averages of all meas-ures-level scores within a given objective. Hence, in objectives where the progress of each measure therein varies the approach used for the scoring may create mispercep-tions in regard to the implementation sta-tusofaspecificmeasure.
ANN
EXES
ANN
EX 3
– R
EGIO
NAL
REP
ORT
ING
TAB
LEO
bjec
tive
sAc
tion
sTi
mel
ine
Stat
e of
pla
y at
reg
iona
l lev
elSc
or.
I. T
rade
I.1
Faci
litat
ion
of f
ree
trad
e in
goo
ds
I.1.
1.
Stre
ngth
-en
ing
the
mon
itor
ing
and
en-
forc
emen
t ca
paci
ty o
f CE
FTA
a. L
aunc
hing
the
neg
otia
tion
s on
Add
itio
nal P
ro-
toco
l on
CEFT
A Di
sput
e Se
ttle
men
t20
17-2
017
The
min
iste
rial
con
clus
ion
rela
ted
to t
he la
unch
of
nego
tiat
ions
on
AP
7 is
pre
pare
d an
d it
is a
dopt
ed a
t th
e SJ
CM in
Pri
stin
a on
27
Apr
il. T
he e
xplo
rato
ry m
eeti
ng w
as h
eld
on 1
6 M
ay in
Tir
ana
5
b. A
dopt
ing
Addi
tion
al P
roto
col o
n CE
FTA
Disp
ute
Sett
lem
ent
2019-2019
The
draf
t te
xt o
f th
e AP
7 w
as s
ent
to t
he p
arti
es f
or t
he n
egot
ia-
tion
s an
dthefirstrou
ndwasheldinTiran
aon
16ofMay2018
c. E
nsur
ing
tim
ely
entr
y in
to f
orce
of A
ddit
iona
l Pr
otoc
ol o
n CE
FTA
Disp
ute
Sett
lem
ent
2019-2020
Upo
nAd
option
the
AP7
willgotothe
ratification
procedu
rein
all
of t
he P
arti
esd.
Eng
agin
g Pu
blic
-Pri
vate
Sec
tor
Dial
ogue
for
be
tter
mon
itor
ing
of t
he im
plem
enta
tion
of
CEFT
A (c
onti
nuou
s ac
tion
)20
17-2
023
NTM
rep
ort
is p
lann
ed t
o be
pre
pare
d an
d pr
esen
ted
at t
he
Min
iste
rial
con
fere
nce
at t
he e
nd o
f 20
18.
The
coop
erat
ion
wit
h pr
ivat
e se
ctor
will
be
exte
nded
to
the
AEO
s an
d ot
her
area
s
I.1.
2.
Ado
ptio
n of
A
ddit
iona
l Pr
otoc
ol 5
an
d st
art
of
its
impl
e-m
enta
tion
a. A
dopt
ion
of V
alid
atio
n Ru
les
for
mut
ual r
ecog
-ni
tion
s in
AP
520
18-2
018
The
back
grou
nd t
echn
ical
wor
k fo
r dr
afti
ng M
inis
teri
al D
eci-
sion
s on
Impl
emen
ting
Pro
visi
ons
was
alr
eady
com
plet
ed.
The
Conc
epts
for
bot
h M
inis
teri
al D
ecis
ions
wer
e pr
esen
ted
by t
he
Secr
etar
iat
and
agre
ed b
y th
e CE
FTA
Part
ies.
3
b. E
nsur
ing
tim
ely
entr
y in
to f
orce
of
the
AP 5
2018
-201
8
The
list
of a
ctio
ns s
tem
min
g fr
om t
he A
P 5
acco
rdin
g to
tim
e-ba
sed
plan
ning
and
leve
l of
inte
rven
tion
was
pre
sent
ed b
y th
e Se
cret
aria
t in
Mar
ch 2
017.
The
pla
n al
so in
clud
es t
he t
ypes
of
finan
cialassistance.The
AP5en
teredintoforceon18Aprilfor3
Partiesthathaveratifie
dit.A
tthism
omen
t5Partiesha
verati-
fiedtheAP
5
5
c. S
tart
of
Impl
emen
tati
on o
f M
utua
l Rec
ogni
-ti
on P
rogr
amm
es (
Bord
er D
ocum
ents
, w
here
ap
plicab
le(asspe
cifie
dinAP5
),and
Autho
rised
Econ
omic
Ope
rato
rs P
rogr
amm
e)
2020
-202
0
Follo
win
g th
e ad
opti
on o
f M
inis
teri
al D
ecis
ions
on
Impl
emen
t-in
g Pr
ovis
ions
in la
te 2
018,
the
CEF
TA P
arti
es m
ay s
tart
mut
ual
reco
gnit
ion
prog
ram
mes
pro
vide
d th
at t
he v
alid
atio
n sc
hem
es t
o be
cre
ated
by
Min
iste
rial
Dec
isio
ns a
re f
unct
ioni
ng s
eam
less
ly.
2
46 47
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
I.1.
3.
Conc
ludi
ng
Part
y le
vel
IT in
terc
on-
nect
ions
fo
r da
ta
exch
ange
be
twee
n A
genc
ies
at
all l
evel
s
a. D
evel
opin
g th
e fe
asib
ility
pla
ns f
or in
vest
-m
ents
at
Part
y le
vel b
y SE
ED M
aint
enan
ce a
nd
Deve
lopm
ent
Proj
ect
20
17-2
018
The
feas
ibili
ty p
lans
und
er v
ario
us s
cena
rios
hav
e be
en d
evel
-op
ed a
nd p
rese
nted
to
the
CEFT
A Pa
rtie
s.5
b.Ensuringtheallocation
ofad
equa
tefina
ncial
reso
urce
s fr
om t
he b
udge
ts t
o se
cure
inte
rnal
le
vel c
onne
ctio
ns f
or t
he im
plem
enta
tion
of
SEED
+
2018
-202
0
Und
er e
ach
scen
ario
CEF
TA P
arti
es h
ave
full
info
rmat
ion
of t
he
possibleamou
ntoffin
ancialresou
rcesnee
dedtobeallocated
from
the
ir n
atio
nal b
udge
t. O
nce
the
rele
vant
DG
s of
the
Com
-mission
con
firmwhichscena
riowillbefeasibletechn
ically,the
CEFT
A Pa
rtie
s ar
e ex
pect
ed t
o al
loca
te b
udge
t ac
cord
ingl
y. O
n th
e do
nor
conf
eren
ce t
he P
arti
es h
ave
requ
este
d do
nor
assi
s-ta
nce
for
this
act
ion.
3
I.1.
4.
Impr
ov-
ing
join
t ri
sk m
an-
agem
ent,
bo
rder
co
ntro
ls a
nd
one-
stop
sh
op b
orde
r co
ntro
ls
a. D
evel
opin
g a
tim
efra
me
for
join
t ri
sk m
an-
agem
ent,and
whe
reapp
ropriate(asspe
cifie
din
AP5
): j
oint
bor
der
cont
rols
, on
e-st
op s
hop
cont
rols
, sh
arin
g bo
rder
con
trol
equ
ipm
ent
2018-2019
The
CEFT
A st
ruct
ures
for
ris
k m
anag
emen
t sy
stem
s ar
e up
and
ru
nnin
g to
tak
e on
boa
rd t
he d
iscu
ssio
n am
ongs
t CE
FTA
Part
ies
at
the
regi
onal
leve
l.2
b. A
dopt
ion
and
impl
emen
tati
on o
f Re
gion
al
Stra
tegy
for
joi
nt r
isk
man
agem
ent,
and
joi
nt
bord
er c
ontr
ols,
whe
re a
ppro
pria
te (
as s
peci
-fie
dinAP5
),one
-stopshop
con
trols,and
sha
ring
bord
er c
ontr
ol e
quip
men
t
2019-2020
Upo
n th
e re
sult
s of
the
dis
cuss
ions
and
agr
eem
ent
to b
e re
ache
d by
the
CEF
TA P
arti
es,
CEFT
A st
ruct
ures
wou
ld b
e be
st p
lace
d to
ad
opt
the
regi
onal
str
ateg
y on
ris
k m
anag
emen
t.2
I.1.
5.
Dev
elop
-in
g m
utua
l co
oper
atio
n be
twee
n m
arke
t su
rvei
llanc
e co
ntro
l au
thor
itie
s of
CEF
TA
Part
ies
a. D
evel
opin
g a
tim
efra
me
for
mut
ual c
oope
ra-
tion
bet
wee
n m
arke
t su
rvei
llanc
e au
thor
itie
s2018-2019
The
MR
of b
orde
r do
cum
ents
in t
he c
onte
xt o
f AP
5 m
ay f
acili
-ta
te t
he d
iscu
ssio
n am
ongs
t m
arke
t su
rvei
llanc
e au
thor
itie
s.2
b. M
appi
ng t
he r
egul
ator
y re
quir
emen
ts f
or
Mut
ual R
ecog
niti
on A
gree
men
t (M
RA)
in o
ne s
up-
ply
chai
n, a
s se
lect
ed b
y th
e pr
ojec
t Su
ppor
t to
Fa
cilit
atio
n of
Tra
de b
etw
een
CEFT
A Pa
rtie
s
2017
-201
8Th
e CE
FTAStructuresareavaila
bletoprovide
the
officialplat-
form
for
the
top
ic in
the
upc
omin
g pe
riod
.3
c. D
evel
op t
he t
imef
ram
e to
con
clud
e M
RA,
base
d on
EU
com
plia
nce,
on
the
sele
cted
sup
ply
chai
n2018-2019
TheCE
FTAStructuresareavaila
bletoprovide
the
officialplat-
form
for
the
top
ic in
the
upc
omin
g pe
riod
.1
d. A
sses
s po
tent
ials
to
exte
nd M
RA in
oth
er s
up-
ply
chai
ns w
ith
regi
onal
inte
rest
2019-2020
TheCE
FTAStructuresareavaila
bletoprovide
the
officialplat-
form
for
the
top
ic in
the
upc
omin
g pe
riod
.1
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.I.
2. H
arm
onis
atio
n of
CEF
TA M
arke
ts w
ith
the
EUI.
2.1.
En
suri
ng
the
appl
ica-
tion
of
SAP+
an
d Fu
ll Cu
mul
atio
n
a. S
usta
inin
g un
inte
rrup
ted
appl
icat
ion
of S
AP +
2017
-201
8CE
FTA
Part
ies
regu
larl
y at
tend
the
PEM
Joi
nt C
omm
itte
e m
eet-
ings
and
em
phas
ise
the
impo
rtan
ce o
f un
inte
rrup
ted
impl
emen
-ta
tion
of
SAP+
cum
ulat
ion.
4
b. S
tart
of A
pplic
atio
n of
Ful
l cum
ulat
ion
and
duty
dra
wba
ck in
CEF
TA2019-2019
1July2019ad
optedby
the
JCassingleda
teforthe
startof
impl
emen
tati
on o
f fu
ll cu
mul
atio
n an
d du
ty d
raw
back
.4
I.2.
2.
Pote
ntia
l ap
prox
i-m
atio
n of
CE
FTA
MFN
to
EU
CET
a. Im
pact
ass
essm
ent
of a
ppro
xim
atio
n of
CEF
TA
MFN
rateswiththeEU
Com
mon
Externa
lTariff
2018
-201
8Th
e pr
epar
atio
n of
rel
evan
t pr
ojec
t do
cum
ents
is in
pro
gres
s.4
I.3.
Cre
atin
g N
TMs
and
TDM
fre
e Re
gion
I.3.
1.
Adm
inis
tra-
tive
Co-
oper
atio
n be
twee
n Co
mpe
titi
on
and
Stat
e A
id M
onit
or-
ing
Aut
hori
-ti
es
a. D
evel
opin
g th
e in
stru
men
ts f
or in
form
atio
n ex
chan
ge b
etw
een
Com
peti
tion
and
Sta
te A
id
Auth
orit
ies
2019-2020
The CE
FTAStructuresareavaila
bletoprovide
the
officialplat-
form
for
the
top
ic in
the
upc
omin
g pe
riod
.1
b. F
ull
and
sust
aina
ble
repo
rtin
g of
sta
te a
id
incl
udin
g st
ate
aid
sche
mes
and
mea
sure
s 2018-2019
The
legi
slat
ion
is a
lrea
dy in
pla
ce in
CEF
TA f
or s
tate
aid
rep
ort-
ing.
The
rep
orts
del
iver
ed b
y th
e CE
FTA
Part
ies
need
to
be
upda
ted.
1
c. E
nhan
ce c
oope
rati
on a
mon
gst
com
peti
tion
au
thor
itie
s by
sup
port
ing
the
esta
blis
hmen
t of
a
stru
ctur
ed n
etw
ork
to f
oste
r pe
er le
arni
ng20
18-2
023
TheCE
FTAStructuresareavaila
bletoprovide
the
officialplat-
form
for
the
top
ic in
the
upc
omin
g pe
riod
.2
I.3.
2.
Elim
inat
ing
and
rem
ain-
ing
dis-
crim
inat
ory
prac
tice
s in
pu
blic
pro
-cu
rem
ent
mar
kets
a. M
onit
orin
g th
e el
imin
atio
n of
rem
aini
ng
disc
rim
inat
ory
prac
tice
s in
pub
lic p
rocu
rem
ent
mar
kets
20
17-2
018
The resultsofthe
CEF
TAfina
nced
projectform
onitoringthe
publ
ic p
rocu
rem
ent
will
be
avai
labl
e so
on.
4
48 49
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.I.
3.3.
Sy
stem
ic
Mon
itor
ing
of N
TMs
in t
rade
in
good
s an
d se
rvic
es
a. E
mpl
oyin
g de
terr
ing
mon
itor
ing
and
enfo
rce-
men
t m
echa
nism
s to
elim
inat
e an
y re
mai
ning
N
TBs
2018
-202
0Th
e CE
FTA
Mar
ket
Acce
ss B
arri
ers
Data
base
is u
p an
d ru
nnin
g.3
I.4.
Fac
ilita
tion
of
free
tra
de in
ser
vice
s
I.4.
1.
Impl
e-m
enta
tion
of
CEF
TA
Add
itio
nal
Prot
ocol
6
on T
rade
in
Serv
ices
a. A
dopt
ion
of t
he A
ddit
iona
l Pro
toco
l 6 b
y ne
go-
tiat
ing
Part
ies
2017
-201
8Ad
diti
onal
Pro
toco
l 6 a
wai
ts a
dopt
ion
by t
he C
EFTA
Joi
nt C
om-
mit
tee
(the
tex
t is
agr
eed,
den
omin
atio
n is
sue
to b
e so
lved
)1
b. E
nsur
ing
tim
ely
entr
y in
to f
orce
of A
ddit
iona
l Pr
otoc
ol 6
2018-2019
Ratific
ation ofthe
AP6
ispen
dingado
ptionby
JC
1
c. D
evel
opm
ent
of t
he s
usta
inab
le m
echa
nism
fo
r m
onit
orin
g tr
ade
in s
ervi
ces
polic
ies,
incl
ud-
ing
scre
enin
g of
legi
slat
ion
and
map
ping
of
pro-
jectsan
destablishm
entofthe
efficien
tdispute
sett
lem
ent
mec
hani
sm
2017-2019
CEFTAStatisticalP
ortalsetup,in
dicatorsdefi
nedan
dap
proved
2
d. E
stab
lishm
ent
of t
he c
onta
ct p
oint
for
ser
-vi
ces
2018-2019
Conc
ept
on c
onta
ct p
oint
s fo
r se
rvic
es u
nder
pre
para
tion
.2
e. E
stab
lishm
ent
and
mai
nten
ance
of
the
re-
gion
al t
rans
pare
ncy
plat
form
on
serv
ices
pol
icie
s fe
atur
ing
chan
nels
of
com
mun
icat
ion
to p
riva
te
sectorand
widercircleofben
eficiaries
2018
-202
3
Elem
entsofregion
alplatformforservicespa
rtially
defi
ned.
n/a
f. R
evie
w o
f co
mm
itm
ents
und
erta
ken
by t
he
AP6
in n
on-l
iber
alis
ed s
ecto
rs w
ith
a vi
ew t
o de
epen
the
mar
ket
open
ing
in t
hese
sec
tors
2022
-202
3Ac
tion
is p
endi
ng f
ull i
mpl
emen
tati
on o
f AP6
n/a
g. E
valu
atio
n of
impa
ct o
f th
e Ag
reem
ent
on f
ur-
ther
tra
de a
nd in
vest
men
t gr
owth
, G
VC,
labo
ur
mar
ket
2020
-202
3Ac
tion
is p
endi
ng f
ull i
mpl
emen
tati
on o
f AP6
n/a
h. E
stab
lishm
ent
and
mai
nten
ance
of
the
plat
-fo
rm f
or s
tati
stic
al d
ata
on t
rade
in s
ervi
ces,
FA
TS a
nd F
DI20
17-2
023
Repo
rtin
g sy
stem
ope
rati
onal
, di
ssem
inat
ion
plat
form
cre
ated
an
d av
aila
ble
to u
sers
4
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
I.4.
2.
Conc
lusi
on
of a
gree
-m
ents
on
inte
rreg
ion-
al r
egul
a-to
ry c
oop-
erat
ion
a.Id
entific
ationofregulatoryba
rrierstha
tim
-pe
de t
rade
and
pro
posa
l for
clo
ser
coop
erat
ion
amon
gst
regu
lato
ry b
odie
s in
sec
tors
and
pol
i-ci
es o
f m
utua
l int
eres
t
2017
-201
8M
appi
ng o
f re
gula
tory
bod
ies
in c
harg
e of
ser
vice
s co
mpl
eted
. Po
tent
ial b
arri
ers
for
coop
erat
ion
amon
gst
sele
cted
reg
ulat
ors
iden
tifie
d.
b. E
stab
lishm
ent
and
mai
nten
ance
of
data
base
w
ith
regu
lato
ry h
eter
ogen
eity
indi
ces
to p
erfo
rm
asse
ssm
ent
of im
plic
atio
ns o
f ar
rang
emen
ts o
n th
e re
gion
2018
-202
3Lawfirm
sforcompilin
gda
taonlegislationan
dpo
licymea
sures
sele
cted
.
c.Id
entific
ationofsuitableform
sforcoop
era-
tion
bas
ed o
n so
ft la
ws,
rec
ogni
tion
of
inte
rna-
tion
al a
nd E
U s
tand
ards
, M
RAs
2017
-201
8Pr
elim
inar
y an
alys
is o
f po
tent
ial f
orm
s of
coo
pera
tion
am
ongs
t re
gula
tors
per
form
ed.
d. N
egot
iati
on a
nd a
dmin
iste
ring
the
con
clus
ion
of s
elec
ted
arra
ngem
ents
2018
-202
3Ac
tion
will
fol
low
dec
isio
n on
reg
ulat
ors
and
pref
erre
d fo
rms
of
coop
erat
ion
I.4.
3.
Dev
elop
-m
ent
of
disc
iplin
es
on d
omes
tic
regu
lati
on
a. R
egul
ar r
evie
w o
f an
y is
sues
of
dom
esti
c re
gu-
lati
on in
tra
de in
ser
vice
s2018-2019
2022
-202
3
First review
exp
ectedinNovem
ber2019
Seco
nd r
evie
w e
xpec
ted
in 2
023
b. D
evel
opm
ent
of a
ny n
eces
sary
dis
cipl
ines
in
specificsectorstoensurethatqua
lification
re-
quir
emen
ts a
nd p
roce
dure
s, t
echn
ical
sta
ndar
ds
and
licen
sing
req
uire
men
ts d
o no
t un
nece
ssar
ily
impe
de t
he s
uppl
y of
ser
vice
s ac
ross
the
reg
ion
2020
-202
3Ac
tion
willfollowresultsofthefirstreviewtobe
com
pleted
in
2019
50 51
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
I.4.
4.
Laun
chin
g di
alog
ue o
n re
gula
tory
is
sues
in
elec
tron
ic
com
mer
ce
a. Id
enti
fy b
arri
ers
to e
-Com
mer
ce in
CEF
TA a
nd
asse
ss e
-Com
mer
ce im
pact
and
laun
ch r
egio
nal
dial
ogue
on
regu
lato
ry is
sues
in e
lect
roni
c co
m-
mer
ce
2018
-202
3
Stud
y on
bar
rier
s in
legi
slat
ive
fram
ewor
k an
d pr
acti
ce is
und
er
prep
arat
ion
b. A
sses
s ex
isti
ng g
eo-b
lock
ing
mea
sure
s (f
ocus
on
dig
ital
con
tent
and
cop
yrig
ht g
oods
) an
d exam
ine whe
therfitforpu
rposewiththeaimto
preven
tun
justified
geo
-blockingwhileensur
-in
g in
vest
men
t an
d in
nova
tion
ince
ntiv
es a
t th
e sa
me
tim
e
2019-2020
Stud
yon
geo
-blockingmea
surestobeprep
ared
in2019
c. L
aunc
h re
gion
al a
ctio
ns a
imed
at
incr
easi
ng
citi
zen'
s tr
ust
in o
nlin
e se
rvic
es (
paym
ent,
etc
.)
and
coor
dina
tion
on
e-Co
mm
erce
tru
st m
arks
2018
-202
0Ac
tion
will
fol
low
the
res
ults
of
anal
ysis
on
barr
iers
in le
gisl
ativ
e fr
amew
ork
and
prac
tice
d. Id
enti
fy a
nd a
pply
the
bes
t pr
acti
ce t
o di
gita
l m
arke
t pl
aces
to
grow
SM
E bu
sine
sses
and
dri
ve
cons
umer
wel
fare
2018
-202
3Ac
tion
will
fol
low
the
res
ults
of
anal
ysis
on
barr
iers
in le
gisl
ativ
e fr
amew
ork
and
prac
tice
e. A
sses
s ne
cess
ity
of r
egio
nal a
ctio
n to
ens
ure
high
qua
lity
deliv
ery
of g
oods
(e.
g.,
digi
tal c
on-
tent
tra
ded
cros
s-bo
rder
or
phys
ical
goo
ds p
ur-
chas
ed a
nd v
ia e
lect
roni
c m
eans
) an
d se
rvic
es a
t re
ason
able
cos
ts
2018
-202
3
Acti
on w
ill f
ollo
w t
he r
esul
ts o
f an
alys
is o
n ba
rrie
rs in
legi
slat
ive
fram
ewor
k an
d pr
acti
ce
f.Estab
lishrecognitionofcertific
atesofelec
-tr
onic
sig
natu
re a
nd f
acili
tati
on o
f cr
oss-
bord
er
certification
services
2018
-202
3SC
on
Serv
ices
will
ser
ve a
s um
brel
la f
or t
he a
ctiv
itie
s re
late
d to
th
e El
ectr
onic
Com
mer
ce.
g. E
nsur
e lia
bilit
y of
inte
rmed
iary
ser
vice
s pr
o-vi
ders
wit
h re
spec
t to
the
tra
nsm
issi
on,
or s
tor-
age
of in
form
atio
n ba
sed
on E
U c
ompl
ianc
e2019-2021
Acti
on w
ill f
ollo
w t
he r
esul
ts o
f an
alys
is o
n ba
rrie
rs in
legi
slat
ive
fram
ewor
k an
d pr
acti
ce
h. A
ddre
ss t
reat
men
t of
uns
olic
ited
ele
ctro
nic
com
mer
cial
com
mun
icat
ions
2018
-202
3Ac
tion
will
fol
low
the
res
ults
of
anal
ysis
on
barr
iers
in le
gisl
ativ
e fr
amew
ork
and
prac
tice
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.II.
Inve
stm
ent
II.1.
Inve
stm
ent
polic
y Th
e region
isonagood
trackin
implem
entation
ofmea
suresrelatedtothe
investmen
tpo
licy,and
intim
elyman
nerforthefirsthalfof2018,as
stip
ulat
ed b
y th
e M
AP.
Regi
onal
Inve
stm
ent
Refo
rm A
gend
a ha
s be
en d
raft
ed,
revi
ewed
and
end
orse
d bo
th a
t in
divi
dual
eco
nom
y an
d re
gion
al le
vels
(SE
EIC-
CEFT
A Jo
int
Wor
king
Gro
up o
n In
vest
men
ts,
SEEI
C pl
enar
y an
d m
inis
teri
al f
oras
). R
egio
nal C
apit
al M
arke
ts W
orki
ng G
roup
has
bee
n es
tabl
ishe
d an
d pr
epar
ed a
region
alactivityprogrammeforcapitalm
arke
tsdevelop
men
t.The
smartgrow
theffortshaveconsolidated
the
workofthe
regiona
lR&Dplatform
and
SE
EIC
Wor
king
Gro
up o
n In
dust
rial
Pol
icy,
and
tak
en t
he w
ork
in in
trod
ucti
on o
f sm
art
spec
ialis
atio
n to
indu
stri
al d
evel
opm
ent
agen
das
furt
her.
II.1.
1.
Dev
elop
and
es
tabl
ish
a re
gion
al
inve
stm
ent
refo
rm
agen
da
a. E
xecu
te d
etai
led
map
ping
of
fore
ign
inve
st-
men
ts in
the
WB6
reg
ion,
whe
reby
eco
nom
ies
prov
ide
acce
ss t
o FD
I-re
leva
nt d
ata
(sec
tors
, re
inve
stm
ents
, em
ploy
men
t, e
tc.)
2017
-201
8
Deta
iled
map
ping
of
FDI h
as b
een
exec
uted
and
con
solid
ated
at
the
regi
onal
leve
l in
the
fram
ewor
k of
impl
emen
tati
on o
f W
est-
ern
Balk
ans
Regi
onal
Inve
stm
ent
Polic
y an
d Pr
omot
ion
Proj
ect,
pe
rfor
med
in c
oope
rati
on o
f th
e RC
C, C
EFTA
and
the
Wor
ld B
ank
Group
and
withfin
ancialsup
portoftheEu
rope
anCom
mission
.Th
e W
B6 e
cono
mie
s ha
ve d
eliv
ered
the
info
rmat
ion/
data
on
FDIfl
ows,foreigntrade
,inm
ostcasestheinvestordataaswell
(inw
ard,
out
war
d an
d po
tent
ial i
nves
tors
) co
llect
ed b
y re
leva
nt
inst
itut
ions
. Ba
sed
on t
his
data
, FD
I map
ping
rep
ort
and
inve
stor
da
taba
se h
as b
een
crea
ted.
Base
d on
the
inve
stor
dat
abas
e cr
eate
d, in
vest
or s
urve
y ha
s be
en p
erfo
rmed
.
A co
mpr
ehen
sive
inve
ntor
y/da
taba
se o
f ke
y in
vest
men
t po
licy
barriersand
inhibitors,aswella
sbe
stpracticesisfina
lised
th
roug
h de
taile
d in
terv
iew
s w
ith
the
inve
stor
s ba
se in
the
re-
gion
.
Fina
lised
thr
ough
pre
para
tion
of
prop
osal
and
rev
iew
of
the
het-
erog
eneo
us p
olic
y m
ix o
f th
e Re
gion
al In
vest
men
t Re
form
Age
nda
(RIR
A) t
hrou
gh in
divi
dual
eco
nom
y co
nsul
tati
ons
and
regi
onal
di-
alog
ue o
f th
e SE
EIC-
CEFT
A Jo
int
Wor
king
Gro
up o
n In
vest
men
ts.
RIRA
has
bee
n en
dors
ed t
hrou
gh t
he d
ecis
ion
mak
ing
proc
esse
s of
the
hig
her
inst
ance
s, n
amel
y SE
EIC
plen
ary
and
min
iste
rial
pl
atfo
rms
and
put
forw
ard
for
adop
tion
by
the
WB6
PM
s.
3
b. Id
enti
fy a
nd c
ompi
le a
com
preh
ensi
ve in
ven-
tory
/dat
abas
e of
key
inve
stm
ent
polic
y ba
rrie
rs
and
inhi
bito
rs,
as w
ell a
s be
st p
ract
ices
, th
roug
h in
-dep
th c
onsu
ltat
ions
wit
h th
e pr
ivat
e se
ctor
an
d re
view
of
exis
ting
ana
lysi
s, w
ith
econ
omie
s to
pro
vide
rel
evan
t da
ta o
n ex
isti
ng p
olic
ies,
la
ws,
and
reg
ulat
ions
per
tain
ing
to in
vest
men
t,
rele
vant
sys
tem
of
ince
ntiv
es a
s w
ell a
s le
gal
and
othe
r co
mpr
ehen
sive
pro
tect
ion
of t
he a
c-qu
ired
rig
hts
of in
vest
ors
2018
c. F
orm
ulat
e a
regi
onal
inve
stm
ent
refo
rm
agen
da b
y pr
iori
tisi
ng a
nd s
eque
ncin
g is
sues
in
inve
stm
ent-
pert
inen
t po
licie
s to
be
addr
esse
d th
roug
h a
regi
onal
dia
logu
e in
sho
rt-t
erm
, m
ediu
m-t
erm
and
long
-ter
m t
imef
ram
e
2018
d. F
orm
ulat
e in
divi
dual
-eco
nom
y ac
tion
pla
ns
refle
ctingtheregion
alin
vestmen
treform
ag
enda
and
str
eam
linin
g th
e in
divi
dual
-eco
nom
y reform
efforts
2018
e. A
dopt
indi
vidu
al e
cono
my
acti
on p
lans
, re
-fle
cting theregion
alin
vestmen
treform
agend
aan
d st
ream
linin
g th
e in
divi
dual
-eco
nom
y re
form
eff
orts
2018
52 53
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
II.1.
2.
Form
alis
e th
e re
gion
al
inve
stm
ent
refo
rm
agen
da
thro
ugh
appr
opri
ate
inst
rum
ents
a. C
ondu
ct a
naly
sis
and
prop
ose
opti
ons
for
appr
opri
ate
inst
rum
ent(
s) a
ccep
tabl
e to
WB6
ec
onom
ies
base
d on
the
con
tent
of
the
agre
ed
regi
onal
inve
stm
ent
refo
rm a
gend
a
2018
Futu
re a
ctiv
ity,
sch
edul
ed f
or a
fter
Jul
y 20
18 e
ndor
sem
ent
by
the
PMs
and
beyo
nd.
This
is r
ecog
nise
d as
a c
ostl
y ac
tivi
ty t
o be
executed
byateam
ofhighprofilelegale
xpertsand
willnee
dad
dition
alfina
ncialsup
port.
1b.
Dec
ide
on t
he n
eces
sity
, fo
rmat
, an
d sc
ope
of
appr
opri
ate
inst
rum
ent(
s) f
or im
plem
enta
tion
of
the
regi
onal
inve
stm
ent
refo
rm a
gend
a20
18
c. In
itia
te a
nd c
oncl
ude
nego
tiat
ions
on
regi
onal
ap
prop
riat
e in
stru
men
t(s)
, de
pend
ing
on t
he
deci
sion
rea
ched
und
er b
)20
18-2
020
II.1.
3.
Impl
emen
t an
d m
onit
or
inve
stm
ent
refo
rms
in
WB6
as
per
esta
blis
hed
regi
onal
in
vest
men
t re
form
ag
enda
a. S
tren
gthe
n th
e re
gion
al d
ialo
gue
on t
he
agre
ed in
vest
men
t re
form
age
nda
unde
r th
e RC
C (S
EE In
vest
men
t Co
mm
itte
e) b
y re
visi
ng t
he
Term
s of
Ref
eren
ce o
f W
orki
ng G
roup
on
Inve
st-
men
t ac
cord
ingl
y
2017
Region
alIn
vestmen
tRe
form
Agend
a(RIRA)fina
lised
,by
revised
an
d ad
opte
d Te
rms
of R
efer
ence
of
the
SEEI
C-CE
FTA
Join
t W
ork-
ing
Gro
up o
n In
vest
men
ts,
focu
sing
on
impl
emen
tati
on o
f M
AP
REA
and
enta
iling
man
date
d pa
rtic
ipat
ion
of in
divi
dual
eco
nom
y offi
cials incha
rgeofin
vestmen
tpo
licy,promotion,and
agree
-m
ents
(w
hils
t in
clud
ing
coor
dina
tion
wit
h ot
her
rele
vant
line
m
inis
trie
s),
as w
ell a
s CE
FTA
cont
act
poin
ts.
Som
e pr
ogre
ss s
een
in s
ome
of t
he e
cono
mie
s, s
till
this
act
ivit
y ne
eds
to b
e pr
oper
ly e
stab
lishe
d in
all
econ
omie
s. B
ette
r co
ordi
-na
tion
and
cha
in o
f de
cisi
on m
akin
g fr
om t
he in
divi
dual
eco
nom
y le
vel i
s ne
eded
, pa
rtic
ular
ly in
coo
rdin
atio
n be
twee
n th
e M
AP
REANCswithlin
eministriesincha
rgeofdifferen
tpo
licyarea
sun
der
the
inve
stm
ent
com
pone
nt.
Som
e pr
ogre
ss s
een
in s
ome
of t
he e
cono
mie
s, s
till
this
act
ivit
y ne
eds
to b
e pr
oper
ly e
stab
lishe
d in
all
econ
omie
s.
2.5
b. M
anda
te r
epre
sent
atio
n of
the
rel
evan
t pu
blic
in
stit
utio
ns w
ith
appr
opri
ate
deci
sion
mak
ing
pow
er in
impl
emen
tati
on o
f th
e ag
reed
reg
iona
l in
vest
men
t re
form
age
nda
2017
c. E
stab
lish
indi
vidu
al-e
cono
my
focu
s gr
oups
in
char
ge o
f im
plem
enta
tion
of
agre
ed in
vest
men
t re
form
s on
indi
vidu
al-e
cono
my
leve
l20
18
d. R
evie
w t
he p
rogr
ess
of im
plem
enta
tion
of
the
regi
onal
inve
stm
ent
refo
rm a
gend
a an
d co
nduc
t im
pact
ass
essm
ent
thro
ugh
a re
gula
r re
gion
al
dial
ogue
und
er t
he R
CC-C
EFTA
Joi
nt W
ork-
ing
Gro
up o
n In
vest
men
t Po
licy
and
Prom
otio
n m
eeti
ngs
and
repo
rts
2018
-202
0
e. R
epor
t on
the
impl
emen
tati
on a
nd im
pact
of
the
regi
onal
inve
stm
ent
refo
rm a
gend
a th
roug
h th
e RC
C-CE
FTA
Join
t W
orki
ng G
roup
on
Inve
st-
men
t Po
licy
and
Prom
otio
n an
d SE
E In
vest
men
t Co
mm
itte
e M
inis
teri
al P
latf
orm
and
the
WB6
su
mm
it
2018
-202
0
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
II.1.
4.
Prom
ote
WB6
reg
ion
as a
uni
que
inve
stm
ent
dest
inat
ion
a. D
evel
op j
oint
inve
stm
ent
prom
otio
n in
itia
tive
fo
r W
B6 p
rior
ity
sect
ors
and
esta
blis
h an
ope
ra-
tion
al p
latf
orm
of
inve
stm
ent
prom
otio
n to
ols
and
tech
niqu
es
2018
The
inve
stm
ent
prom
otio
n ag
enci
es a
re in
clud
ed in
the
reg
iona
l pl
atfo
rm t
hrou
gh t
he w
ork
of t
he J
WG
I, in
itia
l pro
posa
l mad
e as
a p
art
of R
IRA,
and
end
orse
d, w
ith
deta
iled
acti
vity
pla
n to
fo
llow
. Re
gion
al in
vest
men
t pr
omot
ion
agen
cies
nee
d m
ore
of
tech
nica
l (ca
paci
ty b
uild
ing)
sup
port
for
impl
emen
tati
on o
f jo
int
region
alactivities,given
the
irund
erstaff
edand
und
erbud
geted
situ
atio
n at
indi
vidu
al e
cono
my
leve
ls.
2.5
b. Im
plem
ent
a sm
all s
et o
f fo
cuse
d in
vest
men
t ou
trea
ch a
ctiv
itie
s in
cor
e se
ctor
s ta
rget
ed b
y th
e SE
E 20
20 s
trat
egy
2018
-202
0
c. D
edic
ate
part
of
the
indi
vidu
al a
ctiv
itie
s of
in
vest
men
t pr
omot
ion
agen
cies
to
prom
otin
g th
e re
gion
as
a so
und
inve
stm
ent
dest
inat
ion
2018
-202
0
II.1.
5.
Div
ersi
fi-ca
tion
of
finan
cial
sy
stem
s to
bo
ost
in-
vest
men
t
a.Asafirststepinthisarea
,crea
tearegiona
lCa
pita
l Mar
ket
Deve
lopm
ent
Task
For
ce c
om-
pris
ing
polic
ymak
ers
and
regu
lato
rs t
o sp
ear-
head
cap
ital
mar
ket
deve
lopm
ent
mat
ters
and
en
hanc
e co
ordi
nati
on o
n re
gula
tory
and
sup
ervi
-so
ry r
egim
es in
the
reg
ion
and
beyo
nd (
incl
udin
g co
ordi
nati
on w
ith
the
Vien
na In
itia
tive
Wor
king
G
roup
on
Capi
tal M
arke
ts U
nion
)
2017
Fina
lised
, W
orki
ng G
roup
on
Capi
tal M
arke
ts e
stab
lishe
d, w
ith
adop
ted
ToR
focu
sing
on
MAP
REA
and
ent
ailin
g re
pres
enta
tive
s of
mar
ket
auth
orit
ies
(Min
istr
ies
of F
inan
ce a
nd C
entr
al B
anks
),
regu
lato
rs (
Secu
riti
es C
omm
issi
ons)
and
ope
rato
rs (
Stoc
k Ex
-ch
ange
s).
Inte
rnat
iona
l par
tner
s be
yond
the
reg
ion
have
bee
n iden
tifie
dan
dinvitedtosup
portthe
process(WorldBan
k,Eu-
rope
an C
omm
issi
on,
Vien
na 2
.0 In
itia
tive
, EB
RD –
SEE
Lin
k, a
nd
othe
rs a
s de
emed
nec
essa
ry)
Could be
marke
dasfina
lised
,giventhatthe
provision
softhis
mea
surehavebe
enfulfilled.How
ever,thism
easureism
arke
don
tra
ck,
sinc
e th
e ne
ed f
or r
egio
nal s
trat
egy
for
capi
tal m
arke
ts
has
been
ass
esse
d by
the
new
ly e
stab
lishe
d W
orki
ng G
roup
on
Capi
tal M
arke
ts,
and
mul
ti-a
nnua
l reg
iona
l pro
gram
me
conc
ept
prop
osal
is p
repa
red
for
the
July
201
8 Su
mm
it,
enta
iling
pre
pa-
rati
on a
nd im
plem
enta
tion
of
the
regi
onal
str
ateg
y fo
r ca
pita
l m
arke
ts d
evel
opm
ent,
est
ablis
hmen
t of
new
A2F
pla
tfor
ms,
in
crea
sing
cap
acit
y of
reg
iona
l cap
ital
mar
ket
stru
ctur
es,
as
wel
l as
upgr
adin
g re
gion
al t
radi
ng p
latf
orm
s. T
he p
ropo
sal f
or a
region
alprogram
mene
edssubstantialfi
nancing.
3b.
Bas
ed o
n an
alys
is o
n ca
pita
l mar
kets
dev
elop
-m
ent,
aim
ed a
t id
enti
fyin
g ga
ps a
nd o
ppor
tuni
-ti
es f
or b
road
er c
apit
al m
arke
ts in
tegr
atio
n,
asse
ss t
he n
eed
for
deve
lopm
ent
of a
reg
iona
l st
rate
gy f
or c
apit
al m
arke
ts d
evel
opm
ent
2018
-202
0
54 55
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
II.1.
6.
Smar
t G
row
th
a.
Esta
blis
h re
gion
al d
ialo
gue
and
know
ledg
e ex
chan
ge o
n de
velo
ping
Sm
art
grow
th s
trat
e-gi
es b
ased
on
EU e
xper
ienc
e an
d su
ppor
t th
e de
velo
pmen
t of
sm
art
spec
ialis
atio
n re
sear
ch
and
inno
vati
on s
trat
egie
s in
the
WB6
to
ensu
re
stra
tegi
c st
ruct
ural
inve
stm
ents
and
to
build
co
mpe
titi
ve a
dvan
tage
i) w
ith
the
acti
ve p
arti
cipa
tion
of
the
busi
-ne
ss a
nd r
esea
rch
and
inno
vati
on c
omm
unit
ies,
en
gage
wit
h EU
-wid
e sm
art
grow
th a
ppro
ache
s,
nota
bly
the
smar
t sp
ecia
lisat
ion
plat
form
s, t
o de
velo
p an
d im
plem
ent
smar
t gr
owth
dev
elop
-m
ent
stra
tegi
es
ii) w
ith
the
acti
ve p
arti
cipa
tion
of
the
busi
-ne
ss a
nd r
esea
rch
and
inno
vati
on c
omm
unit
ies,
en
gage
wit
h EU
-wid
e w
ork
on d
igit
alis
atio
n, t
o de
velo
p an
d im
plem
ent
digi
tal g
row
th s
trat
egie
s
iii)de
velopea
sieraccesstofina
nceforbu
sine
ss,
espe
cial
ly S
MEs
, st
art-
ups
and
scal
e-up
s
2018
All o
f th
e ec
onom
ies
have
eng
aged
in a
dyn
amic
way
wit
h de
vel-
opm
ent
of r
esea
rch
and
inno
vati
on p
olic
ies
whe
reby
all
econ
o-m
ies
have
rec
entl
y ad
opte
d R&
D st
rate
gies
, bu
t al
so e
ngag
ed in
de
velo
pmen
t of
inno
vati
on p
olic
ies
and
inst
rum
ents
whi
ch e
ntai
l a
broa
der
unde
rsta
ndin
g of
inno
vati
on.
Deve
lopm
ent
of s
mar
t sp
ecia
lisat
ion
stra
tegi
es h
as b
een
plac
ed o
n th
e ag
enda
as
one
of t
he p
rior
itie
s fo
r 20
18 b
y al
l of
the
econ
o-m
ies.
Whi
le S
erbi
a an
d M
onte
negr
o ha
ve a
lrea
dy p
rogr
esse
d in
the
de
velo
pmen
t of
the
sm
art
spec
ialis
atio
n st
rate
gies
, th
e ot
her
four
ec
onom
ies
have
init
iate
d th
e pr
oces
s of
the
dev
elop
men
t of
the
sm
art
spec
ialis
atio
n st
rate
gies
by
appo
inti
ng t
he c
oord
inat
ing
in-
stit
utio
n an
d th
e te
am t
o co
ordi
nate
the
pre
para
tion
of
the
smar
t specialisationinearly2018.Alban
iahasfina
lised
the
firstph
ase
of t
he S
3 ro
adm
ap h
avin
g se
nt t
he le
tter
of
inte
ntio
n re
gard
ing
the
colla
bora
tion
on
the
deve
lopm
ent
of t
he s
mar
t sp
ecia
lisat
ion
stra
tegy
to
DG J
RC. A
lso
the
inst
itut
iona
l cap
acit
y bu
ildin
g ph
ase
ofthe
roadm
apwascon
clud
ed,fin
alisingthede
skresea
rchof
the
exis
ting
pol
icie
s an
d st
rate
gies
rel
ated
to
S3.
The
deci
sion
to
have
a n
atio
nal S
, as
wel
l as
to p
ilot
S3 a
t re
gion
al le
vel,
in R
egio
n 2
of A
lban
ia,
was
tak
en in
clo
se c
olla
bora
tion
and
con
sult
atio
n w
ith
the
Regi
onal
Dev
elop
men
t Age
ncy
2. T
he A
lban
ian
S3 t
eam
is
wor
king
clo
sely
wit
h JR
C fo
llow
ing
step
s as
for
esee
n in
the
joi
ntly
ag
reed
roa
dmap
.
Regi
onal
Coo
pera
tion
Cou
ncil
(RCC
) an
d th
e Di
rect
orat
e-G
ener
al
Join
t Re
sear
ch C
entr
e (D
G J
RC)
of t
he E
urop
ean
Com
mis
sion
co-
orga
nise
d a
join
t W
orks
hop
on t
he G
over
nanc
e of
Sm
art
Spec
iali-
sati
on a
nd T
rain
ing
on t
he E
ntre
pren
euri
al D
isco
very
Pro
cess
(ED
P)
in t
he W
este
rn B
alka
ns,
whi
ch w
as h
eld
at T
echn
olog
y Pa
rk in
Lju
-bl
jana
on
11-1
2 Ap
ril 2
018.
In
the
cour
se o
f th
e w
orks
hop
Alba
nia,
Bo
snia
and
Her
zego
vina
, Ko
sovo
* an
d Th
e Fo
rmer
Yug
osla
v Re
pub-
licofMaced
oniahavecompleted
the
firstdraftsoftheRo
admap
sfo
r th
e De
velo
pmen
t of
the
Sm
art
Spec
ialis
atio
n St
rate
gies
, w
hile
M
onte
negr
o an
d Se
rbia
hav
e st
arte
d to
pre
pare
ope
rati
onal
pla
ns
for
the
impl
emen
tati
on o
f th
e ED
P pr
oces
s. M
onte
negr
o st
arte
d w
ith
Entr
epre
neur
ial D
isco
very
Pro
cess
(ED
P) o
n 11
May
201
8 an
d is
now
hol
ding
the
sec
ond
roun
d of
con
sult
atio
ns w
ith
priv
ate,
pu
blic
, ac
adem
ic a
nd c
ivil
sect
ors
rega
rdin
g S3
pri
orit
y se
ctor
s.
2
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.Re
sear
ch c
omm
erci
alis
atio
n is
at
a ve
ry e
arly
sta
ge o
f de
velo
p-m
ent
in t
he W
este
rn B
alka
ns.
Ther
e ar
e ve
ry f
ew U
nive
rsit
y Techno
logyTransferOfficesan
dwhe
rethe
ydo
existthe
yare
unde
rfun
ded,und
erstaff
edand
havelim
ited
cap
acitytosup
-po
rt t
he t
echn
olog
y tr
ansf
er p
roce
sses
. Th
e Ec
onom
ic R
efor
m
Prog
ram
me
of T
he F
orm
er R
epub
lic o
f M
aced
onia
pri
orit
ises
the
establishm
entofNationa
lTechn
ologyTran
sferOffice(NTT
O)an
dpr
epar
ator
y ac
tivi
ties
for
est
ablis
hmen
t ar
e co
mpl
eted
. In
Oct
o-be
r 20
16,
the
draf
t am
endm
ents
to
the
Law
on
Inno
vati
on A
ctiv
-it
y fo
r pr
ovid
ing
a le
gal f
ram
ewor
k fo
r N
TTO
and
incl
usio
n of
the
Fu
nd f
or In
nova
tion
and
Tec
hnol
ogic
al D
evel
opm
ent
as o
ne o
f th
e fo
unde
rs o
f th
e N
TTO
wer
e ad
opte
d by
the
Par
liam
ent.
The
NTT
Oisexp
ectedtostartfun
ctioningin
the
firstha
lfof2018.
Som
e of
the
eco
nom
ies,
not
ably
Ser
bia,
Mon
tene
gro
and
The
Form
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia,
have
als
o in
vest
ed in
to
the
deve
lopm
ent
of S
cien
ce P
arks
and
Incu
bato
rs,
how
ever
tru
e Sc
ienc
e an
d Te
chno
logy
Par
ks a
re r
are
in t
he W
este
rn B
alka
ns
and
shou
ld n
ot b
e co
nfus
ed w
ith
tech
nolo
gy p
arks
and
fre
e tr
ade
zone
s de
sign
ed t
o en
cour
age
esta
blis
hed
busi
ness
es.
Incu
ba-
tors
are
mor
e co
mm
on b
ut t
here
are
few
exa
mpl
es o
f in
cuba
-torsfocusingon
start-upsand
spino
ffwithtechno
logybased
an
d sc
alab
le id
eas.
At
the
sam
e ti
me
the
econ
omie
s ar
e lo
okin
g in
to d
evel
opin
g C
entr
es o
f Ex
celle
nce
wit
h va
rieg
ated
pro
gres
s be
twee
n ec
onom
ies.
A m
ulti
-cou
ntry
IPA
proj
ect
aim
ed a
t su
ppor
ting
tec
hnol
ogy
tran
sfer
and
inno
vati
on in
the
Wes
tern
Bal
kans
– E
U4T
ech
– m
an-
aged
by
DG N
EAR
and
DG J
oint
Res
earc
her
Cent
re w
as la
unch
ed
at t
he b
egin
ning
of
2016
. Th
e pr
ojec
t in
tend
s to
impl
emen
t a
ho-
listi
c ca
paci
ty b
uild
ing
stra
tegy
tha
t w
ill lo
ok a
t th
e pe
rfor
man
ce
of a
ll ac
tors
ope
rati
ng in
the
tec
hnol
ogy
tran
sfer
and
inno
vati
on
rang
ing
from
aca
dem
ic in
stit
utio
ns t
o ea
rly
stag
e in
vest
ors
to
scie
nce
park
s to
spi
n-ou
t co
mpa
nies
to
polic
y m
aker
s. F
ifte
en o
r-ga
nisa
tion
s in
the
eco
syst
em f
or T
T ca
paci
ty b
uild
ing
in t
he W
B6
havebee
niden
tifie
dwithintheprojectan
dtargeted
cap
acity
build
ing
and
trai
ning
s ha
ve c
omm
ence
d in
201
8.
56 57
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.Fu
rthe
rmor
e, t
he E
urop
ean
Inve
stm
ent
Bank
(EI
B) is
con
duct
-in
g a
feas
ibili
ty s
tudy
for
a r
egio
nal C
entr
e of
Exc
elle
nce
whi
ch
shou
ld p
ropo
se in
stit
utio
n(s)
/hub
(s)
wit
h hi
ghes
t po
tent
ial f
or
Cent
re o
f Ex
celle
nce
base
d on
res
earc
h ag
enda
, ca
paci
ty t
o in
te-
graterelatedfie
lds,ena
bleindu
strialcon
nectivityan
den
sure
visi
bilit
y an
d su
stai
nabi
lity.
Due
to
dela
ys t
he s
tudy
has
not
yet
be
en m
ade
avai
labl
e, b
ut it
is e
xpec
ted
to b
e pu
blis
hed
in 2
018.
Inve
stm
ents
to
supp
ort
inno
vati
on,
as w
ell a
s co
mm
erci
alis
a-ti
on o
f pu
blic
res
earc
h ar
e of
cru
cial
impo
rtan
ce.
Serb
ia h
as s
et
up a
fun
ctio
nal i
nnov
atio
n fu
nd,
as w
ell a
s Th
e Fo
rmer
Yug
osla
v Re
publicofMaced
onia,A
lban
iaaswello
fferstheInno
vation
Fu
nd f
or S
MEs
as
a pu
blic
gra
nt d
edic
ated
to
Alba
nian
SM
Es t
hat
have
the
ir f
ocus
on
inno
vati
on a
nd t
echn
olog
y as
wel
l as
audi
t of
inno
vati
on a
nd t
echn
olog
y ne
eds,
par
tici
pati
on in
inno
vati
on
and
tech
nolo
gy n
atio
nal a
nd in
tern
atio
nal f
airs
, pu
rcha
se o
f te
chno
logy
/inn
ovat
ive
equi
pmen
t/m
achi
neri
es,
etc.
whi
le o
ther
econ
omiesha
vestarted
introd
ucingdifferen
tinno
vation
vou
cher
sche
mes
on
a sm
alle
r sc
ale.
Und
er t
he W
este
rn B
alka
ns E
nter
-pr
ise
Deve
lopm
ent
and
Inno
vati
on F
acili
ty (
WB
EDIF
), t
he W
orld
Ba
nk is
impl
emen
ting
tec
hnic
al a
ssis
tanc
e to
sup
port
dev
elop
-m
ent
of a
n en
ablin
g ve
ntur
e ca
pita
l eco
syst
em a
nd a
ssis
t w
ith
inve
stm
ent
read
ines
s of
SM
Es.
Und
er t
his
prog
ram
me,
the
Wor
ld
Bank
is c
ondu
ctin
g an
ass
essm
ent
of t
he v
entu
re c
apit
al e
nvir
on-
men
t in
the
Wes
tern
Bal
kans
and
is h
elpi
ng p
ut in
pla
ce t
he r
ight
le
gisl
ativ
e fr
amew
ork
for
inve
stm
ent
fund
s. S
o fa
r, th
e as
sess
-m
ent
has
been
com
plet
ed in
Alb
ania
and
The
For
mer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
. In
vest
men
t re
adin
ess
pilo
ts a
re a
lso
be-
ing
impl
emen
ted
thro
ugho
ut t
he r
egio
n.
The
EU4T
ech
proj
ect,
men
tion
ed a
bove
, ha
s re
view
ed t
he
existingavaila
bleTT
fina
ncialinstrum
entsin
region.Based
on
theiden
tifie
dgapsJRC
’sthe
maticexp
ertiseand
EIB’sfina
ncial
know
-how
will
be
used
in a
syn
erge
tic
way
to
laun
ch a
sm
all-
scal
e W
este
rn B
alka
ns 6
pilo
t in
itia
tive
fun
ded
thro
ugh
the
multi-cou
ntryIPA,whichwillrep
resentthe
next,and
firstpracti
-cal,stagein
the
effortstocoverthesocalled“valleyofdea
th”
betw
een
rese
arch
and
indu
stry
.
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.III
. M
obili
tyIII
. 1.
Mob
ility
of
Rese
arch
ers
Allo
ftheWB6
econo
miesha
vestepp
edupeff
ortstoprioritiseand
rem
oveob
staclestom
obilityofresearchersresultinginoverallgood
progresson
re
mov
ing
obst
acle
s to
mob
ility
of
rese
arch
ers.
All
of t
he W
B6 h
ave
prio
riti
sed
mob
ility
of
rese
arch
ers
in t
heir
res
pect
ive
str
ateg
ic f
ram
ewor
ks.
In r
e-spon
setotheiden
tifie
dob
staclestom
obilityofresearchers,whichin
clud
efin
ancialbarriers,m
ajorityofthe
econo
miesha
vecreated
grantschem
es
to s
uppo
rt m
obili
ty o
f re
sear
cher
s at
the
leve
l of
indi
vidu
al e
cono
mie
s.
Wit
h re
gard
s to
act
ions
aim
ed a
t su
ppor
ting
res
earc
h in
fras
truc
ture
and
the
dev
elop
men
t of
cen
tres
of
exce
llenc
e in
the
reg
ion
prog
ress
has
bee
n sl
ower
and
var
iati
on b
etw
een
econ
omie
s m
ore
prom
inen
t. A
ll th
e W
B6 e
cono
mie
s ap
art
from
Kos
ovo*
hav
e re
pres
enta
tive
s in
the
Eur
opea
n St
rate
gy
ForumonRe
searchIn
frastructures(ESFRI).Mon
tene
grocompleted
map
pingofresearchin
frastructureand
fina
lised
the
Resea
rchInfrastructureRoa
d -map
inline
withESFR
I,whileSerbiaisin
the
fina
lstageofcompletingthemap
pingexercisean
dtheRe
searchIn
frastructureRoa
dmap
.
III.1
.1.
Re
mov
al o
f ob
stac
les
to
mob
ility
of
rese
arch
ers
a. Id
enti
fy le
gal b
arri
ers
for
open
mer
it-b
ased
, co
mpe
titi
ve,
inte
rnat
iona
l rec
ruit
men
t sy
stem
an
dremovetheiden
tifie
dlegalb
arriers
2020
The
WB6
eco
nom
ies
have
ass
ocia
ted
stat
us in
H20
20 w
ith
exce
p-ti
on o
f Ko
sovo
* w
hich
has
an
inte
rnat
iona
l coo
pera
tion
par
tner
st
atus
. O
n th
e ot
her
hand
, in
the
Eur
opea
n Co
oper
atio
n in
Sci
-en
ce a
nd T
echn
olog
y (C
OST
) pr
ogra
mm
e on
ly S
erbi
a, M
onte
ne-
gro,
Bos
nia
and
Her
cego
vina
and
The
For
mer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic
of M
aced
onia
hav
e m
embe
rshi
p st
atus
. Th
e av
erag
e su
cces
s ra
te
forallW
Becon
omiesinHorizon
2020is10.9%
com
paredto14.6%
fo
r H
oriz
on 2
020
over
all.
Withregardstom
obilityofresearchers,the
MarieSkłod
owska-
Curi
e ac
tion
s (M
SCA)
sup
port
res
earc
hers
at
all s
tage
s of
th
eir
care
ers
acro
ss a
ll di
scip
lines
and
are
ope
ned
to a
ll W
B6
econ
omie
s. H
owev
er,
rese
arch
ers
from
the
WB6
reg
ion
have
difficultyaccessingtheMSC
A,astheyfacedifficultiesincom
-pe
ting
aga
inst
the
mor
e ad
vanc
ed r
esea
rch
syst
ems
of t
he E
U.
Ther
efor
e, H
oriz
on 2
020
has
open
ed u
p a
spec
ial s
ecti
on t
o su
ppor
t pa
rtic
ipat
ion
of r
esea
rche
rs f
rom
the
WB6
reg
ion
(and
el
sew
here
) th
roug
h W
iden
ing
mea
sure
s, in
clud
ing
Twin
ning
, ER
A Ch
airs
and
Wid
enin
g Fe
llow
ship
s.
In a
ddit
ion
to M
SCA,
the
WB6
par
tici
pate
in t
he C
entr
al E
urop
ean
Exch
ange
Pro
gram
me
for
Uni
vers
ity
Stud
ies
(CEE
PUS)
exc
hang
e pr
ogra
mm
e w
hich
can
be
used
by
prof
esso
rs t
o un
dert
ake
mob
il-it
y re
late
d to
tea
chin
g in
Cen
tral
Eas
tern
Eur
ope
regi
on a
nd h
ave
a re
sear
ch c
ompo
nent
if r
elat
ed t
o te
achi
ng.
3
b. Id
enti
fy in
stit
utio
nal b
arri
ers
to m
obili
ty
of r
esea
rche
rs,
incl
udin
g w
orki
ng c
ondi
tion
s,
recr
uitm
ent
syst
ems
and
prom
otio
n cr
iter
ia,
and
removeiden
tifie
dba
rriers
2020
c. D
evel
op m
echa
nism
s an
d m
easu
res
to s
up-
port
incr
ease
d m
obili
ty o
f re
sear
cher
s fr
om W
B6
to E
U w
ithi
n th
e ex
isti
ng m
obili
ty s
chem
es (
for
inst
ance
Wes
tern
Bal
kan
Win
dow
wit
hin
the
MSC
Ac
tion
s)
2019
d. D
evel
op a
nd im
plem
ent
a pi
lot
sche
me
to
supp
ort
inco
min
g m
obili
ty o
f p
ost-
doct
oral
re-
sear
cher
s to
the
Wes
tern
Bal
kans
wit
h an
aim
to
build
res
earc
h ex
celle
nce
netw
orks
in t
he r
egio
n
2019
e. M
ap t
he e
xist
ing
rese
arch
infr
astr
uctu
re in
th
e re
gion
to
ensu
re t
rans
pare
nt a
nd a
vaila
ble
info
rmat
ion
to r
esea
rche
rs in
tere
sted
to
coop
-er
ate
wit
h an
d in
the
Wes
tern
Bal
kans
and
to
iden
tify
gap
s
2019
58 59
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.f.
Dev
elop
a n
ew r
egio
nal C
entr
e of
Exc
elle
nce
to p
rom
ote
colla
bora
tion
bet
wee
n sc
ienc
e, t
ech-
nolo
gy a
nd in
dust
ry a
nd t
o p
rovi
de a
pla
tfor
m
for
educ
atio
n of
you
ng s
cien
tist
s an
d en
gine
ers,
ba
sedon
the
map
pingand
the
iden
tifie
dgaps
2020
Furt
herm
ore,
eac
h go
vern
men
t ha
s si
gned
sev
eral
bila
tera
l ag
reem
ents
wit
h ec
onom
ies
of t
he r
egio
n an
d ou
tsid
e th
e re
gion
to
pro
mot
e re
sear
ch c
oope
rati
on.
How
ever
, th
e im
plem
enta
tion
of
the
bila
tera
l agr
eem
ents
is o
ften
hin
dere
d du
e to
the
lack
of
fund
ing
from
the
dom
esti
c bu
dget
s.
All t
he W
B6 e
cono
mie
s ap
art
from
Kos
ovo*
hav
e re
pres
enta
tive
s in
the
Eur
opea
n St
rate
gy F
orum
on
Rese
arch
Infr
astr
uctu
res
(ES-
FRI)
. M
onte
negr
o co
mpl
eted
map
ping
of
rese
arch
infr
astr
uctu
re
andfin
alised
the
Resea
rchInfrastructureRoa
dmap
inline
with
ESFR
I. S
erbi
a ha
s in
itia
ted
a sy
stem
atic
map
ping
of
rese
arch
in
fras
truc
ture
, w
hile
oth
er e
cono
mie
s ar
e at
a v
ery
earl
y st
age.
In t
he W
B6 e
cono
mie
s, o
nly
Serb
ia h
as E
RIC
Coor
dina
tor.
32 S
erbi
a is
als
o in
the
pro
cess
of
appo
inti
ng a
Rep
rese
ntin
g En
tity
to
join
th
e Ce
ntra
l Eur
opea
n Re
sear
ch In
fras
truc
ture
Con
sort
ium
(CE
RIC-
ERIC
). T
his
is a
n in
tegr
ated
mul
tidi
scip
linar
y re
sear
ch in
fras
truc
-tu
re,
set
up a
s an
ERI
C by
Aus
tria
, Cz
ech
Repu
blic
, It
aly,
Rom
a-ni
a, S
erbi
a an
d Sl
oven
ia.
CERI
C-ER
IC is
ope
n to
ext
erna
l bas
ic
and
appl
ied
user
s.
Seve
ral
dom
esti
c ce
ntre
s of
res
earc
h ex
celle
nce
have
bee
n cr
e-at
ed,
mos
t pr
omin
ent
bein
g th
e Bi
osen
se in
stit
ute
in S
erbi
a an
d th
e Bi
o-IC
T Ce
ntre
of
Exce
llenc
e in
Mon
tene
gro.
The
re is
as
yet
no r
egio
nal c
entr
e of
exc
elle
nce.
How
ever
, th
ere
is a
n in
itia
tive
le
d by
Min
istr
y of
Sci
ence
of
Mon
tene
gro
to e
stab
lish
Sout
h Ea
st
Euro
pean
Inte
rnat
iona
l Ins
titu
te f
or S
usta
inab
le T
echn
olog
ies
aim
ing
to p
rom
ote
colla
bora
tion
bet
wee
n sc
ienc
e, t
echn
olog
y an
d in
dust
ry,
but
also
to
prov
ide
plat
form
s fo
r th
e ed
ucat
ion
and
trai
ning
of
youn
g sc
ient
ists
and
eng
inee
rs b
ased
on
know
ledg
e an
d te
chno
logy
tra
nsfe
r fr
om E
urop
ean
labo
rato
ries
like
CER
N
and
othe
rs.
The
init
iati
ve h
as r
ecei
ved
Lett
ers
of S
uppo
rt f
rom
th
e M
inis
ters
res
pons
ible
for
Sci
ence
fro
m a
ll W
B6 e
cono
mie
s, a
s w
ell a
s Cr
oati
a an
d Sl
oven
ia.
g. S
tren
gthe
ning
the
cap
acit
y of
EU
RAXE
SS o
f-fic
esin
the
regionan
dtheim
plem
entation
of
Char
ter
and
Code
pri
ncip
les
and
Seal
of
Exce
l-le
nce
Cont
inuo
us
32 A
Eur
opea
n Re
sear
ch In
fras
truc
ture
Con
sort
ium
(ER
IC)
is a
lega
l sta
tus
gran
ted
by t
he E
urop
ean
Com
mis
sion
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.Al
l of
the
WB6
eco
nom
ies,
wit
h an
exc
epti
on o
f Ko
sovo
*, h
ave
esta
blis
hed
the
EURA
XESS
Ser
vice
Cen
tres
and
ass
ocia
ted
EU-
RAXE
SS J
obs
Port
als,
yet
litt
le in
form
atio
n on
res
earc
her
job
vaca
ncie
s in
the
reg
ion
is a
vaila
ble
thro
ugh
the
EURA
XESS
por
tal.
RC
C w
ill s
uppo
rt t
he n
etw
orki
ng o
f th
e EU
RAXE
SS c
onta
ct p
oint
s an
d th
e as
soci
ated
ser
vice
s to
bui
ld c
apac
ity
to s
uppo
rt r
e-se
arch
ers
from
the
WB6
in a
pply
ing
and
com
peti
ng s
ucce
ssfu
lly
for
the
exis
ting
EU
mob
ility
pro
gram
mes
.III
.2.
Mob
ility
of
Prof
essi
onal
sDe
spite initiald
elays,the
prepa
ratoryworkne
eded
toop
ennegotiation
son
Mutua
lRecognition
Agree
men
tofProfessiona
lQua
lification
sforDo
ctors
of M
edic
ine,
Den
tist
s, A
rchi
tect
s an
d Ci
vil E
ngin
eers
has
bee
n co
mpl
eted
.
TheWorkingGroup
onRe
cognitionofProfessiona
lQua
lification
sha
sagreed
onthe7thofMay2018torecom
men
dtheop
eningofthe
negotiation
son
the
Mutua
lRecognition
Agree
men
tofProfessiona
lQua
lification
sforDo
ctorsofMed
icine,Den
tists,Architectsan
dCivilE
nginee
rsin
am
ultilateral
fram
ework.Based
ontherecommen
dation
ofthejointWorkingGroup
onRe
cognitionofProfessiona
lQua
lification
sthegovernmen
tsoftheWB6
are
expe
cted
to
prov
ide
the
man
date
s an
d to
app
oint
the
Lea
d N
egot
iato
r, D
eput
y Le
ad N
egot
iato
r an
d th
e ne
goti
atio
n te
ams
by t
he 3
0th
of J
une
2018
. Inadd
ition,W
orkingGroup
onRe
cognitionofProfessiona
lQua
lification
salsoagree
dtorecom
men
dtothe
governm
entstoap
pointacoordina
torfor
theDa
taba
seonProfession
alQua
lification
sinW
B6withaman
datetocoordina
tethe
datacolle
ctionan
dsubm
itthe
datatothe
Datab
aseon
Profes-
sion
alQua
lification
sby
the
30thofJun
e2018.
III.2
.1.
Rem
oval
of
obst
acle
s to
re
cogn
itio
n of
pro
fes-
sion
al q
uali-
ficat
ions
a. O
pen
nego
tiat
ion
on m
utua
l rec
ogni
tion
agreem
entsofprofession
alqua
lification
sfor
Doct
ors
of M
edic
ine,
Den
tist
s, A
rchi
tect
s an
d Ci
vil E
ngin
eers
in a
mul
tila
tera
l fra
mew
ork
2017
TheWorkingGroup
onRe
cognitionofProfessiona
lQua
lification
sha
s ag
reed
on
the
7th
of M
ay 2
018
to r
ecom
men
d th
e op
en-
ing
of t
he n
egot
iati
ons
on t
he M
utua
l Rec
ogni
tion
Agr
eem
ent
ofProfessiona
lQua
lification
sforDo
ctorsofMed
icine,Den
tists,
Arch
itec
ts a
nd C
ivil
Engi
neer
s in
a m
ulti
late
ral f
ram
ewor
k. B
ased
on
the
rec
omm
enda
tion
of
the
Join
t W
orki
ng G
roup
on
Reco
gni-
tion
ofProfession
alQua
lification
sthegovernmen
tsoftheWB6
ar
e ex
pect
ed t
o pr
ovid
e th
e m
anda
tes
and
to a
ppoi
nt t
he L
ead
Neg
otia
tor,
Depu
ty L
ead
Neg
otia
tor
and
the
nego
tiat
ion
team
s by
the
30t
h of
Jun
e 20
18.
To f
acili
tate
the
inte
rnal
gov
ernm
en-
tal p
roce
dure
s th
e RC
C ha
s pr
ovid
ed t
he d
raft
lega
l tex
t of
the
Mutua
lRecognition
Agree
men
tofProfessiona
lQua
lification
sfor
Doct
ors
of M
edic
ine,
Den
tist
s, A
rchi
tect
s an
d Ci
vil E
ngin
eers
.
3
b. C
oncl
ude
nego
tiat
ions
on
mut
ual r
ecog
niti
on
agreem
entsofprofession
alqua
lification
sfor
Doct
ors
of M
edic
ine,
Den
tist
s, A
rchi
tect
s an
d Ci
vil E
ngin
eers
in a
mul
tila
tera
l fra
mew
ork
2019
c. E
stab
lish
the
Data
base
on
Prof
essi
onal
Qua
li-fic
ationsand
Mob
ilityofProfession
alsin2018to
befullyope
ration
byDe
cembe
r2019
2018
d.Datab
aseon
Professiona
lQua
lification
san
dM
obili
ty o
f Pr
ofes
sion
als
fully
ope
rati
onal
2019
60 61
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.e.
Bui
ld c
apac
ity
to f
acili
tate
the
dat
a an
d in
-fo
rmat
ion
colle
ctio
n fo
r th
e Da
taba
se o
n Pr
ofes
-sion
alQua
lification
san
dMob
ilityofProfession
als
Cont
inuo
usO
nce
the
gove
rnm
ents
hav
e co
mpl
eted
the
inte
rnal
gov
ernm
en-
tal p
roce
dure
s th
ey a
re t
o in
form
the
RCC
Sec
reta
ry G
ener
al.
Onc
e al
l WB6
hav
e co
mpl
eted
the
pro
cedu
res
and
have
info
rmed
theRC
CSecretaryGen
eralthe
firstmee
tingofthene
gotiating
team
s w
ill b
e ca
lled
by t
he R
CC w
here
the
Rul
es o
f Pr
oced
ures
fo
r th
e ne
goti
atio
ns w
ill b
e di
scus
sed.
If a
ll th
e go
vern
men
ts
have
com
plet
ed t
heir
pro
cedu
res
and
info
rmed
the
RCC
Sec
re-
tary
Gen
eral
the
reof
by
the
30th
of
June
201
8 as
agr
eed,
the
firstm
eetingofthene
gotiatingteam
scouldtake
placein
July
2018
.
In a
ddit
ion,
Wor
king
Gro
up o
n Re
cogn
itio
n of
Pro
fess
iona
l Qua
lification
salsoagree
dtorecom
men
dtothe
governm
entsto
appo
intacoordina
torfortheDa
taba
seonProfession
alQua
lifica
-ti
ons
in W
B6 w
ith
a m
anda
te t
o co
ordi
nate
the
dat
a co
llect
ion
andsubm
itthe
datatothe
Datab
aseon
Professiona
lQua
lifica
-ti
ons
by t
he 3
0th
of J
une
2018
. To
fac
ilita
te t
he e
stab
lishm
ent
of
theDa
taba
seonProfession
alQua
lification
sinW
B6the
RCC
has
cont
ract
ed a
ser
vice
pro
vide
r to
cre
ate
the
Data
base
on
Prof
es-
sion
alQua
lification
s.The
initiald
atafortheHea
lthan
dCo
n-st
ruct
ion
sect
ors
has
alre
ady
been
col
lect
ed b
y th
e RC
C. T
here
-fo
re,
once
the
gov
ernm
ents
hav
e ap
poin
ted
the
coor
dina
tors
for
theDa
taba
seonProfession
alQua
lification
stheverific
ationof
the
data
, up
on w
hich
the
laun
chin
g of
Dat
abas
e de
pend
s, w
ill b
e po
ssib
le.
f.
Exp
lore
pos
sibi
litie
s to
ope
n ne
goti
atio
ns a
nd
conc
lude
mut
ual r
ecog
niti
on a
gree
men
ts in
ot
her
sect
ors
and
prof
essi
ons
of m
utua
l int
eres
t20
18-2
020
III.3
. M
obili
ty o
f St
uden
ts a
nd H
ighl
y Sk
illed
Theaction
saimed
atremovingob
staclestorecognition
ofacad
emicqua
lification
sareah
eadofthe
plann
edsched
uleou
tlined
inMAP
REA
.Th
eWork -
ingGroup
onRe
cognitionofAcade
micQua
lification
sha
sagreed
tolaun
chthe
jointexerciseon
recognition
ofacad
emicqua
lification
s,hasdrafted
theinitialp
ropo
salo
nthejointon
linesystem
toshareinform
ation,in
clud
ingon
highe
red
ucationinstitutions,qu
alification
san
dde
cision
stake
n,
avai
labl
e to
EN
IC/N
ARIC
cen
tres
and
Min
istr
ies
resp
onsi
ble
for
high
er e
duca
tion
in t
he r
egio
n, a
nd h
as d
iscu
ssed
pro
posa
ls o
n pr
oced
ure
for
fast
tra
ck
recognitionofhighe
red
ucationqu
alification
s.Furthermore,regularm
eetingsofanetworkofENIC/N
ARICcen
tresand
the
Qua
lityAssuranceAg
en-
cieshavebe
enin
itiated.Furthermore,the
regiona
lactionsweresupp
ortedby
signific
antna
tion
aleffortstosimplifytheproced
uresforrecognition
of
acad
emicqua
lification
s.
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
III.3
.1.
Re
mov
al o
f ob
stac
les
to
reco
gnit
ion
of a
cade
mic
qu
alifi
ca-
tion
s
a. D
raft
a p
ropo
sal o
n pr
oced
ure
for
fast
tra
ck
recognitionofhighe
red
ucationqu
alification
ssp
ecif
ying
cri
teri
a fo
r fa
st t
rack
rec
ogni
tion
in
theregion
,on
the
basisofNationa
lQua
lifica
-ti
on F
ram
ewor
ks (
NQ
Fs)
bein
g de
velo
ped
in
acco
rdan
ce w
ith
the
Bolo
gna
Proc
ess
and
othe
r EU
nor
ms,
as
a ba
sis
for
esta
blis
hed
lear
ning
ou
tcom
es a
nd t
hus
reco
gnit
ion
2018
The WorkingGroup
onRe
cognitionofAcade
micQua
lification
sha
s be
en f
orm
alis
ed in
Dec
embe
r 20
17.
The
Wor
king
Gro
up o
n Re
cognitionofAcade
micQua
lification
sop
erationa
lised
and
set
forw
ard
an a
mbi
tiou
s ti
mel
ine
to a
chie
ve t
he o
bjec
tive
s se
t ou
t by
the
MAP
REA
ahe
ad o
f th
e in
itia
l sch
edul
e.
Sinc
e De
cem
ber
the
Wor
king
Gro
up o
n Re
cogn
itio
n of
Aca
dem
ic
Qua
lification
sha
sagreed
tolaun
chthe
jointexerciseon
recog
-nition
ofacad
emicqua
lification
swithan
objectivetoiden
tify
simila
rities/d
ifferen
cesinrecognition
offoreignde
gree
s;to
analysean
ddiscussthedifferen
cesan
dtosuggestfurtherjoint
action
tode
crea
sethe
differen
cesba
sedon
whichJointGuide
son
Recognition
ofA
cade
micQua
lification
swillbeprep
ared
.Differen
tmod
elsfortherecognitionofacade
micqua
lification
sha
ve b
een
disc
usse
d by
the
Wor
king
Gro
up o
n Re
cogn
itio
n of
Ac
adem
icQua
lification
s.Aninitialsetofprinciplesforrecogni
-tion
ofacad
emicqua
lification
sha
sbe
endiscussed
and
istobe
fin
alised
atthene
xtm
eetingoftheWorkingGroup
onRe
cogni-
tion
ofA
cade
micQua
lification
s.
In a
ddit
ion,
to
faci
litat
e in
form
atio
n ex
chan
ge a
nd in
crea
se
tran
spar
ency
and
coo
pera
tion
in r
ecog
niti
on o
f ac
adem
ic q
uali-
fications,aregion
aldialoguean
dregularmee
tingsofthe
ENIC/
NAR
IC c
entr
es a
nd t
he Q
ualit
y As
sura
nce
Agen
cies
in t
he W
B6
have
bee
n es
tabl
ishe
d.
Furt
herm
ore,
the
Wor
king
Gro
up o
n Re
cogn
itio
n of
Aca
dem
ic
Qua
lification
sha
sagreed
onan
initialc
onceptofthejoint
onlin
e sy
stem
to
shar
e in
form
atio
n, in
clud
ing
on h
ighe
r ed
uca-
tion
institutions,qu
alification
san
dde
cision
stake
n,availa
bleto
ENIC
/NAR
IC c
entr
es a
nd M
inis
trie
s re
spon
sibl
e fo
r hi
gher
edu
ca-
tion
inthe
WB6
whichputstheprocesssignificantlyahe
adofthe
prop
osed
sch
edul
e.
Thefirstm
eetingoftheEN
IC/N
ARIo
fficesan
dtheQAbo
diesin
th
e re
gion
was
hel
d in
Mar
ch 2
018.
4
62 63
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.IV
. Di
gita
l int
egra
tion
IV.
1. D
igit
al e
nvir
onm
ent
netw
orks
and
ser
vice
s, c
onne
ctiv
ity
and
acce
ssD
igit
al in
fras
truc
ture
dev
elop
men
t an
d re
gion
al c
onne
ctiv
ity:
WB6
are
at
a m
oder
ate
leve
l of
prep
arat
ion
in r
egar
d to
tra
nspo
siti
on o
f th
e EU
Br
oadb
and
Cost
Red
ucti
on D
irec
tive
wit
h Al
bani
a an
d Th
e Fo
rmer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
hav
ing
tran
spos
ed it
whi
le t
he o
ther
thr
ee e
cono
-m
ies
are
at p
repa
rati
on s
tage
. Th
e pr
epar
atio
n of
the
bro
adba
nd in
fras
truc
ture
map
ping
is o
ngoi
ng in
all
econ
omie
s an
d th
ere
is g
ood
pros
pect
for
th
e br
oadb
and
map
ping
to
have
mat
ure
adva
ncem
ent
duri
ng 2
018
in a
ll ec
onom
ies
alth
ough
the
act
ion
is t
o be
com
plet
ed b
y 20
20,
exce
pt in
The
For
-merYugoslavRe
publicofMaced
onia,whe
rebroad
band
map
pingisfinished
.Re
gion
alexcha
ngeon
businessincentivemod
els/useofPPP
san
dregion
al
dialogue
oncommercialisationofspa
refibreop
ticassetsisyettobe
detailedan
dde
velope
d.4outof6regulatorsfromW
B6havean
observerstatus
toBER
ECand
the
irdialoguewithinthecontextofBER
ECisim
proving.The
reishow
evernee
dtodefi
neprope
rmecha
nism
sforBo
sniaand
Herzego
-vina
and
Kosovo*tobe
partofthisdialogue
,althou
ghnospecificaction
sha
vebee
nun
dertaken
duringtherepo
rting.Add
itiona
lly,Bo
sniaand
Herze
-go
vina
and
Kos
ovo*
are
not
inte
grat
ed in
GÉA
NT
whi
le o
ther
fou
r ec
onom
ies
part
icip
ate,
not
ver
y ac
tive
ly t
houg
h. F
or t
he la
ter,
the
re is
a p
ropo
sal o
n cr
oss-
bord
er c
onne
ctiv
ity
of W
B N
REN
s pr
iori
tise
d in
the
SEE
2020
Pro
gram
min
g Do
cum
ent
2018
-202
0 th
at c
an b
e fu
rthe
r de
velo
ped
wit
h th
e su
ppor
t of
don
ors.
Har
mon
ise
spec
trum
pol
icy
to e
nsur
e ti
mel
y an
d effi
cien
t av
aila
bilit
y an
d bo
ost
depl
oym
ent
of s
tand
ardi
sed
5G n
etw
orks
: W
B6 a
re a
t an
ear
ly
leve
l of
prep
arat
ion
in s
pect
rum
pol
icy
harm
onis
atio
n. T
here
is u
neve
n de
velo
pmen
t in
fre
eing
up
freq
uenc
ies.
Alb
ania
, Bo
snia
and
Her
zego
vina
and
Ko
sovo
* ha
ve n
ot c
ompl
eted
the
DSO
pro
cess
; Alb
ania
- D
D1 f
ree,
800
MH
z; M
onte
negr
o -7
00 M
Hz
free
, Ko
sovo
* th
e te
nder
ing
to a
llow
usi
ng o
f un
used
m
obile
spe
ctru
m in
pro
gres
s. In
itia
l reg
iona
l dia
logu
e on
spe
ctru
m p
olic
y ha
rmon
isat
ion
took
pla
ce a
t W
B6 r
egio
nal m
eeti
ng,
5th
Apri
l - a
ded
icat
ed
mee
ting
to
be o
rgan
ised
at
the
late
st b
y Ju
ne 2
018.
Add
itio
nally
, br
oade
r co
ordi
nati
on o
n ra
dio
spec
trum
issu
es t
akes
pla
ce w
ithi
n RS
PG r
egio
nal
grou
p,SED
DIFaswella
swithinWRC
-19prep
aratoryprocess.Am
ultilateralframew
orkagreem
entbe
twee
nallS
EDDIFmem
bers(withtheexceptionof
Alba
nia)
is a
lrea
dy s
igne
d in
Dec
embe
r 20
17.
Yet,
no
regi
onal
dis
cuss
ion
has
star
ted
on h
avin
g a
regi
onal
pos
itio
n an
d st
andi
ng o
n sp
ectr
um p
olic
y.
Coor
dina
te r
oam
ing
polic
ies
tow
ards
a r
oam
ing
free
eco
nom
ic a
rea:
Reg
iona
l Roa
min
g Ag
reem
ent
amon
gst
4 ec
onom
ies
is s
ucce
ssfu
lly im
ple-
men
ted.
WB6
are
com
mit
ted
to e
xpan
d th
e ge
ogra
phic
sco
pe o
f th
e cu
rren
t ag
reem
ent
and
to c
onti
nue
wor
king
on
a su
cces
sor
agre
emen
t –
cons
id-
erat
ion
of R
LAH
wit
hin
WB6
to
be t
able
d. E
xper
ienc
e of
EU
in p
arti
cula
r fo
r RL
AH m
odel
will
be
furt
her
expl
ored
and
use
d. A
lban
ia a
nd K
osov
o* h
ave
expr
esse
d th
eir
will
ingn
ess
to j
oin
RRA
and
furt
her
step
s ar
e to
be
take
n. A
Roa
dmap
to
faci
litat
e lo
wer
ing
the
cost
s of
roa
min
g as
par
t of
the
En-
largem
entStrategyW
B6DigitalAgend
atobede
velope
dby
ECan
dpresen
teddu
ringthe
Sofi
aSummit.Im
pactassessm
entofabo
lishm
entofroa
ming
chargeswithEU
isin
progressan
dprelim
inaryresultsareexpe
cted
bytheSofia
Sum
mit.
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
IV.1
.1
Boos
t di
gita
l in
fras
truc
-tu
re d
evel
-op
men
t an
d re
gion
al
conn
ecti
v-it
y, w
hile
cr
eati
ng a
le
vel p
lay-
ing
field
for
di
gita
l net
-w
orks
and
se
rvic
es t
o fl
ouri
sh
a. A
dvan
ce r
ight
/int
rodu
ce p
olic
y an
d re
gula
tory
m
easu
res
that
wou
ld in
cent
ivis
e in
vest
men
ts in
hi
gh s
peed
bro
adba
nd n
etw
orks
, in
clud
ing
tran
s-po
siti
on o
f EU
dir
ecti
ve 2
014/
61/E
U
Cont
inuo
us
a. W
B6 a
re a
t a
mod
erat
e le
vel o
f pr
epar
atio
n in
reg
ard
to
tran
spos
itio
n of
the
EU
Bro
adba
nd C
ost
Redu
ctio
n Di
rect
ive;
Al
bani
a an
d Th
e Fo
rmer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
alr
eady
tr
ansp
osed
it w
hile
the
oth
er t
hree
eco
nom
ies
are
at p
repa
rati
on
stage.In
Kosovo*,thefirstdraftofthelawisprepa
redan
da
TAIE
X m
issi
on is
exp
ecte
d to
sup
port
wit
h th
e sc
reen
ing.
b. T
he p
repa
rati
on o
f th
e br
oadb
and
infr
astr
uctu
re m
appi
ng
is o
ngoi
ng in
all
econ
omie
s. N
amel
y, A
lban
ia h
as a
n br
oadb
and
atla
s th
at is
reg
ular
ly u
pdat
ed –
WBI
F ap
plic
atio
n fo
r th
e fe
a-si
bilit
y st
udy
on r
egio
nal b
road
band
dev
elop
men
t is
als
o pe
nd-
ing
appr
oval
; Ko
sovo
* is
in t
he p
roce
ss –
ext
ende
d br
oadb
and
infr
astr
uctu
re 4
pilo
t pr
ojec
ts la
unch
ed a
nd c
ontr
acts
sig
ned
and
the
uplo
adin
g of
info
rmat
ion
on e
lect
roni
c co
mm
unic
atio
n in
fras
truc
ture
to
the
dom
esti
c da
taba
se in
pro
gres
s; M
onte
negr
o -
the
proc
ess
is o
ngoi
ng a
nd e
xpec
ted
to a
dvan
ce d
urin
g 20
18;
Serb
ia,
the
Law
on
Elec
tron
ic C
omm
unic
atio
n is
in a
ppro
val p
ro-
cess–ena
blingthefix
edbroad
band
map
ping,whilethe
mob
ile
broa
dban
d m
appi
ng is
com
plet
ed;
in T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
b-lic
of
Mac
edon
ia O
pera
tion
al B
road
band
Pla
n is
exp
ecte
d to
be
com
plet
ed d
urin
g 20
18.
The
map
ping
of
curr
ent
NG
A in
fras
truc
-tu
re a
nd id
enti
fyin
g th
e ar
eas
for
inte
rven
tion
(w
hite
zon
es)
is
finalised
; inBosniaan
dHerzegovina
the
map
pingre-stared
and
th
e da
ta c
olle
ctio
n fr
om t
he e
ntit
ies
is o
ngoi
ng.
c. C
erta
in b
usin
ess
and
PPP
mod
els
are
deve
lope
d in
som
e ec
onom
ies
and
inte
rest
fro
m IF
Is h
as in
crea
sed.
Thi
s ne
eds
to b
e m
ore
proa
ctiv
ely
shar
ed a
t a
regi
onal
leve
l as
econ
omie
s sh
are
man
y si
mila
riti
es.
In S
erbi
a, t
he E
BRD
proj
ect
laun
ched
in 2
016
willsup
portid
entific
ationofcostne
eded
forfurtherbroad
band
de
velo
pmen
t –
incl
udin
g po
tent
ial b
usin
ess
mod
els;
The
For
mer
Yu
gosl
av R
epub
lic o
f M
aced
onia
inte
nds
to e
stab
lish
BCO
to
im-
prov
e br
oadb
and
conn
ecti
vity
in r
ural
are
as.
2.1
b. C
ompl
ete
outs
tand
ing
broa
dban
d in
fras
truc
-tu
re m
appi
ng a
nd p
erfo
rm a
naly
sis
of b
road
band
m
arke
ts a
nd id
enti
fy n
etw
ork
cove
rage
gap
s an
d in
vest
men
ts,
as w
ell a
s po
licy
mea
sure
s re
quir
ed
to b
ridg
e th
ose
gaps
2020
c. E
stab
lish
regu
lar
exch
ange
on
busi
ness
ince
n-ti
ve m
odel
s fo
r ru
ral a
nd u
nder
serv
ed a
reas
and
on
the
use
of
PPPs
to
addr
ess
low
con
nect
ivit
y
2018
-on-
war
ds
d. E
stab
lish
regi
onal
dia
logu
e o
n co
mm
erci
ali-
sation
ofsparefib
reopticassets;id
entifyand
ad
dres
s le
gal a
nd r
egul
ator
y co
nstr
aint
s an
d im
plem
ent
the
agre
ed c
omm
erci
alis
atio
n m
odel
2017
-202
0
e. S
tren
gthe
n re
gula
tory
dia
logu
e am
ongs
t al
l W
B6 r
egul
ator
s, a
s pa
rt o
f BE
REC
Cont
inuo
us
f. C
ompl
ete
regi
onal
inte
rcon
nect
ion
and
inte
-gr
atio
n in
to t
he p
an-E
urop
ean
GÉA
NT
2023
64 65
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.d.
The
eco
nom
y-le
vel i
ntra
-sec
tora
l dia
logu
e ha
s be
en e
stab
-lis
hed,
esp
ecia
lly in
vie
w o
f th
e on
goin
g W
orld
Ban
k’s
Stud
y (S
uppo
rt t
o fo
ster
infr
astr
uctu
re s
hari
ng in
the
Wes
tern
Bal
kans
).
Map
pingofpo
tentialspa
reopticfibresin
alm
ostalle
cono
miesis
unde
rtak
en a
nd a
war
enes
s on
the
nee
d to
opt
imis
e th
eir
use
has
incr
ease
d. T
here
is a
nee
d th
ough
to
esta
blis
h a
prop
er r
egio
nal
dial
ogue
upo
n co
mpl
etio
n of
the
Wor
ld B
ank
Stud
y, w
hich
sho
uld
prov
ide
info
rmat
ion
and
iden
tify
com
mer
cial
mod
els
for
addr
ess-
ingsparefib
recap
acities.
e. 4
out
of
6 re
gula
tors
fro
m W
B6 h
ave
an o
bser
ver
stat
us t
o BE
-RE
C an
d th
eir
dial
ogue
wit
hin
the
cont
ext
of B
EREC
is im
prov
ing.
Th
ereisnee
dthou
ghtode
fineprop
erm
echa
nism
sforBo
snia
and
Her
zego
vina
and
Kos
ovo*
to
be p
art
of t
his
dial
ogue
.
f. B
osni
a an
d H
erze
govi
na a
nd K
osov
o* a
re n
ot in
tegr
ated
in
GÉA
NT
whi
le in
The
For
mer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
onl
y on
e un
iver
sity
is in
tegr
ated
in t
he n
etw
ork.
By
the
end
of 2
018,
tw
o m
ore
stat
e un
iver
siti
es w
ill b
e co
nnec
ted
thro
ugh
MAR
NET
to
GÉA
NT.
Alt
houg
h re
gion
al in
terc
onne
ctio
n an
d in
tegr
atio
n is
to
be
com
plet
ed b
y 20
23 a
dvan
cem
ent
can
be r
each
ed t
hrou
gh
regi
onal
act
ions
. Th
ere
is a
pro
posa
l on
cros
s-bo
rder
con
nect
ivit
y of
WB
NRE
Ns
prio
riti
sed
in t
he S
EE20
20 P
rogr
amm
ing
Docu
men
t 20
18-2
020
that
can
be
furt
her
deve
lope
d w
ith
the
supp
ort
of
dono
rs.
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
IV.1
.2
Har
mon
ize
spec
trum
po
licy
to e
n-su
re t
imel
y an
deffi
cien
tav
aila
bilit
y an
d bo
ost
depl
oym
ent
of s
tand
-ar
dise
d 5G
ne
twor
ks
a. E
stab
lish
pred
icta
ble,
con
sist
ent,
and
har
-m
onis
ed s
pect
rum
pol
icy
on r
egio
nal l
evel
and
st
reng
then
reg
iona
l coo
pera
tion
on
spec
trum
po
licy
harm
onis
atio
n fo
r 5G
, as
wel
l as
for
disa
s-te
r an
d em
erge
ncy
serv
ices
Cont
inuo
us
a. W
B6 a
re a
t an
ear
ly le
vel o
f pr
epar
atio
n in
spe
ctru
m p
olic
y ha
rmon
isat
ion.
Reg
ulat
ory
and
inst
itut
iona
l fra
mew
orks
tha
t provideforeffi
cien
toverallspe
ctrumm
anagem
entareinplace
acro
ss t
he r
egio
n. T
here
is u
neve
n de
velo
pmen
t in
fre
eing
up
freq
uenc
ies.
Alb
ania
, Bo
snia
and
Her
zego
vina
and
Kos
ovo*
hav
e no
t co
mpl
eted
the
DSO
pro
cess
; In
Alb
ania
, it
is e
xpec
ted
that
70
% of
the
pop
ulat
ion
will
be
cove
red
wit
h di
gita
l ser
vice
by
July
20
18,
DD1
free
for
800
MH
z; M
onte
negr
o -7
00 M
Hz
free
; Ko
sovo
* th
e te
nder
ing
to a
llow
usi
ng o
f un
used
mob
ile s
pect
rum
is in
pro
-gr
ess.
Broa
der
coor
dina
tion
on
radi
o sp
ectr
um is
sues
tak
es p
lace
wit
hin
RSPG
regiona
lgroup
,SEDD
IFaswella
swithinWRC
-19prep
ara-
tory
pro
cess
. A m
ulti
late
ral f
ram
ewor
k ag
reem
ent
betw
een
all S
EDDI
F m
embe
rs (
wit
h th
e ex
cept
ion
of A
lban
ia)
is a
lrea
dy
sign
ed in
Dec
embe
r 20
17.
Init
ial r
egio
nal d
ialo
gue
on s
pect
rum
pol
icy
harm
onis
atio
n to
ok
plac
e at
Wes
tern
Bal
kans
Roa
min
g Po
licy
Mee
ting
, he
ld o
n Ap
ril
5th
2018
in B
russ
els.
A d
edic
ated
mee
ting
in t
his
rega
rd t
o be
or
gani
sed
by t
he e
nd o
f M
ay-
begi
nnin
g of
Jun
e 20
18.
Goo
d ad
vanc
emen
t in
5G
is a
lso
note
d in
Mon
tene
gro
and
The
Form
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia.
b. O
n W
RC,
econ
omie
s pa
rtic
ipat
e in
depe
nden
tly
in W
RC’s
wor
k.
Koso
vo*
is in
tere
sted
to
part
icip
ate
in it
s w
ork
and
othe
r re
gion
al
grou
ps r
elat
ed t
o sp
ectr
um p
olic
y m
anag
emen
t.
Yet,
no
regi
onal
dis
cuss
ion
has
star
ted
on h
avin
g a
regi
onal
pos
i-ti
on a
nd s
tand
ing
on W
RC,
CEPT
/ECO
2.5
b. C
oord
inat
e re
gion
al p
osit
ions
for
the
Wor
ld
Radi
o Co
nfer
ence
(W
RC),
CEP
T/EC
OCo
ntin
uous
66 67
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
IV.
1.3
Coor
dina
te
roam
ing
polic
ies
tow
ards
a
roam
ing
free
eco
-no
mic
are
a
a. C
onti
nue
regi
onal
coo
rdin
atio
n on
roa
min
g po
licie
s to
war
ds a
roa
min
g fr
ee e
cono
mic
are
a an
d pr
epar
e m
id-t
erm
Act
ion
Plan
for
alig
ning
ro
amin
g po
licie
s w
ith
EU R
LAH
mod
el
2018
a. R
egio
nal R
oam
ing
Agre
emen
t am
ongs
t 4
econ
omie
s (i
.e.
Bos-
nia
and
Her
zego
vina
, M
onte
negr
o, T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia a
nd S
erbi
a) is
suc
cess
fully
impl
emen
ted.
The
WB6
Ro
amin
g Po
licy
mee
ting
hel
d in
Bru
ssel
s on
5th
Apr
il 20
18 c
ase
show
ed t
he t
rend
s in
the
4 p
arti
cipa
ting
eco
nom
ies,
hig
hlig
ht-
ing
the
need
to
focu
s m
ore
on d
ata
rath
er t
han
voic
e; W
B6
confi
rmed
the
willingnessofthe
WB6
toextend
the
scope
ofthe
agre
emen
t an
d w
ork
on a
new
suc
cess
or a
gree
men
t, p
oten
tial
ly
wit
h pr
ovis
ions
of
RLAH
wit
hin
WB6
. Ex
peri
ence
of
EU in
par
ticu
-la
r fo
r RL
AH m
odel
will
be
furt
her
expl
ored
and
use
d.
Alba
nia
and
Koso
vo*
have
exp
ress
ed t
heir
will
ingn
ess
to j
oin
RRA
and offi
cialle
tterstoin
form
other4econo
miesaresubm
itted.
Tech
nica
l and
pro
cedu
ral t
alks
will
fol
low
in t
his
rega
rd.
b. A
mul
ti-s
take
hold
er a
ppro
ach
wit
h re
gard
to
roam
ing
polic
y is
es
tabl
ishe
d th
roug
hout
WB6
. Alb
ania
has
org
anis
ed a
rou
nd t
able
w
ith
oper
ator
s on
25
Janu
ary
2018
whi
le r
egul
ar r
egio
nal m
eet-
ings
am
ongs
t IC
T m
inis
trie
s an
d re
gula
tors
fro
m W
B6 a
re o
rgan
-is
ed.
Regi
onal
dia
logu
e to
dee
pen
coop
erat
ion
in r
oam
ing
polic
y w
as h
eld
duri
ng t
he W
B6 m
eeti
ng o
n ro
amin
g po
licy
harm
onis
a-ti
on (
i.e.
Bru
ssel
s, 5
th A
pril
2018
).
WB6
eco
nom
ies
disc
uss
coor
dina
tion
of
roam
ing
polic
y in
reg
u-la
r re
gion
al m
eeti
ngs
faci
litat
ed t
hrou
gh R
CC a
nd t
here
is a
n ex
pres
sed
will
ingn
ess
and
need
to
cont
inue
thi
s di
alog
ue in
the
fu
ture
, al
so w
ith
the
help
and
fac
ilita
tion
of
RCC
and
EU..
c. R
CC h
as c
omm
issi
oned
the
con
sult
ancy
to
asse
ss t
he im
pact
of
the
roam
ing
char
ges.
The
ToR
has
bee
n pr
epar
ed a
nd t
he c
on-
trac
t w
ith
the
cons
ulta
nt s
igne
d. T
he p
relim
inar
y re
sult
s to
be
read
ypriortoSofi
aSummit.Th
eRo
admap
tofacilitatelowering
the
cost
s of
roa
min
g as
par
t of
the
Enl
arge
men
t St
rate
gy,
whi
ch
is p
art
of t
he W
B6 D
igit
al A
gend
a to
be
deve
lope
d by
EC.
3
b. F
ollo
w a
mul
ti-s
take
hold
er a
ppro
ach
to g
uar-
ante
e tr
ansp
aren
cy a
nd p
redi
ctab
ility
so
that
all
rele
vant
vie
ws
and
expe
rtis
e on
roa
min
g po
licie
s are sufficien
tlyaccoun
tedfor
Cont
inuo
us
c. A
sses
s im
pact
of
abol
ishm
ent
of r
oam
ing
char
ges
in t
he E
U o
n W
B6 in
a r
egio
nal p
osit
ion
pape
r20
18
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.IV
.2.T
rust
and
sec
urit
y in
dig
ital
ser
vice
sEn
hanc
e Cy
bers
ecur
ity,
tru
st s
ervi
ces
and
data
pro
tect
ion:
NIS
Dir
ecti
ve is
tra
nspo
sed
in A
lban
ia a
nd S
erbi
a w
hils
t th
e ot
her
econ
omie
s ar
e in
the
pr
oces
s of
pre
para
tion
and
/or
in p
ublic
con
sult
atio
n. In
Kos
ovo*
pre
para
tion
of
the
conc
ept
note
I pr
ogre
ss e
xpec
ted
to b
e ap
prov
ed b
y th
e G
over
n-m
ent
in a
utum
n; le
gisl
atio
n on
dat
a pr
otec
tion
and
pir
acy
is g
ener
ally
in p
lace
acr
oss
WB6
. Al
bani
a, K
osov
o*,
Mon
tene
gro
and
Serb
ia h
ave
adop
ted
dedicatedcybe
rsecuritystrategieswhileThe
FormerYugoslavRe
publicofMaced
oniaisatfin
alstageofap
proval.Yet,notevenaun
iformprogressin
impl
emen
tati
on o
f th
e st
rate
gies
is a
chie
ved.
Mixed
progressinregardtothe
criticalITinfrastructureid
entific
ationan
dno
exp
licitin
puton
the
levelo
fprotection
.Onthecurren
tstateofim
ple-
men
tation
,Ko
sovo*alread
yad
optedthelawoncriticalIT
infrastructure,A
lban
iacom
pleted
the
iden
tific
ationan
dap
provalispen
ding,Serbiahas
iden
tifie
dan
dad
optedthelistofIC
Tsystem
stobeprotected,The
FormerYugoslavRe
publicofMaced
oniacriticalinfrastructureop
eratorrecognised
butno
internalagree
men
ton
the
defi
nition
ofcriticalIT
infrastructures,Mon
tene
growillado
ptthe
Decreeon
mea
suresfortheprotection
ofcritical
info
rmat
ion
infr
astr
uctu
re i
n ac
cord
ance
wit
h th
e Am
endm
ents
to
the
Law
on
info
rmat
ion
secu
rity
in t
he t
hird
qua
rter
of
this
yea
r.
All W
B6 h
ave
esta
blis
hed
CSIR
Ts –
tho
ugh
unde
rdev
elop
ed a
nd n
eces
sita
ting
long
er-t
erm
cap
acit
y-bu
ildin
g pr
ogra
mm
es.
RCC
netw
orke
d th
e CS
IRTs
fr
om t
he W
este
rn B
alka
ns a
nd e
xten
ded
capa
city
bui
ldin
g to
the
ir r
epre
sent
ativ
es.
A re
gion
al C
onfe
renc
e of
CSI
RTs
prop
osed
by
The
Form
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia is
to
be o
rgan
ised
in O
ctob
er 2
018
duri
ng t
he E
urop
ean
Cybe
rsec
urit
y m
onth
. To
fac
ilita
te t
he p
arti
cipa
tion
to
ENIS
A w
ork,
co
mpl
iant
wit
h th
e W
B6 D
igit
al S
umm
it c
oncl
usio
ns,
RCC
has
rece
ntly
sen
t a
lett
er t
o EN
ISA
Exec
utiv
e Di
rect
or s
eeki
ng a
pos
itiv
e st
andi
ng f
rom
EN
ISA
to p
arta
ke in
its
wor
k/ac
tivi
ties
.
IV.2
.1.
Enha
nce
Cybe
rsec
u-ri
ty,
trus
t se
rvic
es
and
data
pr
otec
tion
a. E
stab
lish
and
harm
onis
e cy
bers
ecur
ity,
dat
a pr
otec
tion
, an
d pr
ivac
y re
gula
tion
s on
the
bas
is
ofale
velp
layingfieldaskeyforestab
lishinga
function
ingan
deffi
cien
tDS
Mapp
roach
Cont
inuo
usa.
The
WB6
eco
nom
ies
have
ado
pted
rel
evan
t po
licie
s an
d le
g-is
lati
on f
or p
riva
cy,
data
pro
tect
ion
and
digi
tal s
ecur
ity.
The
NIS
Di
rect
ive
is t
rans
pose
d in
Alb
ania
, Se
rbia
whi
lst
the
othe
r ec
ono-
mie
s ar
e in
pro
cess
of
prep
arat
ion
and/
or in
pub
lic c
onsu
ltat
ion.
Ko
sovo
* ap
prov
ed t
he le
gisl
atio
n on
dat
a pr
otec
tion
and
pir
acy
is
gene
rally
in p
lace
acr
oss
WB6
. Alb
ania
, Ko
sovo
*, M
onte
negr
o an
d Se
rbia
hav
e ad
opte
d de
dica
ted
cybe
rsec
urit
y st
rate
gies
whi
le
TheFo
rmerYugoslavRe
publicofMaced
oniaisatfin
alstageof
appr
oval
- y
et,
unif
orm
pro
gres
s in
impl
emen
tati
on o
f th
e st
rate
-gi
es h
as n
ot b
een
achi
eved
.
2.5
b. Id
enti
fy a
nd e
nsur
e pr
otec
tion
of
crit
ical
IT
infr
astr
uctu
res
Cont
inuo
us
c. S
et u
p re
gion
al d
ialo
gue
and
info
rmat
ion
ex-
chan
ge p
latf
orm
am
ongs
t W
B6 C
SIRT
s (C
ompu
ter
Secu
rity
Inci
dent
Res
pons
e Te
ams)
, ad
vanc
e CS
IRTs
’ ca
paci
ties
and
str
engt
hen
inst
itut
iona
l lin
ks w
ith
EU C
SIRT
s
Cont
inuo
us
d. E
stab
lish
regi
onal
dia
logu
e an
d in
form
atio
n ex
chan
ge p
latf
orm
am
ongs
t au
thor
itie
s in
cha
rge
of N
etw
ork
and
Info
rmat
ion
Secu
rity
(N
IS)
Cont
inuo
us
68 69
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.b.
Mix
ed p
rogr
ess
amon
gst
WB6
in r
egar
d to
cri
tica
l IT
infr
astr
uc-
tureid
entific
ation.ProcessofcriticalIT
infrastructureid
entific
a-ti
on a
nd t
he r
espe
ctiv
e le
gisl
ativ
e pr
oces
s is
ong
oing
; Ko
sovo
* al
read
y ad
opte
d th
e la
w o
n cr
itic
al IT
infr
astr
uctu
re, A
lban
ia
hasiden
tifie
dan
dtheGovernm
entDe
cree
app
rovalispe
nding,
Serbiahasid
entifie
dan
dad
optedthelistofIC
Tsystem
stobe
prot
ecte
d, T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia -
man
y of
thecriticalin
frastructureope
ratorswereiden
tifie
d,butthe
reis
noofficialdecisionon
iden
tific
ationofcriticalITinfrastructure;
Mon
tene
grostartedtheprocessofid
entific
ationan
dexpe
ctsthis
to b
e co
mpl
eted
in t
he n
ext
year
s.
No
expl
icit
inpu
t fr
om t
he e
cono
mie
s on
the
leve
l of
prot
ecti
on
of c
riti
cal I
T in
fras
truc
ture
.
c. A
ll W
B6 h
ave
esta
blis
hed
CSIR
Ts –
tho
ugh
unde
rdev
elop
ed a
nd
nece
ssit
atin
g lo
nger
-ter
m c
apac
ity-
build
ing
prog
ram
mes
. CS
IRTs
from
WB6
havepa
rticipated
indifferen
tbilateralo
rregion
al
even
ts in
the
are
a of
cyb
erse
curi
ty.
d. R
CC n
etw
orke
d th
e CS
IRTs
fro
m t
he W
este
rn B
alka
ns a
nd
exte
nded
cap
acit
y bu
ildin
g to
the
ir r
epre
sent
ativ
es.
The
disc
us-
sion
in t
his
form
of
CSIR
Ts w
ill c
onti
nue.
A r
egio
nal C
onfe
renc
e of
CS
IRTs
pro
pose
d by
The
For
mer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
is
to
be o
rgan
ised
in O
ctob
er 2
018
duri
ng t
he E
urop
ean
Cybe
rse-
curi
ty m
onth
. Th
e m
ain
purp
ose
is t
o ga
ther
rep
rese
ntat
ives
and
he
ads
of a
ll th
e N
atio
nal C
SIRT
s fr
om t
he r
egio
n (1
0 co
untr
ies,
in
clud
ing
WB6
eco
nom
ies)
.
CSIR
T fr
om T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia h
as
sign
ed m
emor
andu
ms
of u
nder
stan
ding
wit
h th
e CS
IRTs
fro
m K
o-so
vo*
and
Alba
nia.
Cur
rent
ly c
omm
unic
atio
n w
ith
othe
r go
vern
-m
ent
CSIR
Ts f
rom
WB
econ
omie
s on
pot
enti
ally
sig
ning
MoU
s.
To f
acili
tate
the
par
tici
pati
on t
o EN
ISA
wor
k, c
ompl
iant
wit
h th
e W
B6 D
igit
al S
umm
it c
oncl
usio
ns,
RCC
has
rece
ntly
sen
t a
lett
er
to E
NIS
A Ex
ecut
ive
Dire
ctor
exp
lori
ng p
rosp
ects
to
part
ake
in
ENIS
A w
ork/
acti
viti
es.
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.IV
.3.
Digi
tal e
cono
my
and
soci
ety,
Incl
usiv
e di
gita
l soc
iety
Dev
elop
and
str
engt
hen
supp
ly o
f di
gita
l ski
lls:
Deve
lop
digi
tal s
kills
is j
oint
ly r
ecog
nise
d by
WB6
and
nee
d to
ups
cale
dig
ital
ski
lls p
rogr
amm
e is
und
er-
lined
.How
ever,theprogressisune
ven.The
reareattem
ptstodevelop
digitalskillsprogram
mes.Hen
ce,Serbiaisatthefin
alstageofap
provalofthe
Digi
tal S
kill
Deve
lopm
ent
Stra
tegy
, Ko
sovo
* ha
s un
dert
aken
a s
tudy
on
digi
tal s
kills
wit
h th
e su
ppor
t of
the
Wor
ld B
ank
aim
ing
to d
evel
op a
pro
gram
me
focussingon
you
ngpeo
ple.Som
eofthe
econo
miesha
vein
vested
effortsin
trainingan
dincrea
seofknow
ledgeindigitalskillfortargeted
group
.InKoso-
vo*,
as
part
of
Wom
en O
nlin
e W
ork
(WoW
), w
omen
wer
e ta
rget
ed in
5 m
unic
ipal
itie
s (U
SAID
and
Sw
is In
terc
oope
rati
on s
uppo
rt)
duri
ng t
he la
st y
ear
– th
e pr
ogra
mm
e w
ill b
e ex
tend
ed t
o al
l mun
icip
alit
ies
in t
he u
pcom
ing
5 ye
ars.
The
For
mer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
has
con
duct
ed t
rain
ing
for
basi
c IT
ski
lls a
nd a
dvan
ced
IT s
kills
for
une
mpl
oyed
peo
ple.
Nat
iona
l Com
preh
ensi
ve E
duca
tion
Str
ateg
y 20
18-2
025
was
ado
pted
in J
anua
ry 2
018,
whe
re o
ne
of t
he p
rior
itie
s is
ens
urin
g w
ides
prea
d us
e of
ICT
in e
duca
tion
, tr
aini
ng a
nd d
igit
al li
tera
cy a
nd in
Apr
il 20
18,
the
new
Law
on
Mat
hem
atic
s an
d In
form
a-ti
on G
ymna
sium
was
ado
pted
. Th
e Fo
rmer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
sti
mul
ated
the
com
pani
es t
o em
ploy
per
sons
wit
h di
sabi
litie
s in
all
mea
sure
s fo
r em
ploy
men
t. A
ddit
iona
lly,
Koso
vo*
thro
ugh
IPA
2017
fun
ds –
3 m
ln E
uro
unti
l 202
1 –
will
dev
elop
hum
an c
apac
itie
s fo
r di
gita
l eco
nom
y an
d su
ppor
t fo
r di
gita
l bus
ines
ses.
In T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia t
rain
ings
for
adv
ance
d IT
ski
lls u
nder
IPA
gran
t pr
ojec
ts a
re o
ngoi
ng a
nd in
Ser
bia,
the
Governm
entoff
ersincentivestoNGOswho
implem
entdigitalskillsprojectsforwom
en–aspa
rtoftheITIn
dustryDevelop
men
tStrategy.A
dditiona
lly,
Governm
entfoun
dedprojecttotrainretired
peo
pleisplann
edduringthefirsthalfof2018.
A pr
opos
al o
n di
gita
l ski
lls a
nd c
ompe
tenc
es is
pri
orit
ised
wit
hin
the
SEE2
020
Prog
ram
min
g Do
cum
ent
2018
-202
0. A
ddit
iona
lly,
WB6
Dig
ital
Sum
mit
rec
-ognisedthene
edtoworkon
digitalskillsprogram
mesand
rea
ffirm
edthe
interestofWB6
tointegratewithintheEU
DigitalSkillsand
Job
sCo
alition,by
endo
rsin
g th
e ob
ject
ives
and
pri
ncip
les
of t
he C
oalit
ion
and
othe
r EU
init
iati
ves
in t
he a
rea.
IV.3
.1.
Dev
elop
and
st
reng
then
su
pply
of
digi
tal s
kills
a.In
itiateregiona
lcoo
peration
oncertified
re/
qualification
digitalskillsprogram
mes
2018
a. D
evel
op d
igit
al s
kills
is j
oint
ly r
ecog
nise
d by
WB6
and
nee
d to
ups
cale
dig
ital
ski
lls p
rogr
amm
e is
und
erlin
ed.
How
ever
, th
e progressisune
ven.Serbiaisatthefin
alstageofap
provalofthe
Digi
tal S
kill
Deve
lopm
ent
Stra
tegy
, w
hile
the
Act
ion
Plan
for
IT
Indu
stry
Dev
elop
men
t pr
ovid
es f
or a
ctiv
itie
s re
late
d to
hum
an
capa
city
dev
elop
men
t. K
osov
o* h
as u
nder
take
n a
stud
y on
dig
i-ta
l ski
lls w
ith
the
supp
ort
of t
he W
orld
Ban
k ai
min
g to
dev
elop
a
prog
ram
me
focu
ssin
g on
you
ng p
eopl
e. A
pro
posa
l on
digi
tal s
kills
an
d co
mpe
tenc
es is
pri
orit
ised
wit
hin
the
SEE2
020
Prog
ram
min
g Do
cum
ent
2018
-202
0. A
ddit
iona
lly,
WB6
Dig
ital
Sum
mit
rec
og-
nisedthene
edtoworkon
digitalskillsprogram
mes-rea
ffirm
ing
the
inte
rest
tow
ards
inte
grat
ion
wit
hin
the
EU D
igit
al S
kills
and
Jo
bs C
oalit
ion,
by
endo
rsin
g th
e ob
ject
ives
and
pri
ncip
les
of t
he
Coal
itio
n. In
The
For
mer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
, N
atio
nal
Com
preh
ensi
ve E
duca
tion
Str
ateg
y 20
18-2
025
was
ado
pted
in
Janu
ary
2018
, w
here
one
of
the
prio
riti
es is
to
ensu
re w
ides
prea
d us
e of
ICT
in e
duca
tion
, tr
aini
ng a
nd d
igit
al li
tera
cy in
all
area
s:
pre-
scho
ol e
duca
tion
, pr
imar
y ed
ucat
ion
(gen
eral
), g
ener
al s
ec-
onda
ry e
duca
tion
, vo
cati
onal
edu
cati
on a
nd t
rain
ings
, un
iver
sity
2
b. P
ilot
a re
gion
al in
terv
enti
on a
imed
at
enha
nc-
ing
basi
c di
gita
l ski
lls f
or c
itiz
ens
to e
ngag
e on
line
Cont
inuo
us
c. P
ilot
a re
gion
al in
terv
enti
on a
imed
at
enha
nc-
ing
skill
s fo
r IT
spe
cial
ists
, th
at w
ould
be
clos
ely
linke
d to
the
dem
and
from
and
coo
rdin
ated
wit
h di
gita
l bus
ines
ses
in W
B6 a
nd E
U;
2018
70 71
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
d. S
et u
p an
d im
plem
ent
regi
onal
tra
inin
g an
d em
ploy
abili
ty e
nhan
cem
ent
prog
ram
me
aim
-in
g to
mob
ilise
and
ups
kill
un/u
nder
empl
oyed
po
pula
tion
(w
omen
) to
see
k re
venu
e ge
nera
tion
op
port
unit
ies
thro
ugh
onlin
e w
ork
plat
form
s;
wit
h pa
rtic
ular
em
phas
is o
n yo
uth,
wom
en,
and
peop
le w
ith
disa
bilit
ies
2018
educ
atio
n, r
esea
rch
and
inno
vati
ons,
adu
lt e
duca
tion
, as
wel
l as
teac
hers
. Th
e ne
w L
aw o
n M
athe
mat
ics
and
Info
rmat
ion
Gym
na-
sium
was
ado
pted
in A
pril
2018
.
b.Som
eofthe
econo
miesha
vein
vested
effortsin
trainingan
din
crea
se o
f kn
owle
dge
in d
igit
al s
kills
for
tar
gete
d gr
oups
. In
Ko
sovo
*, a
s pa
rt o
f W
omen
Onl
ine
Wor
k (W
oW),
wom
en a
re
targ
eted
in 5
mun
icip
alit
ies
(USA
ID a
nd S
wis
Inte
rcoo
pera
tion
su
ppor
t) d
urin
g th
e la
st y
ear
and
trai
ning
was
con
duct
ed –
the
pr
ogra
mm
e w
ill b
e ex
tend
ed t
o al
l mun
icip
alit
ies
in t
he u
pcom
-in
g 5
year
s; S
erbi
a is
at
an a
dvan
ced
stag
e of
pre
pari
ng a
ded
i-ca
ted
Digi
tal S
kills
str
ateg
y; T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia is
pre
pari
ng a
ICT
Stra
tegy
, ha
s co
nduc
ted
trai
ning
for
ba
sic
IT s
kills
and
adv
ance
d IT
ski
lls f
or u
nem
ploy
ed p
eopl
e. 1
35
peop
le h
ave
been
tra
ined
dur
ing
2017
and
300
mor
e is
tar
gete
d fo
r 20
18.
c. In
Kos
ovo*
, su
ppor
t fr
om IP
A 20
17 –
3 m
ln E
uro
unti
l 202
1 –
to
deve
lop
hum
an c
apac
itie
s fo
r di
gita
l eco
nom
y an
d su
ppor
t fo
r di
gita
l bus
ines
ses.
In T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia
trai
ning
s fo
r ad
vanc
ed IT
ski
lls u
nder
IPA
gran
t pr
ojec
ts a
re o
ngo-
ing.
d.The
firstcentrein
The
FormerYugoslavRe
publicofMaced
onia
and
the
regi
on,
Hub
IT,
unde
r U
SAID
Soc
ial I
nclu
sion
Pro
ject
was
op
ened
inSkopje,offeringservicestoyoun
gpe
oplewithdisabili-
ties
and
ena
blin
g th
em t
o st
art
care
ers
in t
he IT
sec
tor.
By s
up-
port
ing
this
pro
ject
and
thr
ough
the
ope
rati
onal
pla
n, T
he F
or-
mer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
sti
mul
ated
the
com
pani
es t
o em
ploy
per
sons
wit
h di
sabi
litie
s in
all
mea
sure
s fo
r em
ploy
men
t.
InSerbia,the
Governm
entoff
ersincentivestoNGOswho
imple-
men
t di
gita
l ski
lls p
roje
cts
for
wom
en –
as
part
of
the
IT In
dust
ry
Deve
lopm
ent
Stra
tegy
. Add
itio
nally
, G
over
nmen
t fo
unde
d pr
ojec
t totrainretired
peo
pleisplann
edduringthefirsthalfof2018.
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.IV
.4.
Dig
itis
atio
n, D
ata
econ
omy,
Sta
ndar
ds a
nd In
tero
pera
bilit
y, In
nova
tion
Prom
ote
upta
ke o
f Sm
art
Tech
nolo
gies
and
Acc
eler
ate
Dig
itis
atio
n: T
he d
iscu
ssio
n on
dig
ital
tra
nsfo
rmat
ion
and
digi
tal e
cono
my
and
soci
ety
is
laun
ched
.Th
eWB6
DigitalSum
mitorgan
ised
on18-19Ap
ril2
018,in
Skopje-thefirsteverorganisedinthisform
at–recon
firmed
the
expressed
willing-
nessand
com
mitmen
tofW
B6toworkon
aregiona
ldigitalagend
aforthebe
nefitsofitscitizensand
the
econo
myasawho
le.Th
econclusion
softhe
DigitalSum
mitrea
ffirm
edthe
com
mitmen
tofW
B6toworkon
:digitalskills,trustan
dsecurity,digitalc
onne
ctivityan
ddigitale
cono
myan
dsociety.
All W
B6 e
cono
mie
s ar
e m
embe
rs o
f th
e O
pen
Gov
ernm
ent
Part
ners
hip
init
iati
ve,
exce
pt K
osov
o*. A
ll es
tabl
ishe
d fo
rms
of c
entr
al p
orta
ls f
or o
pen
data
al
thou
gh n
o re
gion
al d
ialo
gue
yet
on h
ow t
his
data
can
be
regi
onal
ly e
xcha
nged
. Di
scus
sion
on
regi
onal
coo
rdin
atio
n on
OPG
can
be
furt
her
exte
nded
w
ithi
n th
e e-
Gov
ernm
ent
Wor
king
Gro
up m
embe
rs a
nd R
eSPA
in r
elat
ion
to e
-Gov
ernm
ent
/ O
pen
Gov
ernm
ent
/ O
pen
Data
, an
d e-
Part
icip
atio
n.
All W
B6 e
cono
mie
s ha
ve a
dopt
ed e
-aut
hent
icat
ion
fram
ewor
ks a
nd m
ade
prog
ress
in im
prov
ing
thei
r e-
auth
enti
cati
on s
chem
es.
In a
ddit
ion,
WB6
eco
no-
miesha
vedifferen
tlevelo
fha
rmon
isationofdom
esticlegislationwitheIDA
Sregulation
,withAlba
nia,Serbiaan
dMon
tene
groha
vingalrea
dytranspo
sed
eIDA
S in
new
law
s, a
nd in
The
For
mer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
the
new
dra
ft la
w is
in t
he p
roce
ss o
f pu
blic
con
sult
atio
n. T
he in
tero
pera
bilit
y pl
atfo
rm is
fun
ctio
nal i
n Al
bani
a, T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia,
rece
ntly
ado
pted
in B
osni
a an
d H
erze
govi
na a
nd t
o a
cert
ain
exte
nt in
Se
rbia
whe
re e
-gov
ernm
ent
serv
ices
are
not
yet
dep
loye
d on
the
e-N
IF f
ram
ewor
k. E
-gov
ernm
ent
serv
ices
are
gra
dual
ly b
eing
alig
ned
wit
h th
e N
atio
nal
Inte
rope
rabi
lity
Fram
ewor
ks.
Acro
ss t
he r
egio
n th
ere
are
seve
ral d
igit
al h
ubs
and
inno
vati
on p
arks
. M
ost
have
bee
n de
velo
ped
wit
h do
nor
fund
ing
(inc
ludi
ng E
U,
the
Wor
ld B
ank,
GIZ
, U
SAID
and
oth
er b
ilate
ral d
onor
s),
priv
ate
sect
or f
undi
ng,
or b
oth.
The
pan
-Eur
opea
n ne
twor
k of
Dig
ital
Inno
vati
on H
ubs
Cata
logu
e Pr
ojec
t lis
ts a
roun
d 20
hub
s fr
om t
he r
egio
n an
d pr
ovid
es o
ppor
tuni
ties
for
coo
pera
tion
, as
do
Hor
izon
202
0 an
d EU
Ter
rito
rial
and
Cro
ss-b
orde
r Pr
ogra
mm
es.
The
Form
er
Yugo
slav
Rep
ublic
of
Mac
edon
ia h
as a
Fun
d fo
r In
nova
tion
and
Tec
hnol
ogy
Deve
lopm
ent
for
supp
orti
ng in
nova
tive
pro
ject
s; F
easi
bilit
y st
udy
for
esta
blis
h-men
tofScien
ceand
Techn
ologyParkin
The
FormerYugoslavRe
publicofMaced
oniahasstarted
–tobe
fina
nced
und
erthe
Europ
eanUnion
Integration
Faci
lity
(EU
IF)
tool
, av
aila
ble
unde
r IP
A II
2014
-202
0. A
ddit
iona
lly,
the
proj
ect
inno
vati
on e
cosy
stem
in t
he c
ross
-bor
der
area
(CB
C In
nov8
) as
par
t of
the
IPA2Cross-Bo
rderProgram
mebe
twee
nTh
eForm
erYugoslavRe
publicofMaced
oniaand
Alban
iaofficiallystarted
inJan
uary2018an
dwillla
st28mon
ths.
Moreo
ver,Serbiaalsoha
san
inno
vation
fun
dwhileotherecono
miesha
vestarted
introd
ucingdifferen
tinno
vation
vou
cherschem
esonasm
allerscale.
IV.4
.1.
Pr
omot
e up
take
of
Sm
art
Tech
nolo
-gi
es a
nd
Acc
eler
ate
Dig
itis
atio
n
a. S
et u
p re
gion
al c
oope
rati
ve d
ialo
gue
on d
igi-
tal t
rans
form
atio
n ch
alle
nges
and
pro
spec
ts in
W
B i. A
sses
s th
e st
ate
of p
lay
of t
he b
usin
ess
environm
entan
dthemulti-faceted
ben
efitsan
acce
lera
ted
and
regi
onal
Dig
ital
Tra
nsfo
rma-
tion
wou
ld c
reat
e in
the
Wes
tern
Bal
kans
2017
a. T
he in
dust
ry-l
ed s
tudy
The
Impa
ct o
f Di
gita
l Tra
nsfo
rma-
tion
on
the
Wes
tern
Bal
kans
– T
ackl
ing
the
Chal
leng
es t
owar
ds
Polit
ical
Sta
bilit
y an
d Ec
onom
ic P
rosp
erit
y al
ong
wit
h th
e po
licy
brief isfina
lised
and
presented
duringtheWB6
DigitalSum
mit.
Disc
ussi
ons
on t
he e
xten
t to
whi
ch t
he r
ecom
men
dati
ons
will
be
tra
nsla
ted
in d
omes
tic
polic
ies
or r
egio
nal a
ctio
ns s
houl
d be
di
scus
sed
in r
egio
nal m
echa
nism
s.
TheWB6
DigitalSum
mitorgan
ised
on18-19Ap
ril2
018,in
Skopje
-thefirsteverorganisedinthisform
at–recon
firmed
the
ex-
pres
sed
will
ingn
ess
and
com
mit
men
t of
WB6
to
wor
k on
a r
egio
n-aldigitalagend
aforthebe
nefitsofitscitizensand
the
econo
my
asawho
le.Th
econclusion
softhe
DigitalSum
mitrea
ffirm
edthe
co
mm
itm
ent
of W
B6 t
o w
ork
on:
digi
tal s
kills
, tr
ust
and
secu
rity
, di
gita
l con
nect
ivit
y an
d di
gita
l eco
nom
y an
d so
ciet
y.
2.85
72 73
Annual Report on Implementation of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for a Regional Economic Area in Western Balkan Six
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.ii.
Org
anis
e an
nual
reg
iona
l WB6
Dig
ital
Sum
-m
its
so a
s to
con
trib
ute
to a
con
tinu
ous
dia-
logu
e am
ongs
t W
B6 a
utho
riti
es,
non-
gove
rn-
men
tal o
rgan
isat
ions
, co
mpa
nies
, ch
ambe
rs,
and
acad
emia
2018
-on-
war
ds
b. W
ith
resp
ect
to D
ata
Econ
omy,
exc
ept
for
Koso
vo*,
all
WB6
ec
onom
ies
are
mem
bers
of
the
Ope
n G
over
nmen
t Pa
rtne
rshi
p in
itia
tive
. AllW
B6 e
cono
mie
s ha
ve e
stab
lishe
d fo
rms
of c
entr
al
port
als
for
open
dat
a. N
o re
gion
al d
ialo
gue
yet
on h
ow t
his
data
ca
n be
reg
iona
lly e
xcha
nged
– T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia u
pgra
ded
cent
ral o
pen
data
por
tal w
hich
can
be
har-
vest
able
by
cent
ral E
urop
e op
en d
ata
port
al a
nd m
ay b
e av
ail-
able
for
any
inte
rest
ed W
B6 e
cono
my.
Disc
ussi
on o
n re
gion
al c
oord
inat
ion
on O
PG s
houl
d be
fur
ther
st
irre
d at
reg
iona
l mec
hani
sm.
RESP
A la
unch
ed t
he E
- to
Ope
n G
over
nmen
t -
Regi
onal
Com
para
tive
Ana
lysi
s Re
port
in 2
016
- th
e e-Governm
entWorking
Group
mem
bersand
ReSPAstaffdiscussed
an
d jo
intl
y fo
rmul
ated
fut
ure
ReSP
A ac
tivi
ties
, in
clud
ing
e-G
ov-
ernm
ent
/ O
pen
Gov
ernm
ent
/ O
pen
Data
, an
d e-
Part
icip
atio
n.
c. A
ll W
B6 e
cono
mie
s ha
ve a
dopt
ed e
-aut
hent
icat
ion
fram
ewor
ks
and
mad
e pr
ogre
ss in
impr
ovin
g th
eir
e-au
then
tica
tion
sch
emes
. Inadd
ition,W
B6econo
miesha
vedifferen
tlevelo
fha
rmon
isa-
tion
of
thei
r le
gisl
atio
n w
ith
eIDA
S re
gula
tion
, w
ith
Alba
nia,
Se
rbia
and
Mon
tene
gro
havi
ng a
lrea
dy t
rans
pose
d eI
DAS
in n
ew
law
s, a
nd in
The
For
mer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
the
new
dr
aft
law
is in
the
pro
cess
of
publ
ic c
onsu
ltat
ion.
The
inte
rope
r-ab
ility
pla
tfor
m is
fun
ctio
nal i
n Al
bani
a, T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Re-
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
, re
cent
ly a
dopt
ed in
Bos
nia
and
Her
zego
vina
an
d to
a c
erta
in e
xten
t in
Ser
bia
whe
re e
-gov
ernm
ent
serv
ices
ar
e no
t ye
t de
ploy
ed o
n th
e e-
NIF
fra
mew
ork.
E-g
over
nmen
t se
rvic
es a
re g
radu
ally
bei
ng a
ligne
d w
ith
the
Nat
iona
l Int
erop
er-
abili
ty F
ram
ewor
ks.
d. A
cros
s th
e re
gion
the
re a
re s
ever
al d
igit
al h
ubs
and
inno
va-
tion
par
ks.
Mos
t ha
ve b
een
deve
lope
d w
ith
dono
r fu
ndin
g (G
IZ,
USA
ID,
EU,
the
Wor
ld B
ank,
bila
tera
l don
ors
and
priv
ate
sect
or
com
pani
es).
The
pan
-Eur
opea
n ne
twor
k of
Dig
ital
Inno
vati
on
Hub
s Ca
talo
gue
Proj
ect
lists
aro
und
20 h
ubs
from
the
reg
ion
and
prov
ides
opp
ortu
niti
es f
or c
oope
rati
on,
as d
o H
oriz
on 2
020
and
EU T
erri
tori
al a
nd C
ross
-bor
der
Prog
ram
mes
.
b. F
oste
r Da
ta e
cono
my
(Big
Dat
a, O
pen
Data
an
d O
pen
Gov
ernm
ent)
:
i. S
uppo
rt a
n op
en d
ata
regi
on a
nd im
prov
e qu
alit
y of
ope
n da
ta p
orta
ls t
hrou
gh r
egio
nal
coop
erat
ion
and
best
pra
ctic
e ex
chan
ge
Cont
inuo
us
ii. S
tren
gthe
n re
gion
al c
oord
inat
ion
on u
se,
exchan
geand
safean
drelia
bleflo
w,access
and
tran
sfer
of
data
and
inte
grat
ion
wit
hin
the
Euro
pean
dat
a ec
osys
tem
and
eco
nom
y
Cont
inuo
us
c. A
lign
stan
dard
s, c
ompl
emen
t in
tero
pera
bil-
ity
fram
ewor
ks a
nd in
trod
uce
a pa
n-Eu
rope
an
dim
ensi
on,
in li
ne w
ith
EIF:
i. C
oord
inat
e re
gion
al a
ctiv
itie
s on
inte
rope
r-ab
ility
sta
ndar
ds a
nd f
acili
tate
dev
elop
men
t of
st
anda
rds
and
inte
rope
rabi
lity
init
iati
ves
Cont
inuo
us
d. F
oste
r co
oper
atio
n am
ongs
t di
gita
l hub
s:
e. i.
Fac
ilita
te B
usin
ess
Inve
stm
ents
in r
esea
rch
and
Inno
vati
on a
nd in
the
Cre
atio
n of
Sta
rt-U
psCo
ntin
uous
Obj
ecti
ves
Acti
ons
Tim
elin
eSt
ate
of p
lay
at r
egio
nal l
evel
Scor
.
ii. P
ilot
regi
onal
coo
pera
tion
(“t
win
ning
”) in
i-ti
ativ
es a
mon
gst
tech
nolo
gy/i
nnov
atio
n pa
rks
and
asse
ss d
eman
d an
d pr
ospe
cts
for
esta
b-lis
hmen
t of
reg
iona
l dig
ital
Inno
vati
on h
ubs.
2018
-on-
war
ds
The
mos
t ad
vanc
ed a
mon
gst
WB6
– T
he F
orm
er Y
ugos
lav
Repu
blic
of
Mac
edon
ia -
has
a F
und
for
Inno
vati
ons
and
Tech
nolo
gy D
e-ve
lopm
ent
for
supp
orti
ng in
nova
tive
pro
ject
s; F
easi
bilit
y st
udy
for
esta
blis
hmen
t of
Sci
ence
and
Tec
hnol
ogy
Park
in T
he F
orm
er
YugoslavRep
ublic
ofMaced
oniahasstarted
–tobe
fina
nced
un-
der
the
Euro
pean
Uni
on In
tegr
atio
n Fa
cilit
y (E
UIF
) to
ol,
avai
labl
e un
der
IPA
II 20
14-2
020.
Addi
tion
ally
, th
e pr
ojec
t in
nova
tion
eco
syst
em in
the
cro
ss-
bord
er a
rea
(CBC
Inno
v8)
as p
art
of t
he IP
A 2
Cros
s-Bo
rder
Pr
ogra
mm
e be
twee
n Th
e Fo
rmer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
an
d Alba
niaoffi
ciallystarted
inJan
uary2018an
dwillla
st28
mon
ths.
The
Fun
d is
in p
artn
ersh
ip w
ith
Euro
part
ners
Dev
elop
-m
ent
from
Alb
ania
(Le
ad P
artn
er),
Nat
iona
l Cen
ter
for
Inno
va-
tion
and
Ent
repr
eneu
rial
Lea
rnin
g De
velo
pmen
t (N
CRIP
U)
from
Th
e Fo
rmer
Yug
osla
v Re
publ
ic o
f M
aced
onia
and
Age
ncy
for
Rese
arch
, Te
chno
logy
and
Inno
vati
on f
rom
Alb
ania
(AR
Ti).
To b
e de
velo
ped
at a
late
r st
age
Securingthe
hum
anand
fina
ncialresou
rcesnee
dedfortheim
plem
entation
oftheAc
tion
Plan
a. P
repa
re a
nee
ds a
sses
smen
t of
res
ourc
es
need
ed t
o im
plem
ent
the
Acti
on P
lan
2017
MAP
REA
Sto
ckta
king
and
Nee
ds A
sses
smen
t pr
epar
ed a
nd p
re-
sent
ed a
t th
e Do
nor
Coor
dina
tion
Mee
ting
.5
b.Securehu
man
and
fina
ncialresou
rcestha
tcanbe
mob
ilisedtom
eetthene
edsiden
tifie
dun
der
a)Co
ntin
uous
Region
alnee
dsid
entifie
dan
dsystem
atised
asregion
alproject
interven
tion
stobepo
tentially
fina
nced
bydo
nors.
Coor
dina
tion
wit
h po
tent
ial d
onor
s is
ong
oing
4
c. O
rgan
ise
a do
nor
coor
dina
tion
con
fere
nce
in
orde
r to
coo
rdin
ate
dono
r su
ppor
t an
d m
obili
se
the
addi
tion
al r
esou
rces
nee
ded
to im
plem
ent
the
Acti
on P
lan
2017
Fort
h M
eeti
ng o
n Do
nor
Coor
dina
tion
wit
h cl
ear
focu
s on
MAP
RE
A or
gani
sed
on 1
3 M
arch
201
8.5
74
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Ann
ual R
epor
t on
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emen
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ulti
-Ann
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ctio
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iona
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