Western Balkans: NGOs launch proposals to revive EU’s flagging Green Agenda

Launched by the European Commission in October 2020, the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans (2) is a major initiative to encourage the region’s governments to use EU funds for decarbonisation, depollution, circular economy, sustainable rural development and biodiversity protection. It is managed by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)(3). 

Yet four years since its launch, and three years since an Action Plan 2021-2030 (4) was endorsed by Western Balkan leaders in October 2021, a lack of clear structure, timetable and targeted reporting is still preventing effective oversight by civil society. 

This raises concerns about the Green Agenda’s effectiveness and added value, particularly as many of the Action Plan items duplicate countries’ pre-existing obligations under the Energy Community Treaty (5) and Transport Community Treaty (6).

‘…the responsibilities for implementation are unclear and it cannot be properly monitored or reported on. The RCC’s Implementation Report (7) published in 2023 has great difficulty identifying whether actions have been completed or not, and if so, whether this happened due to the Green Agenda or would have happened anyway,’ write the groups. 

Among others, today’s NGO proposals request a rethink of the Green Agenda’s voluntary nature, asking governments to publicly commit to specific actions. They also urge the RCC to break down the Action Plan into time-bound steps, clearly stating who is responsible, together with baseline information to allow effective progress tracking.

The proposals include detailed suggestions for actions to advance decarbonisation, depollution and biodiversity, prioritising enforcement of key EU environmental legislation, legal protection of natural areas and other high-impact activities, while eliminating poorly-defined, unmeasurable or meaningless ones.

Pippa Gallop, Southeast Europe Energy Policy Officer, CEE Bankwatch Network – ‘With climate chaos accelerating across the Western Balkans, the Green Agenda is a must. But we’re almost halfway to 2030 and it’s hardly got started. It’s now urgent for the EU’s new Enlargement Commissioner to take the helm and make sure EU funds are used effectively in the region, for the good of people and the environment.’

Contacts

Pippa Gallop, Southeast Europe Energy Policy Officer, CEE Bankwatch Network

pippa.gallop@bankwatch.org

+385 99 755 9787

Notes for editors

(1) The proposals are available here (Action Plan and Roadmaps) and here (Green Agenda governance).

They are supported by the following organisations:

Aarhus Centar in BiH, 

Belgrade Open School, 

CEE Bankwatch Network, 

Center for Environment, 

Center for Economic Analyses (CEA) (supported the governance proposals), 

Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, 

EcoZ, 

EDEN Center, 

Eko-svest, 

Front 21/42, 

Group of Rural Activists of Dibra-GARD, 

Network Albania, 

NGO Eco-team, 

Protection and Preservation of Natural Environment in Albania (PPNEA),

Resource Environmental Center (REC) Albania,

Resource Environmental Center (REC) Bosnia and Herzegovina

Resource Environmental Center (REC) Montenegro 

Resource Environmental Center (REC) North Macedonia.

(2) A working paper on the implementation of the Green Agenda accompanied the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans published by the European Commission in October 2020. This was followed in November 2020 by the Sofia Declaration, endorsed by the region’s leaders at a Western Balkans Summit under the auspices of the Berlin Process.

(3) For more on the Regional Cooperation Council, see here. 

(4) The Green Agenda Action Plan can be found here. Produced by the Regional Cooperation Council, it contains 58 actions to advance the region’s decarbonisation, depollution, circular economy, rural development and biodiversity, and outlines a monitoring and governance structure. From the outset, updates of the Plan were envisaged in 2024 and 2027.

(5) For more on the Energy Community Treaty, see here.

(6) For more on the Transport Community Treaty, see here. 

(7) Implementation Report published in 2023 can be found here.