think nea – New Narratives of EU integration

think nea – New Narratives of EU integration is a pioneering project of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy – ELIAMEP, supported by the Open Society Foundations – Western Balkans. It contributes to reimagining the EU’s engagement with the Western Balkans, as well as the region’s attractiveness for the EU in order to ensure a resilient EU integration strategy and ever-closer integration with a full membership perspective in mind. Amidst challenging political, geopolitical, and security circumstances in Europe and beyond, think nea strives to become a much-needed platform, knowledge base, and driver to invigorate and sustain the momentum in enlargement policy, especially on the side of the EU.

As a knowledge hub for new ideas on EU integration, think nea seeks to contribute to shaping Europe’s future. It specifically aims to design and implement outreach and advocacy activities based on rigorous research findings and outside-the-box policy ideas by some of the lead thinkers and scholars in the areas of EU affairs and enlargement policy. It operates on the basis of a flexible work plan in order to adjust to the needs stemming from new developments in the EU and the Western Balkans and still achieve its goal – to contribute to improving the policy environment and debate surrounding decisions about the EU integration of the Western Balkans in Brussels, key EU capitals, and the countries of the region, and undoing the obstacles in the Western Balkans’s EU accession path.

To that effect, the work of the project will consist of:

• Assessing policy developments in the Western Balkans, the EU enlargement process, and the relations between the EU and the Western Balkans;
• Maintaining full and in-depth understanding of the actual state of enlargement to properly direct and maximize policy impact;
• Identifying data and resources that can help the Western Balkans in their accession prospects as well as constructing matching arguments and proposals that could be used for the same purpose;
• Identifying opportunities for high-impact interventions in policy-making and policy debates;
• Opening avenues for dialogue and facilitation of problem-solving;
• Developing novel and innovative ideas and arguments to introduce to the fatigued policy dialogue;
• Establishing and mobilizing collaborative frameworks for stakeholder engagement in Brussels, the EU member states, and the Western Balkans.

The project’s work will be anchored in the managerial and thematic competences of its core team that will pool and leverage expertise across different geographic and topical areas. For that purpose, the activities will be implemented as a collaborative effort that will involve already prominent, but also new voices in the EU and the Western Balkans from civil society, academia, civil service, diplomacy and the business community, through brainstorming sessions, round tables, workshops, closed-door meetings, field trips and joint research and outreach agendas. The project team will seek to identify, create and use synergies with various existing initiatives, but also to open questions that have thus far been un(der)explored, to test new ideas and policy assumptions and to mobilize support for venturing into new options and opportunities that could potentially spearhead enlargement towards the Western Balkans. Moreover, think nea will also count on the work of journalists and cooperate with media stakeholders in order to amplify the messages and outreach.

The thematic agenda for the period 2024-2026 includes the following topics:

• Political dynamics in the EU and the Western Balkans and ensuing constraints and opportunities for enlargement

Rising Euroscepticism and the lack of support for further EU internal reforms challenges the Western Balkans EU accession. In response, think nea will focus on identifying cooperation avenues and fostering dialogue to rebuild trust and promote a cohesive vision for EU integration. New policy research ideas will address the spillover effects of the rise of Eurosceptic forces and underline the need for strong EU commitment to the integration of the Western Balkans.

Research and advocacy in this area will seek to identify political risks and openings for the accession process, address potential fallout from key perilous political developments, think holistically about implementing potential remedies or making advances, produce ideas and organize actions that will ensure that the Western Balkans EU accession does not suffer because of precarious political developments. Starting with the results of the 2024 European Parliament elections and continuing with elections in individual member states and other relevant political developments, think nea seeks to understand the changed environment and potentially new important players, plan post-election policy actions, develop tailor-made interventions and conduct advocacy to ensure uninhibited continuation and accelerated dynamics of the EU’s and member states’ engagement with the Western Balkans.

• Non-EU foreign influence and its impact on the reform agenda and accession conditionality for the Western Balkans

Current geopolitical competition risks exacerbating the reform deficit in accession countries and undermining their aspirations to join the EU. In response, think nea will evaluate the consequences of potential challenges in the region’s EU accession and build strategies to integrate the Western Balkans into the EU policy frameworks, while strengthening Europe’s geopolitical influence.

The activities planned and implemented under this topic will aim to integrate the Western Balkans into the EU’s thinking about geopolitical rivals. An in-depth analysis of how engagement with third actors, especially but not exclusively Russia and China, spurs the reform deficit in the Western Balkans and weakens the region’s engagement with the EU will provide fresh thinking about why the Western Balkans should be included in the EU’s policy discussions and how they could contribute to Europe’s geopolitical actorness. Moreover, it will serve as basis to develop and consider various scenarios, including what would be the concrete implications and costs for the EU to neglect this aspect, as well as to devise specific policy recommendations targeting specific stakeholders.

• Western Balkans’s potential contribution to the EU’s strategic autonomy and economic security

Deeper integration of the Western Balkans into new EU policy initiatives would bring significant benefits in key areas such as defense, industrial capacity, and energy security. To that end, think nea aims to spotlight the Western Balkans’ untapped potential to enhance the EU’s strategic autonomy and economic resilience. By advocating for a new paradigm, it aims to reframe the region as a key asset and a strategic partner in shaping Europe’s future.

Research in this area will provide in-depth analysis and arguments why closer integration of the Western Balkans in new policy ideas and initiatives would be beneficial for the EU, focusing on a wide array of policy fields and a broad conception of security, which may include, inter alia, economic security, defense industrial capacity, food security, raw materials, energy, and other dimensions of the multivalent and versatile understandings of the concept of European Strategic Autonomy. The findings will uncover specific links between policy developments in the EU and potential synergies with and contribution by the Western Balkans, in an attempt to contribute to a new paradigm in the EU’s engagement with the Western Balkans and the latter as a potential part of the solution to some of the EU’s current challenges, instead of the perception of being an additional burden and challenge. Ultimately, this work will contribute to making the Western Balkans more attractive to the EU, but in terms of the latter’s own needs and thinking about its geopolitical role and the need to ensure resources and partnerships.

Team members:

– Ioannis Armakolas: Director

– Ana Krstinovska: Senior Researcher

– Alexandra Voudouri: Media and Communications Advisor

– Ioannis Alexandris: Research Associate

– Nikos Bakirtzis: Project Manager

ELIAMEP is a member of the IGNITA network which is led by led by OSF-WB.

You can learn more about the project by visiting the website of OSF-WB.

Funded: OSF WB