Inflation and Food Prices in Albania, Western Balkans and EU: A ‎Comparative Analysis Before and After COVID-19

The right to food is a fundamental one, and the optimization between human needs and available resources is a challenge in all countries. The main goal of this study is to find the factors that determine food security and to determine the level of food security in the Western Balkans while undergoing the process of European Union (EU) integration. In order to achieve this, four Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) dimensions of food security are analyzed: stability, availability, access, and utilization. The Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) method is then used to rank Western Balkan and EU countries according to food security. The results show a significant difference among these countries in terms of their levels of food security, which is a consequence of Western Balkan countries’ significant lag in economic development in comparison to the EU. Although the level of food security in Western Balkan countries is lower than in EU countries, it is not endangered. However, it can become endangered under crisis conditions (like the COVID-19 pandemic). The main reasons for this discrepancy are high food supply variability, dependence on cereal import, and lower Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in these countries than in EU.

The world economic crisis that paralyzed the world economy in 2008 and 2009 had a profound impact on all countries in the world. Due to the interconnectedness of national economies the crisis spread rapidly from its centre in the United States to the world. There were two main transmission channels for the spread of the crisis between countries - international trade and the exchange of private capital between states in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI). This economic downturn has greatly influenced the domestic economic stability of the Western Balkan economies. The Western Balkan countries have shaped their economic policy towards European Union (EU) membership, resulting in a high degree of liberalization in international economic relations accompanied by a commitment to free international capital movement. Since this region has close economic ties with the EU the crisis spread to the region very quickly, manifesting itself in decreasing regional exports to the EU market and a downward trend of FDI inflow to the region. This paper will focus on the impact of the world economic crisis on the Western Balkan economies and especially on their exports and FDI inflow. Our empirical analysis, based on panel data, uses a wider sample of Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) which includes the Western Balkans, since we wanted to analyze if the effects of the economic crisis in the Western Balkans are specific or are common to most countries in transition. The analysis shows that Western Balkan exports have suffered due to the crisis, but reveals some interesting results on the different dynamics of export flows which depend on regional trade integration for their destination.

Background: With the aim of encouraging mobility between higher education institutions in the Western Balkan countries and those in the European Union (EU), the European Commission initiated a series of measures to increase the share of students primarily from the Western Balkans who spend at least one semester away from their home institutions, but also the share of young people from EU member states who come to Western Balkan (WB) countries. Objectives: Aim of the paper is to determine the degree of representation of internationalisation strategy and policy elements in the internal documents of higher education institutions and its direct impact on the development of mobility. Methods/Approach: An electronic survey has been created and sent to representatives of 9 EU and 11 WB universities. Respondents were mainly international relations officers or management representatives. Mann-Whitney test was applied in order to test differences between EU and WB universities. Results: The conducted Mann-Whitney nonparametric tests show that the degree of representation of internationalisation strategy and policy elements in the internal documents of a higher education institution has a direct impact on the development of mobility. Conclusions: By 2020, the European Commission aims to have 20% of all students acquiring an academic degree within the European Higher Education Area participate in mobility. This paper sheds light on this segment and indicates possible directions for actions aimed at developing mobility at institutions in Western Balkan countries

This study aims to compare the access to external finance of start-ups between the Western Balkans and European Union (EU) countries, exploring differences and commonalities in their entrepreneurial finance ecosystems. A composite Access to Finance Index was developed, integrating five key indicators: Fitch sovereign credit ratings, private sector credit-to-GDP ratio, venture capital investment volume, stock market capitalization relative to GDP, and the investor protection index. These indicators provide a multidimensional assessment of financial system maturity and institutional quality relevant to start-up development. The study shows that there are significant disparities between the EU and the Western Balkans. EU countries show higher institutional and financial maturity, including better credit ratings, deeper venture capital markets, and stronger investor protections. Western Balkan countries, by contrast, face constraints in all measured areas, though some exhibit emerging potential. The EU provides a more conducive environment for start-up financing, while the Western Balkans require substantial institutional and financial reforms to bridge the gap. The study offers policymakers and stakeholders a structured framework for diagnosing financial barriers and prioritizing reforms. Recommendations include strengthening legal protections, fostering venture capital ecosystems, and leveraging cross-regional cooperation to support inclusive start-up growth.

Trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) significantly influenced the liberalisation of agri-food products in Western Balkan (WB) countries. In all Western Balkan countries, there has been an intensification of the trade of agri-food products and a partial change in the regional and commodity structures of trade. This paper aims to identify comparative advantages of agri-food sectors and consider its tendencies during the EU integration process. Additionally, this paper will discuss some opportunities for improvement of the export positions of agri-food products. In that context and based on the literature review, the indexes of revealed comparative advantages and its modified version will be used as a main method for analysis in this research. Results showed that all Western Balkan countries, except Albania, have comparative advantages in exporting agri-food products. It is evident that Serbia has the highest level of comparative advantages in this sector. Moreover, this paper suggests that all countries should aim to provide the best possible positions for their agri-food products during pre-accession negotiations for EU membership and take the necessary steps towards increasing the level of competitiveness in the common EU market.

BackgroundThe European Commission (EC), based on the European Green Deal (2019) and the Recovery plan for Europe (2021), envisages investing 30% of the budget in climate-related programs, projects, and initiatives, which clearly shows Europe's commitment to becoming the first climate-neutral region by 2050. Activities are also planned for countries that are not members of the European Union (EU), which require complex changes in the field of legislation, strategic planning, implementation, and monitoring. To successfully plan short-term and long-term activities on these grounds, it is necessary to have a realistic picture of the state of climate change in each country—as they spill over into the entire region of Europe. The main objective of this paper is to answer the following questions: (i) is climate change observed in Western Balkans? (ii) how are certain sectors vulnerable to climate change in Western Balkans? (iii) what are the climate change adaptation strategies in the six countries of the Western Balkans? The answers to these questions can help in planning activities and initial alignment of Western Balkan countries with the EU plan to achieve net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.Main bodyThe main results of the research show that in all countries of the region, the average annual temperature increased by 1.2 °C compared to 1970, with stabilization and the beginning of the decline which can be expected around 2040. The main reasons for climate change in the region are: industry, energy, and heating sector based on coal exploitation, low energy efficiency, etc.ConclusionsIt can be concluded that Croatia as a member of the EU has adopted, and other five Western Balkans countries are in the process of adopting the necessary regulations and strategies towards climate change mitigation, but the implementation of specific activities is at a low level. The reason for this most often lies in the insufficient commitment of decision-makers to make significant changes in the field of climate change transition (lower level of economic development, lack of investment, and preservation of social peace). Finally, this paper provides an overview of climate change by country, scenario analysis, and policy recommendations.

This paper aims to investigate the status of alignment and harmonization of corporate reporting in Western Balkans (WB) countries with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). Specifically, the research will focus on understanding the extent to which WB countries have initiated the adoption of ESRS, particularly in the context of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) that mandates its use for companies within the European Union (EU) and its branches. The paper will compare the achieved level of sustainability reporting in Western Balkan countries with other countries located in Europe that are not members of the European Union. Despite the mandatory nature of ESRS for companies within the EU, our preliminary analysis indicates a lack of progress in the alignment and harmonization process among the WB countries. Western Balkan countries are also lagging behind, compared to other non-EU member countries, such as Switzerland and Norway, which have been selected for comparative analysis. The research seeks to uncover the reasons behind this lag and to explore the potential challenges faced by companies in the WB region in implementing these standards. It is crucial to understand the current state of sustainability reporting practices in WB countries and the challenges faced in aligning with ESRS. It will provide valuable insights for policymakers, businesses, and stakeholders on the necessary steps to enhance sustainability reporting practices in the region and foster alignment with international standards.

This paper analyses structural change in the European Union (EU) over the past two decades, with the aim of providing some guidelines for the Western Balkan (WB) countries. After recalling the main theories of structural change, the paper illustrates the general trend of decline in the relative shares of manufacturing output and employment in the old and the new EU member states, pointing to distinctive features of the East European countries. It proceeds to show how structural change in the WB countries has had additional characteristics, specific to the region. The WB countries have experienced a process of extreme de-industrialization that has reduced the contribution of manufacturing too quickly, to levels which are not consistent with their relatively low level of economic development. What is necessary is a strategy of re-industrialization of the WB economies that would strengthen their export capacity and facilitate more robust economic growth.

This article explores the correlation between Russian influence and the European Union (EU) integration process in the Western Balkans. The focus is on analyzing the impact of Russian influence expressed through political, economic and cultural means on the region’s integration into the EU. The article argues that the Russian foreign policy toolkit inhibits the EU accession process for the six countries of the Western Balkans, as it interferes with the internal functioning of these countries, which, in turn, affects their ability to fulfill EU requirements. Using a comparative case approach this study has found evidence that Russian cultural, political and financial support negatively affects the Western Balkans’ European integration process, hindering progress towards accession. Additionally, the findings support the argument that Western Balkans countries with Slavic populations are more susceptible to Russian influence. The article highlights the significant impact of Russia on the EU integration process in the Western Balkans and underscores the need for EU policymakers to address this issue to ensure a smooth and successful accession process for the region.

This paper analyzes the quality of governance and financial assistance as key determinants for successful functioning of the process of integration within the European Union (EU). Moreover, the paper develops a comparison of the Western Balkans with current EU members and the forthcoming, on the basis of the selected indicators of governance (rule of law, democracy, corruption, political stability, and effectiveness of state) with the experience of the implementation of the reforms of public administration. Various surveys show that the Western Balkans, by all quality of governance indicators, especially in the rule of law, lags behind 28 (twenty eight) of the current EU countries (without taking in account the Great Britain). The low level of the functioning of rule of law, combined with inadequate and unreformed public administration is potentially the biggest obstacle in the association agreement of the Western Balkans with EU, but also as challenge in achieving sustainable social and economic development.Whereas in the case of the Western Balkan countries, there is an obvious difference between proclaiming and internal reality, which is further compounded by a difficult political and economic transition, as well as in social domain - where poverty and corruption are the most worrying. The research data obtained from independent bodies - academic and research institutions, civil society and international organizations - confirm this controversial picture of the Western Balkans. Negative attitudes still prevail in Western Balkans political elites and if given the chance to political manipulation, may behave unpredictably. All this makes it obligatory to make a comparative overview, for depicting in particular the quality of governance as sine qua non for the Western Balkans countries‘ integration in EU.

This paper focuses on agro- food chains and agro- food consumer prices in Slovenia considering its European Union (EU) membership. As the Slovenian agro- food markets were distorted prior to the EU accession with some agro- food prices that were greater than comparable EU prices, the empirical results confirm that with the EU membership Slovenian real agro- food consumer prices have largely downward adjusted. Besides policy changes, internalization of retailing and distribution chains by entries of supermarket s and hypermarket s have had impacts on market structures and rationalization of marketing activities. Supermarket s and hypermarket s are taking over a substantial proportion of retail trade in agro- food products with implications on increasing food chains efficiency by squeezing structures in consumer prices, including for farmers, processors and marketing margins for main agro- food staples. After the greater price adjustment changes that occurred by the EU membership, some stabilizations in agro- food markets are occurring, but at different levels of real consumer and producer prices and marketing margins. This imply that agro- food markets in the new EU member states are becoming much more integrated into internationally competitive markets, where pricing and sales promotion issues and branding are taking important role in market segmentation of agro- food products.

The disruption of the recent COVID crisis has as a result many and serious environmental, social, political, and economic consequences. In the entrepreneurship domain, now it is the time for reimagining the relationship between people (employees, customers) and technology. This is very important in the so-called Western Balkan (WB) countries, apply for EU membership whilst facing serious environmental, social, political, economic and governance problems. The disruptions brought by the COVID-19 pandemic crisis have made WB countries and a number of international and domestic companies think about increasing the resilience of their production through sustainable, green, and scalable investments and management (e.g. supply diversification, geographically closer to customers activities and delivery centers, shorter supply chains, smarter solutions, thoughtful initiatives, increased home production, smart scalable inventories, open governance, new technology transformation, adaptable management, trusted relations, etc.). The main target of this article was to perform a practical primitive analysis of access to economic and green entrepreneurship constraints in the WB region and in the post COVID-19 pandemic crisis times. Hence, in this article, several green entrepreneurship perceptions, financial and green investment initiatives, operated as financial constraints, which should form in WB countries just after the COVID crisis introduced and discussed. Particularly, the factors that influenced these perceptions/initiatives/constraints, and the consequences should they had on the political, social, and economic dynamics in WB were presented in this paper. The main article’s objectives are the following: (i) to analyze how the WB economies could benefit from these initiatives after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis; and (ii) to form the suitable environmental, social, economic, and governance commitments. Findings and proposed entrepreneurship analysis is complemented, in Section 4, by a review of the environmental, social, and governance commitments (operating as nine “financing constraints” with great corporate finance functionalities), which should operate (in the post COVID-19 era) as economic reform by national authorities in Western Balkan countries, through specific EU programmes and various green entrepreneurship and corporate finance initiatives. For instance, four key findings were recorded in the commitment “Environmental issues”. The results of the presented research, as recommendations, were referred to the adoption of good and innovative practices for sustainable green entrepreneurship in WB. In particular, the relationship between people (employees, customers) and the new technology was discussed and documented, as well as the issue of “digital transformation in the WB entrepreneurship” by identified nine (9) commitments that fully or partially support green entrepreneurship; the concept of “team-work collaboration” (collaborative entrepreneurship and solutions); and the “geospatial optimization” initiative (e.g. geospatial optimization for delivery centers) were introduced, analyzed and documented.

German Abstract: Zusammenfassung In diesem Papier wird analysiert, inwieweit die Staaten des Westbalkans die notwendige wirtschaftliche und institutionelle Reife fur einen EU-Beitritt erreicht haben. In der Studie werden die vier Staaten untersucht, die bereits Kandidatenstatus haben: Albanien, Montenegro, Nord-Mazedonien und Serbien. Die Autoren beschreiben, wie die EU derzeit den Stand des Beitrittsprozesses bewertet. Sie analysieren, welchen wirtschaftlichen Entwicklungsstand die Westbalkanstaaten bisher erreicht haben und welche moglichen Entwicklungspfade fur einen Aufholprozess moglich erscheinen. Daruber hinaus bewerten sie die institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen in diesen Landern auf der Grundlage internationaler Standortrankings, die unabhangige Informationen uber den institutionellen Aufholprozess der Lander enthalten. Die Autoren berechnen zudem die Kosten, die der EU entstehen, wenn diese Kandidatenlander Zugang zu den bestehenden Struktur- und Investitionsfonds der EU erhalten. English Abstract: The topicality of the paper’s subject “EU accession of the Western Balkan Countries” results from the fact that despite the unresolved crises in the EU, in autumn 2019 the EU member states will decide whether to open accession negotiations with the Western Balkan states of North Macedonia and Albania. Due to doubts concerning the readiness of accession of these countries, the discussion on an alternative option for EU integration between full membership and non-membership for countries that are only partially ready for accession is reviving. The focus here is particularly on economic integration. The corresponding objective of the paper is to clarify whether from an economic point of view doubts about the accession readiness of northern Macedonia and Albania, as well as of the other Western Balkan accession candidates Montenegro and Serbia, are justified. The research tasks in this contribution are reflected in the following modules: drawing conclusions from evaluations by the EU, a statistical analysis of the economic development in the candidate countries, the simulation of convergence processes for each Western Balkan state, the evaluation of international country rankings and finally the execution of a cost analysis of the EU accession of the Western Balkan states. Problematic enlargement plans of the European Union. In the European Union (EU), which has grown to 28 member states, centrifugal forces are becoming increasingly visible: the efforts of the United Kingdom to withdraw from the EU, the smouldering economic crisis in Southern Europe, the strong differences in refugee and immigration policy, the North-South conflict over the future of the Stability and Growth Pact or the controversial question of further deepening EU integration point to fundamental differences within the EU. In view of a large number of unresolved problems in the current EU, it would be reasonable that the further enlargement of the Community will not be on the European policy agenda. Especially the enlargements during the last 15 years have made the political consensus building in the EU increasingly difficult and can explain the drifting apart of the member states in many policy fields. But a new enlargement of the EU is still planned. Following their strategy of an Eastern enlargement, in 2004 the EU accepted the majority of Central and Eastern European reform states as full members. The accession of Bulgaria and Romania (2007) as well as Croatia (2013) completed this enlargement process by countries in the Balkans that had been comparatively economically weak or politically unstable until then. From the EU's point of view, however, enlargement is not yet completed — despite all the integration problems that have come to light. In the “Thessaloniki Declaration” in June 2003, the Western Balkan states of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia (Northern Macedonia since 2019), Serbia and Montenegro and, with restrictions, Kosovo were also given the prospect of accession. This was reaffirmed in the “Sofia Declaration” in May 2018. This enlargement project seems to focus less on the enlargement of the EU internal market, which is not surprising given the small size and limited economic potential of these candidate countries. Rather, it is a project for the political stabilization of the Western Balkans, as can be seen from the highlighted objectives: strengthening democracy and the rule of law, fighting crime and corruption, and pacifying regional conflicts. The establishment of functioning market economies is seen as a vehicle to achieve these goals and also to curb migration from these states to the EU. Therefore, the creation of a perspective for young people to stay in the EU plays a special role.

The European Union (EU) has shown considerable interest in receiving the Western Balkan countries into the EU, as did the mentioned countries show considerable interest to join the EU. Although this is a historically very turbulent region, the EU has clearly, unambiguously and unanimously expressed the political attitude towards the Western Balkans: "The Future of the Balkans is in the European Union". In addition to goodwill, the EU is also ready to assist in this process but also each country must do its part of the job in the accession process. The very process of EU accession means defining and meeting necessary criteria for potential new EU members, as well as the process of accession negotiations for the full membership of the new member states. The main objective of this article is to indicate which expansion criteria or Copenhagen criteria will be the most critical to achieve for Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), as one of the Western Balkan countries, in the process of access into the EU. In the process of meeting Copenhagen criteria, unlike other Western Balkan countries, B&H shows the least success. In our research, Bosnia and Herzegovina has a problem primarily by satisfying political Copenhagen criteria and then meeting economic and legal criteria. The lack of meeting Political Copenhagen criteria is found primarily in the absence of political consensus in B&H, which stems from the special features of the Government in Bosnia and Herzegovina (two entities and Bosnia's three main ethnic populations). With the lack of political unity in B&H, it is not possible to establish stable institutions that ensure democracy, the rule of law, respect for human rights and the right to protect minorities (Sejdić and Finci case, corruption, non-transparent elections, nondependent media and labour unions) Fulfilling the Copenhagen Economic Criteria - a functioning market economy is also dependent on political influence (which is also fractured). The economy of B&H is structurally unregulated and is based on the processing of basic raw materials without the high-tech industry in order to deal with the competition of the European Single Market. During the research, the used scientific methods (analysis and syntheses, descriptions and classifications, historical and comparative, induction and deduction, and quantitative analysis) showed that it would be most difficult to achieve the political and economic Copenhagen criteria for the above reasons.

In order to improve trust related to the implementation of artificial intelligence (AI), European Union (EU) institutions are in the final stages of developing an ethical and legal framework. In the meantime, Western Balkan (WB) economies (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo) are pushing for the implementation of advanced information technologies and artificial intelligence, particularly in the public sector. This paper aims to provide an overview of regulatory approaches toward AI in WB economies, which are in process of EU integration but usually do lack institutional capacities and need further strengthening of rule of law. The paper will firstly introduce the concept of regulation and the challenges of the regulability of IT and AI. Secondly, the paper will map key actors and stakeholders in WB and analyze the development of strategic documents, ethical frameworks, and legal regulations in the area of AI. Thirdly the paper will briefly compare the existing regulatory framework of WB economies in the areas of Data Protection, Information Security, and Anti-discrimination and its applicability to the implementation of AI technologies. Lastly, by presenting key principles of the EU approach to the regulation of AI the paper will provide recommendations for Western Balkan economies.