The concept for the future Centre for Excellence in Public Policy in the Western Balkans – CEPS WeB, was presented on 24 November in Belgrade. Institute Alternative is participating in its establishment as well.
Our partner European Policy Centre (EPC) from Belgrade organised a panel discussion on “Achieving Excellence through regional cooperation”,in cooperation with five organisations – members of TEN (Think for Europe) network, where IA has been a member since its founding in 2013.
CEPS WeB is the result of the project Centre of Expertise in Public Policy Systems in the Western Balkans, which is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
The establishment of the Centre will enhance the initiatives of the TEN network. Among other things, it aims to strengthen the capacity of its members and other civil society organisations to participate in policy-making.
The need for better coordination and implementation of public policies, as well as the strengthening of public consultations, which are implemented inadequately at the stage of formulation of policies, is recognised by the European Commission in the regional reports for 2015 and 2016.
The panelists were prof. Mojmir Mrak from the Centre for Excellence in Finance from Ljubljana, Igor Kostić, a representative from the Regional Centre for Environmental Protection, as well as Sena Marić, representative from EPC Belgrade. Participants were presented with the regional approach that would have conditioned the formulation of new ideas and effective regional initiatives in public policy in the Western Balkans.
TEN network is comprised of Institute Alternative, European Policy Centre in Belgrade, Institute for European Policy in Skopje, Foreign Policy Initiative from Sarajevo, Institute for Democracy and Mediation from Tirana and the Group for Legal and Political Studies from Pristina.
More information on the network, please find on the official website of TEN: http://ten.europeanpolicy.org/
