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The Western Balkans Steering Platform on Research and Innovation has been a regular fixture since 2006, convening leading policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders from across the region and the European Union. It serves as a vital forum for in-depth dialogue aimed at advancing research and innovation in the Western Balkans. Meetings are held in both virtual and physical formats, culminating in an annual Ministerial gathering.
This year’s Ministerial Meeting is scheduled for 20–21 October, with the in-person Steering Platform held from 13–15 May 2025 in Podgorica, Montenegro, representing a key milestone in the preparations for this high-level exchange.
The POLICY ANSWERS project supports the Secretariat of the Western Balkans Steering Platform and its meetings and has been also responsible for the kick-off workshop on the first day of this event series dedicated to Technology-Oriented Research Infrastructures (a detailed report can be found here).
On 14 May, the main sessions started with welcomes from high-level representatives from the European Commission, Montenegro, and the Polish EU Council Presidency. The morning featured updates on the latest research and innovation (R&I) developments from the European Commission and Western Balkan economies, followed by in-depth progress reports from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedoni and Serbia. This meeting’s part provided a platform for open discussion, knowledge exchange, and the sharing of best practices. A series of presentations and general discussions continued throughout the day, with contributions from EU Member States and international organisations (see below).
While the deliberation among the delegations is not public, POLICY ANSWERS highlights in this newsletter its own presentation and a few relevant public highlights. In many presentations, the experts discussed issues such as Horizon Europe participation, research and innovation infrastructures, the European Research Area, Smart Specialisation Strategies and how to strengthen competitiveness.
The co-chairs (European Commission, Montenegro, Poland) highlighted for example the “Choose Europe” initiative, the currently open 2025 calls, the Growth Plan for the WB and progress with Reform Agendas in the enlargement progress, as well as the Warsaw Declaration calling for a strong stand-alone FP10 and the next steps for the preparation of the Ministerial meeting in October. The EC Joint Research Centre (JRC) highlighted its priority on enlargement in its forthcoming Work Programme and several proposals for strategic engagement.
Albania underlined the achievements related to the establishment of European Digital Innovation Hubs, work with the EIT and the aims to become a moderate innovator based on the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) as part of its Reform Agenda and Growth Plan activities.
Based on statistical analysis, Bosnia and Herzegovina also stressed the importance of digitalisation and the association to Digital Europe, but also Eureka, COST and Horizon Europe. The importance of innovation centres (e.g. BIT Centar, ICBL and Intera) in the ecosystem have been pointed out.
Kosovo is currently revising the legal framework and highlighted national support programmes as well as achievements in cooperation with the LuxAid and Austrian Development Agency. The Horizon Europe Week with consultations and trainings as well as other events were also mentioned.
The co-chairs from Montenegro reported on their strategies and roadmaps as well as legal advancements and shared success cases from the Innovation Fund, the Science and Technology Park Montenegro, Tehnopolis and MontEDIH and several national, bilateral and international calls, in particular cooperation with the EIC and EIT, the upcoming calls under EUREKA LinkUp as well as under the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership which Montenegro recently joined.
North Macedonia also reported on new and adapted programmes, roadmaps and laws as well as open calls. The university las a main actor, being part of EOSC or running the INOFEIT EDIH, and other actors like EIT RIS Hub were mentioned. In relation to the Smart Specialisation Strategy, an info day and training are being held in June 2025.
During the phase of changes in the government, several strategic documents and laws are also under development in Serbia. The Science Fund and the Innovation Fund operate continuously, with many calls ongoing, and bilateral cooperation is ongoing. Serbia is very successful in Horizon Europe as well as COST and Eureka and in joining international initiatives. Four Science and Technology Parks are operational with in Serbia with a fifth under construction. Bio4Campus is another priority currently under development. Serbia is actively pursuing the Reform Agenda for the Growth Plan and aims to achieve its milestones already by end of 2026.
Participants from stakeholder organisations as well as from the EU Member States also contributed highlighting some further key achievements from their side.
Austria highlighted bilateral cooperation, the calls in the frame of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) where multilateral projects are funded, the project SHER, which is supported under development cooperation and the Open Medical Institute. Another highlight is that CEEPUS as a higher education cooperation programme will be continued, focusing on doctoral programmes.
Based on the strong interest in cooperation from German sides, a new bilateral cooperation programme on the thematic areas of green, digital and health was launched with a deadline in June.
Slovenia strongly supports the enlargement and has several bilateral programmes running. Cooperation is active in the frame of the EUSDR and under Horizon Europe. A specific priority of Slovenia is also cooperation on COBISS where the Institute for Information Science (IZUM) takes a leading role in networking various library information systems and enabling transformation to and integration in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC).
The Berlin Process as a political process and the regular Science Conferences also addressed the higher education and research systems in the region as champions of integration. Stakeholders are engaged in discussing current issues such as student protests, academic freedom, human capital investments, mobility and networking excellence, among others.
The COST Association is one of the frequently mentioned successful programmes for networking within Europe and globally, with a continuously increasing participation from the Western Balkans.
The EIT Community highlighted its strategy to support the Western Balkans participation coordinated with the established RIS hubs in North Macedonia, Montenegro and Albania. Success in the EIT Jumpstarter action was mentioned and that almost 8,000 participants from the region participated in trainings between 2020-24.
Eureka is another important scheme of cooperation which is putting together a particular “Link-Up” call for bottom-up formed networks among companies and sharing respective information.
The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is active supporting knowledge transfer activities, Digital Innovation Hubs and providing analysis about the start-up ecosystem. The RCC supports labs and platforms to increase cooperation bringing together the academic community with policy makers and industry and offering various opportunities to learn and engage.
The afternoon shifted the focus to Smart Specialisation Strategies (S3), with updates from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre and experts from the region. The participants explored the state-of-play, the priorities selected as well as available reports which analyse the cross-cutting results on green transition, ICT cooperation and upcoming work which will focus on analysis of existing cooperation in Horizon Europe, via foreign direct investments and via interregional cooperation mechanisms. Other areas the JRC will look at include the relationship between S3 and rural development and AI. The state-of-play in the region was discussed as Montenegro, for example, is already going into the 2nd cycle, while other Western Balkans are in different stages of implementation or preparation of the first S3: Albania had a strategy approved, Bosnia and Herzegovina prepares the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP), Kosovo has a draft strategy completed, North Macedonia and Serbia prepare their next Action Plans based on existing strategies. Experiences in relation to the EDP, the governance and the implementation via different national programmes and actions were presented as well as links to the Reform Agendas for the Growth Plan and possibilities to join international initiatives, Partnerships, research infrastructures, regional innovation valleys etc. based on the identified strengths.
The event also addressed the preparations for the upcoming Ministerial Meeting in October 2025.
The day concluded with informal discussions and a networking dinner, encouraging further dialogue and relationship-building.
The POLICY ANSWERS project presented its current activities, e.g. related to the Monitoring of the Western Balkans Agenda and the Youth R&I Awards.
On 15 May, the meeting spotlighted opportunities for researchers’ training, career development, and mobility through the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA). Experts and fellows presented insights and engaged in Q&A with participants. The agenda then turned to a discussion facilitated by the European Training Foundation (ETF) on enhancing productivity-based competitiveness and innovation at the company level, with a focus on the Agri-Tech sector – connected with skills development and smart specialisation opportunities.
The event closed with wrap-up remarks and a farewell reception, providing a final opportunity for participants to connect and reflect on the outcomes.
Throughout, the meeting was designed to foster strategic cooperation, support policy alignment, and drive forward the Western Balkans’ integration into the European Research Area.