Eu Enlargement and Regional Cooperation – Identifying the Next Steps

EU ENLARGEMENT AND REGIONAL COOPERATION – IDENTIFYING THE NEXT STEPS Valeska Esch Carina Kempf (eds.) In cooperation with: The Aspen Institute Germany wishes sincerely to thank the German Federal Foreign Office for its sponsorship of the Aspen Southeast Europe Program 2015 through the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe. The mission of The Aspen Institute is to improve the quality of leadership through dialog about the values and ideals essential to meeting the challenges facing organizations and governments at all levels. Over its sixty year history, the Aspen Institute has been devoted to advancing values-based leadership – to creating a safe, neutral space in which leaders can meet in order to discuss the complex challenges facing modern societies confidentially and in depth, with respect for differing points of view, in a search for common ground. This reader includes conference papers and proceedings of Aspen Germany’s conferences in 2015. The Aspen Institute’s role is limited to that of an organizer and convener. Aspen takes no institutional position on policy issues and has no affiliation with the U.S. or German governments. All statements of fact and expressions of opinion contained in all Aspen publications are the sole responsibility of the author or authors. For further information about The Aspen Institute, please write Aspen Institute Deutschland e.V., Friedrichstraße 60, 10117 Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany or call at +49 30 80 48 90 0. Visit our website at www.aspeninstitute.de Copyright © 2016 by The Aspen Institute Deutschland e.V. All rights reserved. This report may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and excerpts by reviewers for the public press), without the express, prior, written consent of the publisher. TABLE OF CONTENTS FOREWORD BY DR. ERNST REICHEL, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE, TURKEY AND THE EFTA STATES, GERMAN FEDERAL FOREIGN OFFICE 07 INTRODUCTION 09 SUMMARY 11 PRESENTATION OF RESULTS 13 SYNOPSIS – DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM IN THE WESTERN BALKANS 15 SYNOPSIS – REGIONAL COOPERATION IN THE WESTERN BALKANS 21 CONFERENCE I: DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM IN THE WESTERN BALKANS 27 AGENDA AND PARTICIPANTS 30 PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES 36 CONFERENCE REPORT 47 SESSION I: DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM IN THE WESTERN BALKANS – GENERAL ASSESSMENT 53 1. Arolda Elbasani 53 Shallow Europeanization: Top-Down Conditionality, Formal Compliance, and Sources of State Capture in the Balkans 2. Paula M. Pickering 60 Challenges to Strengthening Civil Society in the Western Balkans SESSION II: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM 66 3. Tobias Flessenkemper 66 European Union Integration and Public Administration Reform TABLE OF CONTENTS SESSION III: DEPOLITICIZATION AND INDEPENDENCE OF STATE INSTITUTIONS AND PUBLIC DISCOURSE 69 4. Milena Milošević 69 Impediments to Depoliticization in the Western Balkans: The Case of Montenegro 5. Arberësha Loxha 74 The Integrity of Kosovo’s Administration and Policy Steps for Depoliticization 6. Dane Taleski 78 Predicaments of Political Divisions in Southeast Europe: How to Escape Destructive Polarization? SESSION IV: THE ROLE OF PARLIAMENT 84 7. Emil Atanasovski 84 Challenges in Western Balkan Parliaments – The Need for a Shift in the Classic Parliamentary Oversight Paradigm 8. Bodo Weber 89 Parliamentarianism in the Western Balkans – Authoritarian Legacies and the Impact of EU Integration CONFERENCE II: REGIONAL COOPERATION IN THE WESTERN BALKANS 93 AGENDA AND PARTICIPANTS 94 PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES 100 CONFERENCE REPORT 111 SESSION I: THE STATE OF REGIONAL COOPERATION AND REMAINING CHALLENGES 115 1. Vedran Džihić 115 Civil Society in the Framework of the Berlin Process: Game Changer or More of the Same? 2. Jelica Minić 118 The State of Regional Cooperation and Remaining Challenges 3. Aleksandar Andrija Pejović 125 The State of Regional Cooperation and Remaining Challenges 4. Senada Šelo Šabić 129 Fostering Reforms in the Western Balkans – Fighting Corruption as an Important Milestone 5. Dane Taleski 133 Civil Society Forum at the Vienna Summit: Between High Expectations and Modest Achievements TABLE OF CONTENTS SESSION II: REGIONAL SECURITY COOPERATION 137 6. Vesna Bojičić-Dželilović 137 Taking Responsibility for Regional Cooperation in the Western Balkans Seriously: What is at Stake? 7. Sidita Kushi 142 Combating a Shared Menace: Terrorism as a Security and Social Threat in the Western Balkans and Beyond 8. Ioannis Michaletos 149 Regional Security Cooperation in Southeast Europe 9. Florian Qehaja 159 Uneven Regional Security Cooperation: Lessons Learned and Next Steps SESSION III: REGIONAL ECONOMIC COOPERATION, ENERGY SECURITY, AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT 163 10. Jens Bastian 163 Regional Economic Cooperation and Energy Security in South East Europe 11. Blerim Reka 168 The Energy Security Challenges of the Western Balkans: TAP vs. Turkish Stream CONFERENCE III: ASPEN WORKING GROUP SOUTHEAST EUROPE 173 AGENDA AND PARTICIPANTS 174 PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES 176 REPORT WORKING GROUP 181 ACRONYMS USED 184 ABOUT ASPEN 187 FOREWORD 2015 was an eventful, difficult year for the world, for Europe and for the Western Balkans. At the start of the year, no one could have imagined how migration through the countries of the Western Balkans would surge over the year, or what challenges the governments of the transit countries would face as a result. Now, at the beginning of 2016, I am happy to say that the achievements of these countries along the Western Balkan route in meeting this humanitarian challenge have been remarkable. Let me take this opportunity to express my profound appreciation for their endeavors. The real subject of this foreword, however, is events in the Western Balkans, events which are not so spectacular in the public eye as the migration issue but which are no less important. It is a matter of dismantling the burdens left by mal- functioning social systems in all states of the region, and also of removing the causes and managing the consequences of the terrible wars in the former Yugoslavia towards the end of the 20th century. The Aspen Institute Germany, which helps to resolve old conflicts and supports the countries of the region in moving towards the Euro-Atlantic structures, makes a valuable contribution to this crucial task. One of its now renowned formats is the “subcabinet meetings” supported by the Federal Foreign Office, which serve as a platform for a confidential, trust- based exchange among decision-makers below cabinet level. In 2015, this conference series looked in particular at public administration reform and regional cooperation. Both issues are extremely important for the Western Balkans, as effi- cient, transparent public administration is key to a modern state, and regional cooperation is not only essential for the welfare of all its immediate neighbors but also constitutes one of the central elements for integration into the European Union, to which the countries of the region aspire. In 2015 the Aspen Institute Germany again organized conferences at the political level, which attracted considerable attention and respect both in Europe and beyond. The “flagship”, of course, was the Seventh Southeast Europe Foreign Ministers’ Conference in Berlin in November. Traditionally this conference provides an opportunity for participants, including all the region’s foreign ministers, to engage in a confidential exchange of views, but also, in the public program, to highlight issues of topical significance for the region. Experience has shown that the various states are making the necessary progress at different rates; sometimes they hit a spell of stagnation, and occasionally there are even setbacks. Nevertheless, as long as all stakeholders are working towards the major goal, set forth in the Thessaloniki Declaration, of consistently moving closer to the European Union, we do not need to be fearful for the idea of Europe in this part of the continent. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Aspen Institute Germany and its staff for their untiring work and to wish them every success and all the very best for 2016. Dr. Ernst Reichel, Ambassador Special Envoy for South-Eastern Europe, Turkey and the EFTA States Federal Foreign Office INTRODUCTION Dear friends of the Aspen Institute Germany, The Aspen Institute Germany has been committed to providing a confidential and neutral platform for debate. In a closed and protected environment, off-the-record meetings are organized to allow for in-depth discussions that respect different points of views. Leaders of the Western Balkan countries have embraced this opportunity and have come together at the Aspen Institute Germany’s conferences to discuss regional challenges and current issues their countries are facing. These conferences facilitate in-depth discussions regionally and with German, European, and U.S. decision-makers and experts, as well as representatives from the EU and international organizations. The aim of these conferences is to find common ground with regard to regional challenges and to develop concrete policy recommendations and mutually beneficial solu- tions. International experts from academia and civil society organizations provide valuable input to these meetings with the papers and insights they contribute to the discussions. The region has come a long way since the violent break-up of the former

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