About us

“Think for Europe” Network of Think Tanks and EU Policy Research Centres in South-East Europe (TEN) was established in 2013 against the background of weak regional cooperation in EU related policy research. In the process of EU accession, the countries in the region face similar challenges: rule of law, sustainability of reforms and administrative capacities to ensure implementation of law harmonised with the EU acquis. Furthermore, ownership of the reform process is crucial to ensure sustainability. Involvement of civil society, and especially think thanks in shaping the environment for change and advocating policy changes is substantial for successful EU integration of the region.

TEN members are brought together by the values of good governance and rule of law as primary drivers of the development of our societies. Furthermore, our cooperation aims to promote openness, transparency as well as partnership. Our example demonstrates how the regional cooperation can work and bring good to our region, stimulate the transfer of experience and induce healthy peer pressure.

In recognition to our work and achievements, the Global Go To Think Tank Index Reports for 2018, 2019 and 2020 placed TEN as one of the top think tank networks in the world.

TEN Members

Our members are non-profit, independent think-tank or policy research organisations focusing on the EU integration process and committed to the evidence-based policymaking and advocacy.
The members of TEN are think tanks with solid policy research portfolios and policy communication and advocacy capacities:

European Policy Centre (CEP)
Belgrade, Serbia
TEN Secretariat

Institute Alternative (IA)
Podgorica, Montenegro

European Policy Institute (EPI)
Skopje, Macedonia

Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM)
Tirana, Albania

Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS)
Pristina, Kosovo

Foreign Policy Initiative BH (FPI)
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Directors of Organsations

Milena Lazarević

Milena Lazarević

CEP Belgrade

Milena Lazarevic is one of the founders and Programme Director at the European Policy Centre (CEP) ...

Dr. Arbëresha Loxha

Dr. Arbëresha Loxha

GLPS Pristina

Dr. Arbëresha Loxha is the Executive Director and a Senior Research Fellow at GLPS. Dr. Loxha holds both ...

Stevo Muk

Stevo Muk

IA Podgorica

Stevo Muk graduated at the Law Faculty (University of Montenegro) in 1998. He completed postgraduate ...

Gjergji Vurmo

Gjergji Vurmo

IDM Tirana

Gjergji Vurmo is IDM’s Programme Director and a senior researcher on good governance, civil society, security ...

Dr. Simonida Kacarska

Dr. Simonida Kacarska

EPI Skopje

Dr. Simonida Kacarska is a Director of the European Policy Institute in Skopje, Macedonia. She holds a PhD ...

Haris Ćutahija

Haris Ćutahija

FPI Sarajevo

Haris Ćutahija graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences at University of Sarajevo where he also gained MA degree..

Areas of Expertise and Action

  • Civil society involvement in policymaking in the EU integration process;

  • Good governance, public administration reform and administrative capacities for EU integration;

  • Rule of law and democratic performance;

  • EU enlargement policy towards the Western Balkans;

  • The regional dimension of the EU accession process and regional sectoral integration;

  • Western Balkans and integration into the EU internal market;

  • Capacities for EU pre-accession funds management and IPA monitoring;

  • Government accountability and accountable public finances.

Flagship Initiatives

MLADIRINI

This platform was created as a part of a project implemented by a group of think tanks under TEN and their partners from Poland, Italy and Belgium (Institute for International Affairs, the Bronsilav Geremek Foundation Centre and the European Policy Centre). It is intended to survey the voices of the youth, aged 16 to 25, to propagate them and stimulate discussion regarding various topics, among which internet freedoms, issues regarding the environment and rule of law will be featured. It was created as a part of the Make Future Together: EU and the Western Balkans from the Youth Perspective initiative, supported by the European Commission but will serve for the continuous involvement and engagement with the youth.

Find more at www.mladirini.org

Western Balkan Civil Society Empowerment for a Reformed Public Administration (WeBER2.0)

In December 2019, the EU granted support for the continuation of WeBER – the Western Balkans Enabling Project for Civil Society Monitoring of Public Administration Reform, a three-year project that was implemented from 2015 to 2018, funded by the European Union and co-funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Guided by the SIGMA Principles, WeBER has pioneered an evidence- and civil society-based approach to monitoring progress of the region’s governments in public administration reform (PAR) based on EU requirements. It has also built bottom-up demand for reform by creating the regional WeBER Platform for dialogue on PAR and by empowering civil society organisations (CSOs) through capacity building and consultation events and meetings. This has laid the foundations for the continuous involvement of civil society in PAR, relying on a regional approach to the topic and on producing regionally-comparable WeBER monitoring results.

Under the refreshed name, “Western Balkan Civil Society Empowerment for a Reformed Public Administration”, the design of WeBER2.0 relies and further builds on the results of the previous WeBER cycle and products, most notably the PAR Monitor reportsthe regional consultative WeBER Platform and the Small Grant Facility for Support for Civil Society Monitoring of Public Administration Reform at Local Level. WeBER2.0 will last until December 2022. 

The European Commission has recognised WeBER as one of the examples of “long-haul efforts to bring in structural changes in an institutional environment that has recently become fairly acute and difficult (deterioration of the effectiveness of public administration, etc.).

Find more at www.par-monitor.org 

Europeanisation Beyond Process

TEN is strengthening cooperation with renowned think tanks from Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy and Finland, in order to improve the quality of communication on the EU enlargement in the broader framework of the forthcoming redefinition of the EU and its future. Our approach in this project is to advocate not for the plain EU accession but rather for the WB as an entirety that has been going through numerous transformative processes the democratic governance and rule of law structures, economic governance as well as ambitious reform agendas for public administration. Apart from reaching out to the influential European capitals and engaging with the EU policy scene, TEN is conducting activities to improve its internal research, communication and advocacy skills. TEN’s ultimate goal is to make Western Balkan countries substantially involved in the debates and policy solutions pertinent to the future of Europe.

Benchmarking for EU Reform – How Effective? BENCHER

How effective is the EU mechanism for evaluating results achieved by the countries of the region within the EU integration/accession process? How does the new approach to the Chapters 23 and 24 which deal with rule of law issues function in practice? We are examining these questions and providing recommendations based on an in-house sui generis comparative methodology.

Contacts

TEN Secretariat Address:
13 Djordja Vajferta, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia

Phone: +381 11 4529 323
E-mail: secretariat@thinkforeurope.org

European Policy Centre (CEP)
13 Djordja Vajferta
11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Phone: +381 11 45 29 323
Email: office@cep.org.rs

Institute Alternative (IA)
57, I/20 Bulevar Dzordza Vasingtona,
81000 Podgorica, Montenegro
Phone/fax: +382 20 268 686
Email: info@institut-alternativa.org

European Policy Institute (EPI)
2/2 Antonie Grubisic
1000 Skopje, North Macedonia
Phone: +3892 3 280 100
Email: contact@epi.оrg.mk

Institute fot Democracy and Mediation (IDM)
Nd. 35, H. 1 Rr. Shenasi Dishnica
P.O.Box 8177
1017 Tirana, Albania
Phone: 355 4 240 0241
Email: info@idmalbania.org

Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS)
16/1 Rexhep Luci str.
10000 Prishtina, Kosovo
Phone: +383 38 234 456
Email: office@legalpoliticalstudies.org

Foreign Policy Initiative BH (FPI BH)
2C Marka Marulića
71000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Email: info@vpi.ba
Phone: +387 33 831 443