The event marked the launch of the Economic Convergence Scoreboard for the Western Balkans 2025 and provided a platform to discuss policies to accelerate the region’s convergence with the European Union.
As part of the programme, the OECD hosted two panel discussions with representatives from the Western Balkan economies and Poland. The first, “EU Integration for Enhanced Socio-Economic Convergence”, explored how the Western Balkans can best leverage the EU integration process and the support generated by the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans to drive reforms and strengthen competitiveness. The second, “Getting Ready for the EU Single Market”, focused on how economies in the region are implementing reforms to boost business competitiveness, drawing on insights from EU member states and their own accession experiences in successfully joining the Single Market.
The meeting was organised within the framework of the Europe Future Forum, a platform for forward-looking policy discussions on EU enlargement and European security, convened annually by the Visegrad Insight and Res Publica Foundation. It brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including policymakers from Western Balkan ministries responsible for economic portfolios, representatives from regional statistical offices, officials from Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, EU member states, and Western Balkan capitals.
