Western Balkans: NGOs launch proposals to revive EU’s flagging Green Agenda

A group of 18 civil society organizations has submitted proposals (1) to overhaul the EU’s Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, in advance of an official update scheduled later this year. They aim to increase the initiative’s focus, transparency and results and ensure more effective use of EU funds for environmental protection. Launched by the European Commission in October 2020, the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans (2) is a major initiative to encourage the region’s governments to use EU funds for decarbonization, depollution, circular economy, sustainable rural development and biodiversity protection.

It is managed by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)(3). Yet four years since its launch, and three years since an Action Plan 2021-2030 (4) was endorsed by Western Balkan leaders in October 2021, a lack of clear structure, timetable and targeted reporting is still preventing effective oversight by civil society. This raises concerns about the Green Agenda’s effectiveness and added value, particularly as many of the Action Plan items duplicate countries’ pre-existing obligations under the Energy Community Treaty (5) and Transport Community Treaty (6). ‘…the responsibilities for implementation are unclear and it cannot be properly monitored or reported on. The RCC’s Implementation Report (7) published in 2023 has great difficulty identifying whether actions have been completed or not, and if so, whether this happened due to the Green Agenda or would have happened anyway,’ write the groups. Among others, today’s NGO proposals request a rethink of the Green Agenda’s voluntary nature, asking governments to publicly commit to specific actions.

They also urge the RCC to break down the Action Plan into time-bound steps, clearly stating who is responsible, together with baseline information to allow effective progress tracking. The proposals include detailed suggestions for actions to advance decarbonization, depollution and biodiversity, prioritizing enforcement of key EU environmental legislation, legal protection of natural areas and other high-impact activities, while eliminating poorly-defined, unmeasurable or meaningless ones.

Pippa Gallop, Southeast Europe Energy Policy Officer, CEE Bankwatch Network said: "With climate chaos accelerating across the Western Balkans, the Green Agenda is a must. But we’re almost halfway to 2030 and it’s hardly got started. It’s now urgent for the EU’s new Enlargement Commissioner to take the helm and make sure EU funds are used effectively in the region, for the good of people and the environment."

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