Vienna – ESI discusses options for the Western Balkans’ convergence with the EU

Adnan joined a panel discussion. Photo: WIIW

ESI senior analyst Adnan Ćerimagić took part in an event titled “How fast are the Western Balkans converging to EU living standards?”, held on 1 December 2025 at the wiiw Library in Vienna, Austria.

The event presented the converge2eu project, a new analytical tool assessing how the six Western Balkan economies compare with the EU average across key dimensions of daily life. The conference explored how far the Western Balkans are from EU living standards, whether convergence is accelerating, and how EU accession and domestic policies could influence future progress. The converge2eu project compares developments across eight areas, including the economy, health, education, governance, digitalisation, and infrastructure, and estimates the time needed to reach EU averages under different accession scenarios.

Following the project presentation, Adnan joined a panel discussion alongside Sabina Lange, Think Europe from Ljubljana, Slovenia, Matteo Bonomi of the Istituto Affari Internazionali, and Branimir Jovanović of wiiw. The panel discussed the political and policy implications of the findings, including the role of EU integration in driving convergence and the reforms needed in the Western Balkans to accelerate progress.

In his remarks, Adnan contributed ESI’s perspective on the link between credible EU accession, institutional reforms, and improving living standards, stressing that sustained convergence depends on both EU commitment and domestic reform delivery.

• ESI proposal: “Preventing violence – transform Kosovo dialogue”
• ESI background: “Scoreboard - The true state of accession - What the Commission assessments reveal”
• ESI proposal: “End the turtle race How the EU can address the crisis of the accession process”
• ESI proposal: “Offer the four freedoms to the Balkans, Ukraine, and Moldova For a merit-based EU accession process with a credible goal”
• ESI proposal: “47 again? Russia out, Kosovo in Support Kosovo’s membership in the Council of Europe”
• ESI proposal: “Abandon clichés about Bosnia: Push EU-related reforms instead of arbitrary conditions”
• ESI proposal: “No partition: Why Kosovo and Serbia must not discuss territory”
• ESI report: “Anti-Corruption Report for the West Balkans: Measure corruption in order to fight it”