Working Document – Enhancing Western Balkans’ Participation in Horizon Europe and Framework Programme 10

Date 30 June 2025

Author Mrika Hoxha and Venera Gudachi

Publisher SCiDEV

This working document outlines strategies to enhance the Western Balkans’ participation in Horizon Europe and the upcoming Framework Programme 10. It highlights current barriers, such as limited institutional capacity, funding gaps, and low integration in European research networks and proposes targeted measures to strengthen collaboration. Key priorities include building research excellence, fostering innovation ecosystems, supporting mobility and training for young researchers, and ensuring inclusive access to EU programs. The document also emphasizes political commitment, capacity building, and tailored support instruments as essential drivers for successful integration. By addressing structural weaknesses and promoting stronger partnerships, the Western Balkans can better contribute to and benefit from Europe’s research and innovation landscape.

Click here to get more info about this project

More Publications On This Thematic Area

See More

Featured Image

20 May 2026

Youth Perceptions of Europe in the Western Balkans: Key Regional Patterns and Implications

Young people across the Western Balkans strongly identify with European values and view Europe as a…

Featured Image

20 May 2026

Challenges to the integration of the Western Balkans into European Union supply chains

Two decades of economic integration between the Western Balkans and the EU have delivered meaningful gains,…

Featured Image

20 May 2026

Why Credible EU Membership Matters: How to Sequence Integration and Accession in Ukraine and the Western Balkans

This IAI Brief examines how the EU can maintain the transformative power of enlargement by strategically…

Featured Image

20 May 2026

From Nuuk to Reykjavik: The High North’s geopolitical scramble and the consequences for the EU and its enlargement policy

This policy brief examines how the Arctic is rapidly shifting from a peripheral climate issue into…