Have you ever heard of Poznan?

A picturesque city, one of the oldest and largest in Poland. It is located on the Warta River and has over 500,000 inhabitants who enjoy rich history, monuments, excellent restaurants and spacious parks.

Have you ever heard of the Berlin Process?

An interesting mechanism, created in 2014, at the initiative of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. It followed shortly after the establishment of the now-ex European Commission and its President Jean-Claude Juncker's statement that there would be no new Union enlargement during his term. The process was intended to strengthen economic, political and social co-operation between the countries of the region, as well as to strengthen and support the process of European integration of the Western Balkan countries. Within the Berlin Process, representatives of the countries of the region meet every year at the European Union - Western Balkans Summit.

This year, Poznan hosted a number of representatives of the Western Balkans, business and civil sectors from July 3rd to July 5th.

However, there will be no more talk about Poznan here. Nor will this be the interpretation and significance of the Berlin Process for the Western Balkan countries in the light of the new European Commission, the uncertainty of the further and imminent enlargement of the European Union, the French President's firm stance on the matter and the departure of Chancellor Angela Merkel. About all this, on another occasion. This time - about the impressions from the Civil Society Forum, which, as part of the Summit, was held on July 4th in a beautiful Polish city. 

Environmental Protection

Green themes in the areas of environment, climate change, sustainable development and energy have gained more space this year at the Summit and the Civil Society Forum than in the previous years.

What was the green talk about at the Summit?

A Better Environment for a Better Life panel brought together unusual speakers at the same table, such as Johannes Han, Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Policy, and Nikola Dimitrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia. Representative of the European Commission Davor Percan from DG NEAR in charge of bilateral and regional environmental cooperation was also present, while Natasa Kovacevic, from the Montenegrin Green Home organization and Srdjan Kukolj from the Health and Environmental Alliance HEAL.

What were they talking about?

Key topics, each of which require special attention, were: the effects of environmental pollution on the public health of the countries of the region, the impact of energy on the environment, above all on air quality, then investments in environmental protection, sustainable financing mechanisms, as well as the potential for regional cooperation in this field. The conclusion of all the panelists was that better regional cooperation, greater support from the European Union and financial institutions, as well as a stronger political will are needed to raise these topics on the list of priorities of the governments of the Western Balkan countries.

Un-heard voices

However, the strongest impression of the panel was - several times in public repeated Johannes Han's statement - that there was no civil society fighting for environmental protection in the Western Balkans. Han already spoke of green civil society in this way when he presented a new package of progress reports on the Western Balkan countries in May. And now in Poznan, he reiterated that more effective environmental policies require a stronger presence of civil society. That is what he is saying at the Civil Society Forum. As I listen to it, it comes to my mind all those people who guard the rivers and are therefore arrested and physically endangered. Women and men fighting for clean energy and healthy air, which is why they are declared as opponents of progress. I think of all those who devote weeks to protecting the only remaining nest of an endangered bird species. People protesting about the air pollution, the destruction of forests and urban greenery. There are so many who are committed to making the environment healthy and safe for the citizens of the Western Balkans. And those who persistently strive to bring citizens closer to these topics and enable them to reach their rights to a healthy environment.

How is it possible that their voice is not heard? How is it possible for the Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Commissioner to consider that all these people - do not exist?

Why is green civil society not heard and seen in the European integration process of the Western Balkan countries? What are we doing wrong? What better could we do to make our voice stronger and more effective? Is the key to stronger regional cooperation between green civil society? We will have to find answers to these questions together.

Expensive self-deception price

The second panel was dedicated to energy, the energy market and energy transition. For most of us who live in the Western Balkans, the energy transition is still a distant and vague phrase coming from the European Union. How are we actually doing this and can we follow the EU?

This talk was moderated by Aleksandar Kovacevic from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies and speakers were: Janez Kopac, Director of the Energy Community; Kresnik Bekteshi, Minister of Economy of North Macedonia and Valdrin Ljuka, Minister of Economic Development of Kosovo *. Representatives of the European Commission from DG NEAR, followed by representatives of the European Investment Bank and the business community also participated in the conversation. Topics they discussed were: decarbonisation of the energy sector in the EU and Western Balkan countries; the capacity and need of countries in the region to implement carbon levy mechanisms; the impact of the construction of several thermal power plant projects in the Balkans on the EU integration process and the ability of countries in the region to adopt and implement EU environmental standards. There was also talk of the necessary reforms of the energy market to enable greater involvement of renewables, the obstacles currently on the road, ways of financing renewable energy compared to financing for fossil fuels, and subsidies allocated by the Western Balkan countries. All speakers agreed that a regional approach to these topics was needed, and that a strong and clear political will to turn the energy policies of the countries of the region towards decarbonisation was a basic precondition.

But is that even possible? Most Western Balkan countries still rely on fossil fuels, primarily coal, for their energy needs. And at least five new thermal power plants are currently under construction or are planning to extend this dependency on fossil fuels for at least the next 40 years. In the meantime, the EU plans to decarbonize by 2050, and an increasing number of members are making timely plans to abandon fossil fuels. The strongest impression for me was the conclusion of Janez Kopač: “It is self-deception. If the countries of the Western Balkans want to join the European Union, such an energy policy is impossible. The EU will not tolerate this. The energy transition in the world and in the EU is well under way and there is no turning back.“ And how much will it cost us in the long run to make the decisions we make today regarding energy policy? We will have to think about these issues together, because they are inevitably waiting for us - whether to continue through EU integration or not.

At the end of the day, in Poznan, green topics are among the priorities of the further process of European integration of the region. Representatives of the European Union, the Energy Community, the Western Balkan countries, as well as the media, representatives of the business community and civil society, through several panels, have stated - environmental protection, climate change and energy transition require a regional approach and strong political will, as well as the participation of all parties: from public authorities, through the EU, the business community to civil society. Environmental protection was also found in the Summit's conclusions, albeit in a non-official and diplomatic manner. This leaves green civil society space for further work, cooperation and advocacy for sustainable development principles in Western Balkans public policies. But it also poses a serious challenge - how to transform environmental protection and energy transition from the Summit conclusions into concrete public policies and their real implementation?

Photo: Xantana/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Mirjana Jovanović, Belgrade open school

Photo source: canva.com