On February 23, Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS), jointly with EPIK Institute, have published the First Edition of the EU Reform Barometer. This initiative, supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kosovo, aims to advance the public discourse on EU reforms and increase public institutions accountability by publishing regularly EU Reform Barometer that will allow systematic and visible monitoring of EU-related reforms that Kosovo committed to.

The discussion was opened by Ms. Arberesha Loxha Stublla, Executive Director at GLPS, presenting the overall goal of the EU Reform Barometer. “Deepening citizen knowledge and advancing the public discourse on EU Reforms that Kosovo pledged to implement is the main goal of the EU Reform Barometer” she added. In addition, she also stated that this initiative will have direct impact in increasing institutional accountability and transparency in terms of progress on all EU-related reforms, as foreseen within the National Plan for the EU Integration, approved by the Government.

On the other hand, Ms. Eva Palatova, Deputy Head of the EU Office in Kosovo, said that this civil society-led monitoring mechanisms will serve as a useful tool to strengthen the dialogue between civil society, government, and the EU. “The EU Reform Barometer seems to be a great complementary tool to the annual report, making it easier to follow the work of the line ministries. It is not there to point out their shortcomings or judge their performance, but to assist them to identify what is working and what is not”, said Palatova.

In addition, Ms. Carin Lobbezzo, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Kosovo stated that the EU Reform Barometer with serve as a source for inspiration for the Government to accelerate progress related to the committed EU Reforms. “The prospectus of transparency will show how the Government operates and what challenges it is facing, as well as what is necessary to do for these reforms to be implemented”, she concluded.

After the presentation of the First Edition of the EU Reform Barometer, the discussion continued with a second panel composed of some of the top performing ministers. First to address the audience was Ms. Artane Rizvanolli, the Minister of Economy, who acknowledged the initiative as a useful and complementary tool that will also serve the Ministry she leads to further improve its efforts in implemented the necessary reforms. Second to take the floor was Mr. Liburn Aliu, Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning, and Infrastructure, who put special emphasis on the need for an adequate inter-sectoral cooperation which remains a challenge and hampers reform implementation at all levels. As per Mr. Aliu, lack of inter-institutional coordination, insufficient human capacities and frequent changes of governments have led to lack of results in terms of reform implementation. Further, Ms. Arbërie Nagavci, Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, welcomed the EU Reform Barometer, which will evidently supports Kosovo’s EU integration path.

To find out more about the EU Reform Barometer, please visit the following link: https://eubarometer.org/