The project “Labor Mobility between Serbia and Western Balkan Countries – How to Increase Mobility?” was supported by the Open Society Foundation and implemented from December 2023 to October 2024.
Labor mobility in the Western Balkans faces a range of challenges that limit the effective movement of workers within the region. These challenges arise from various factors, including administrative, educational, and demographic aspects. A similar situation is observed when examining labor mobility between Serbia and other Western Balkan countries.
The European Union (EU) works to enhance fair labour mobility by removing obstacles that hinder it, requiring action both from its member states and from countries in the accession process. This is reflected in the adoption of the revised Directive of 21 June 2018. Furthermore, labour mobility challenges in the Western Balkans are directly linked to goals aimed at strengthening regional cooperation and bringing the region’s countries closer to the EU. These challenges create barriers to achieving key objectives in regional economic cooperation and laying the foundations for sustainable growth, as well as the third and fourth objectives of the Berlin Process.
By linking the issue of low mobility with the Berlin Process and the Open Balkans initiative, a perspective is gained within the context of European integration and regional cooperation.
Currently, Serbia is the only country strategically addressing economic migration, but even it does not address labor migration at the level of local governments, where local labor markets could leverage the potential of migrant workers. Indeed, Serbia is the only Western Balkan country with a Strategy on Economic Migration, which in its action plan foresees activities to include and motivate foreigners to enter Serbia’s labor market.
Additionally, although most local governments have migration councils and migration management action plans, they mostly focus on “transit” migrants and do not provide activities for the potential use of migrants in local labor markets.
Advocates should focus particularly on Montenegro, where a large number of seasonal workers are directed during the summer season.
The general objective of the project is to contribute to improving labor mobility between Serbia and other Western Balkan countries, thereby supporting the goals of joint regional development and the process of integration into the European Union’s common market.
The main project activities include conducting an analysis of labor mobility between Serbia and Western Balkan countries, organizing roundtables with key stakeholders, as well as preparing and advocating policy recommendations.
Through the implementation of the project “Labor Mobility between Serbia and Western Balkan Countries”, the strategic objectives of the Institute for Development and Innovation are to examine, in a research-based and comprehensive manner, the processes taking place in the Western Balkans and to explore the impact of economic movements on the future of this geopolitical space.
Advocates should focus particularly on Montenegro, where a large number of seasonal workers are directed during the summer season. Additionally, efforts should be made to improve the conditions of seasonal workers. For all of this, it is essential to develop better infrastructure – especially railways, particularly in border areas, which will facilitate easier mobility of workers.
Improving labor mobility in the Western Balkans has the potential to transform the regional labor market, supporting sustainable economic development and strengthening ties between the countries of the Western Balkans.
