Regional economic cooperation in V4 and WB6: sharing experience and knowledge in the context of Common Regional Market and post-COVID recovery

“Regional economic cooperation in V4 and WB6: sharing experience and knowledge in the context of Common Regional Market and post-COVID recovery“ is one of key results of the Project entitled “V4 support to promote WB6 Common Regional Market: one market for post-COVID recovery”.

The research conducted as part of the project was devoted to the analysis of the difference in economic cooperation of V4 countries before and after entering the EU. The research was also concentrated around the question how to speed up process of European integration of WB6 economies, with focus on closer economic cooperation between V4 and WB6 in the post-COVID period.

The publication discusses the concept of regional integration, presents the way of V4 countries from the CEFTA to the EU single market (Part 1.), and the views from Western Balkans on the common regional market agenda and post-COVID 19 recovery (Part 2.).

In the concluding part of the publication the authors pointed out that:

“Although the Visegrád Group served as an inspiration for the Western Balkans, one of the main differences between the two is that in the V4 case, political cooperation was created first, and the countries’ leaders only agreed on the economic cooperation afterward. In the WB6, the opposite could be observed, with a high level of achieved regional economic integration but with a little political will to deeper political cooperation and strengthen mutual trust. What connects these countries is the strategic path of integration towards the EU, but on the principle of a regatta, not a convoy.

Comparing the experience of the Visegrád Group with the Western Balkan 6 in terms of developing their regional cooperation offers deeper insight into the protracted EU accession negotiations of the latter. The WB6 followed the path of the V4, starting in the CEFTA and working its way up to the new CRM plan, which can be the important steppingstone toward the EU Single Market.”