Gradual Integration of the Six Western Balkans Countries (WB6) in the European Union: EU Agency for Cybersecurity, FDI Screening and EU Rule of Law Report

In March 2020, the Council of the European Union (EU) endorsed European Commission’s (EC’s) proposal for a new enlargement methodology for countries interested to become member states. Thus, for the six countries of the Western Balkans (WB6) that are in their EU accession paths and for other such countries, this marked the introduction of the new, enhanced EU accession methodology. Gradual integration, or phased accession, is one of the pillars of this new methodology. As an approach, this pillar allows the EU to support the WB6 countries in reaching EU standards by granting them access to its specialised mechanisms in specific policy areas, in parallel with reforms they implement.

In practice, this means enabling WB6 countries’ institutions and other stakeholders dealing with specific policy areas to engage directly with their peers in the EU in an institutional learning process. EU agencies and other policy organisations and structures are typical such mechanisms. They are specialised EU-level institutions or bodies that drive – together with the EC (which also conducts membership negotiations with WB6 countries) – the development of the EU acquis in their policy areas through policy expertise. As such, they would play a critical role in guiding and supporting WB6 countries’ institutions in their reforms to align with the EU acquis and European standards.

In this context, the Kosovar Centre for Security Studies is, for several years now, the leading civil society organisation working on phased accession of WB6 to the EU. We have been doing this through extensive policy research1, as well as by engaging in advocacy and promoting and facilitating policy dialogue across the region and with EU actors on these topics, in cooperation with COSs in other WB6 countries. Building on policy research and advocacy since 2024 on three topics – (1) Cooperation with the EU Agency for Cybersecurity, with a view to integration into it; (2) Alignment with the EU Regulation on Screening of FDI, including establishment of national FDI screening mechanisms; and (3) Inclusion into the EU Rule of Law Report – we have prepared the present follow-up policy brief on these topics. Therefore, this policy brief consists of three chapters – one on each topic – as well as main conclusions.

The purpose of this policy paper is to inform key stakeholders in WB6 countries and in the EU on the state of play of the ongoing reforms being pursued by WB6 countries in these areas. It also seeks to shape the public discourse in the region on the EU integration process. Third, we seek to support implementation of reforms in these areas, through policy advocacy and by promoting policy dialogue, including between governments and civil society organisations in the region. Therefore, this policy brief, which also serves as a policy monitoring tool, provides an update on the progress made by WB6 countries on these areas vis-à-vis recommendations of the first policy briefs we published in 2024 and 2025, respectively. It also discusses outstanding challenges facing these countries in their efforts to improve preparedness in these areas in the context of their EU accession reforms. It is mainly based on secondary sources allowing us to scan the factual situation. In order to collect more detailed information, we have also contacted national institutions of all WB6 in charge of cybersecurity (as well as the EU Cybersecurity Agency) and FDI screening, to conduct written interviews through a semi-structured questionnaire, but we received no response from any of them.

This report is produced by Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS) in the framework of the IGNITA initiative, funded by Open Society Foundations—Western Balkans. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the Open Society Foundations—Western Balkans