SKOPJE – WB Reform and Growth Monitor was launched on 8 May, marking a significant milestone in supporting transparency, accountability, and civil society participation in the implementation of the EU’s Reform and Growth Facility (RGF) for the Western Balkans.
A comprehensive regional platform has been created to provide civil society organisations, researchers, media, national institutions, EU actors, and citizens with a single, accessible point of reference for tracking the progress of the national Reform Agenda. This tool helps foster democratic oversight and public awareness in a reform process that directly links EU financial support with clearly defined reform outcomes.
The monitoring project is led by civil society organisations, members of the TEN Network. The WB Reform and Growth Monitor is the project’s official website that consolidates official information, documents, and updates related to the RGF and the corresponding Reform Agendas adopted by the six Western Balkan countries.
While these agendas represent one of the most structured reform frameworks introduced in the context of the EU accession process, they have so far remained difficult to navigate or understand in their entirety. One of the most valuable features of the website is the unique region-wide database developed through careful extraction and standardisation of information from Annex 1 of each Reform Agenda. The database allows the user to explore, compare, and analyse reform steps with their full description, responsible implementation of institutions, timeline and deadline, and the amount of EU funding linked to their completion.
Anyone using the platform can instantly filter reforms by country, policy area, deadline, or status, making it easier to identify delays, track completed reforms, and assess the overall progress made by each country under the Growth Plan.
Visitors to the website can find each country’s full Reform Agenda document, updates on the implementation of reform milestones, regular semestral monitoring reports, news items covering relevant developments, and a library of analytical outputs from project partners. By doing so, the platform not only enhances public scrutiny over the use of EU funds but also supports more informed engagement in reform implementation
This level of structured information is especially useful for civil society organisations who are increasingly expected to monitor the implementation of reforms and contribute with evidence-based advocacy. As part of the WB Reform and Growth Monitor project, a regranting scheme will be launched to support around 20 CSOs across the region in monitoring specific reform areas.
The Monitor is designed to become their core resource, offering verified data, timelines, and documents to support their work. But beyond its utility for experts and civil society, the website also aims to raise public awareness about what the Reform and Growth Facility really means.
The launch of this platform is a contribution to participatory democracy in the Western Balkans. It reflects the belief that reforms are not just about ticking boxes to unlock funds, but about building better governance, delivering public goods, and bringing the region closer to EU standards.
“With this platform, we aim to bridge the information gap and empower a wide range of actors to engage more meaningfully in the reform process. The site is open and available to all, and we encourage organisations across the region and beyond to share it, use it, and become part of this growing effort to track and shape reform”, reads the statement of the project leaders gathered in the TEN network.
EWB