Introduction and Background

POLICY ANSWERS (short for: R&I POLICY making, implementation ANd Support in the WEsteRn BalkanS) is a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101058873.

The project supports policy coordination in the Western Balkans and with the European Commission (EC) and the European Union (EU). 14 partner organisations, representing network nodes in the region and EU expert organisations, foster policy dialogue through formal meetings (such as Ministerial, Steering Platform and ad-hoc policy meetings), undertake monitoring for agenda setting, support capacity building, implementation of the EU's Western Balkan Agenda and the alignment of thematic priorities. The project implements regional pilot activities and offers an information hub based on the online information platform “westernbalkans-infohub.eu”. The partners provide analytical evidence via mapping activities of the stakeholder ecosystem, monitoring of the implementation of the Western Balkans Agenda and of the Western Balkans’ integration into the European Research Area (ERA) as well as via strategic foresight.

POLICY ANSWERS also allows for tailored and targeted capacity building activities in the Western Balkans (WB) as well as regional alignment of priorities in relation to the digital transformation, the green agenda and towards healthy societies. Pilot activities provide learning opportunities on policy and programme level and reach out to final beneficiaries related to improved academia-industry cooperation, researchers’ mobility, inclusion of youth in policy processes, promotion of research infrastructures and increased innovation skills in all areas.

The project task entitled “Drafting ERA Reports of the Western Balkans” is placed in the frame of the targeted mapping and monitoring activities (Work Package 2 of the project; Task 2.3) and being coordinated by the Project Management Agency of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

Task 2.3 shall provide an assessment and analysis of the status quo of the R&I systems of the WB economies and monitors their progress towards ERA integration. The results of the analysis will be summarised in respective ERA Reports for the four Western Balkan economies: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia. ERA Reports for Montenegro and Serbia will not be covered by POLICY ANSWERS but by a different organisation. The reports will be based on a template, approved by the EC, which includes the four ERA Priority Areas of the current EC ERA Communication:

1. Deepening a truly functional internal market for knowledge;
2. Taking up together the challenges posed by the twin green and digital transition and increasing society’s participation in the ERA;
3. Enhancing access to research and innovation excellence and enhancing interconnections between innovation ecosystems across the EU;
4. Advancing concerted research and innovation investments and reforms.

The template provides the framework and instructions for drafting the ERA Reports including reporting on the progress made in the four above-mentioned ERA priorities and – if possible – on the implementation of the ERA Policy Agenda and on the ERA actions a WB economy has committed to. The ERA Reports will be shared with EC services, further publication will be decided with the EC.

Detailed information about the activities of POLICY ANSWERS is available at the following website www.westernbalkans-infohub.eu.

Upon award of the service contract, the contracting institution will share further information.

Description of the Scope and Purpose of the Service

This call requests the provision of the following services for drafting the ERA Reports for

• Lot 1: Albania,
• Lot 2: Bosnia and Herzegovina,
• Lot 3: Kosovo,
• Lot 4: North Macedonia.

The following work shall be carried out for each of the reports respectively:

One ERA Report for each of the four WB economies (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and North Macedonia) will be drafted consisting of approximately 5 to 8 pages by monitoring and analysing the progress made by the respective WB economy in its integration into the new ERA. The deadline for the submission of the first draft ERA Report is 5 November 2023, followed by a review and editing period. The service provider will be supported during the drafting process by the project partners of T2.3 (DLR and WB partners). After their finalisation, the ERA Reports will be submitted to the EC by the project lead (DLR).

In concrete terms, the following services shall be implemented:

Selected service providers with proven expertise in the area of R&I policy and administration in the respective WB economies should support the activities of POLICY ANSWERS for the following major task:

• Development of the ERA Report of the respective WB economy (ALB, B&H, KOS, NMK) aligned to the template approved by the EC. The deadline to submit the draft is 5 November 2023.

The following work needs to be done within the drafting process:

• Analysis and monitoring of the concerned aspects of the respective WB economy in their efforts towards ERA integration (e.g. participation in ERA Policy Agenda respectively commitment to ERA Actions, ERA Priority Areas)
• Background/desk research using available data sources and existing national and regional strategy documents and reports on R&I development;
• Data collection and analysis;
• Integration of comments by the POLICY ANSWERS team and the EC into the draft ERA Reports;
• Participate in coordination meetings to continuously exchange regarding the development of the draft of the ERA Reports.

Implementation period, expected deadlines and tentative timeline

The overall implementation period for the Western Balkans ERA Profiles is October 2023 to December 2023.

Requested outputs and deliverables

Language

The ERA Reports have to be drafted in English language. Working language within the POLICY ANSWERS team is English. Desk research for the WB economy’s respective ERA Report needs to be done mainly in the corresponding language – depending on availability.

Quality Assurance

The service provider shall perform the service with reasonable care and skills (see below). DLR/POLICY ANSWERS will perform quality assurance and provide comments that need to be included into the drafts before submission to the EC. The EC will also provide comments.

Funding and Reimbursement

The maximum budget for the above described task to be delivered is 1,000.00 EURO for a single report. This maximum budget includes the service fee and other costs as well as VAT and any other taxes and duties.

This service will be funded by the POLICY ANSWERS project.