D 2.2 I Economic Convergence and Brain Drain in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership

D 2.2 I Economic Convergence and Brain Drain in the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership

The GEO-POWER-EU project has released a new report, which analyses the perceived causes and effects of brain drain across Western Balkan and Eastern Partnership countries, and examines how economic convergence with the EU can be accelerated to reduce emigration pressures.

The report problematizes the persistent gap in living standards between EU candidate countries and EU member states, set against a backdrop of massive skilled emigration that has seen some countries lose between a quarter and a third of their populations over three decades. Drawing on ten focus group discussions and a survey of over 9,000 respondents across nine countries, it asks whether coordinated economic, institutional, and social reforms, supported by a more proactive EU accession strategy, can break the vicious cycle in which brain drain slows convergence and slow convergence fuels further brain drain.

The report highlights that only by raising wages, improving public services, strengthening merit-based institutions, and frontloading the benefits of EU membership, can governments and the EU meaningfully reduce emigration incentives and place these countries on a sustainable path toward convergence.

📥 Download the full report (PDF).

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