ABSTRACT
The chapter explores how European Union (EU) support has influenced government-civil society relations in the Western Balkans during the accession process. It examines, across six countries, the adoption and practical implementation of three cooperation mechanisms – national civil society strategies, government-CSO (civil society organisation) councils, and public consultation frameworks. A comparative analysis of documentary sources, EU progress monitoring, and regional assessments shows widespread formal convergence but limited behavioural change. To explain this pattern, the chapter introduces the concept of institutionalised symbolism: procedurally visible but substantively hollow reforms that persist over time. The analysis integrates Europeanisation and new institutionalist perspectives to identify the conditions under which symbolic compliance becomes entrenched, placing special emphasis on political will, administrative capacity, the credibility of EU conditionality, and the trust between CSOs and governments. Findings indicate that the Western Balkans serve as a regional policy laboratory for EU monitoring and support mechanisms for civil society, generating detailed benchmarks and discourse shifts but only sporadic changes in practice. The chapter concludes that progress requires embedding civic space and participatory governance standards as measurable accession benchmarks and linking them to financial conditionality, while strengthening domestic ownership and institutional responsiveness.
