Abstract
The article substantiates the management of regional cooperation among the Western Balkan states as a mechanism of preparation for European integration that combines political coordination, market integration, infrastructure compatibility, energy approximation, digital interaction and investment support. The relevance of the study stems from the fact that regional cooperation in the Western Balkans increasingly performs the function of intermediate administrative approximation to the EU Single Market and is not limited to a diplomatic format of good-neighbourly relations. The methodological framework consists of systemic and institutional approaches, as well as logical-analytical, content-analytical, comparative, and secondary statistical methods. Based on an analysis of analytical and reporting materials from international organizations and regional integration platforms, this paper outlines the institutional framework for the regional integration policies of the Western Balkan states. In particular, it describes the governance models, key instruments, and performance indicators of the Common Regional Market, the Berlin Process, the Transport Community, the Energy Community, the Western Balkans Investment Framework, and the Central European Free Trade Agreement. It is demonstrated that the Common Regional Market 2025–2028 serves as a regional framework for assessing the states’ ability to comply with rules aligned with the logic of a single market. The paper systematizes the areas of focus of the Common Regional Market, identifies the governance functions of key regional platforms, and proposes an analytical framework for regional compatibility, in which the political, market, transport, energy, digital, and investment components are considered as interrelated elements of European integration capacity. This study analyzes the key areas of regional cooperation and identifies intra-regional disparities in the processes of European integration related to human capital, mobility, the business environment, investment, competitiveness, digital transformation, and the green and energy transitions. The practical significance of these findings lies in the potential to apply the experience of Western Balkan countries in managing regional cooperation during the process of European integration to Ukrainian policies on cross-border coordination, reconstruction, transport and energy integration, and digital interoperability with the EU.
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