What can be expected if the implementation protocol of the Agreement for the free labor market between Albania, Macedonia and Serbia will be implemented?

As it has already been presented by the Tripartite Agreement, but also by the political statements of the senior officials of three of the six countries of the Western Balkans, it seems that the political approach of the leading parties in these three countries tends to facilitate the free movement of the labor market.

This is justified by the removal of bureaucratic obstacles for registration in the labor market in cross-border countries, as well as the facilitation of the movement of active labor forces, this interstate regional decision also made possible by the advancement of the use of information technology and the digitization of many bases of data of each state.

This initiative includes rights of movement and residence for workers, rights of entry and residence for them beyond the current formats of stay, as well as the right to work in one of the other countries and to be treated on an equal basis with citizens of the country where the employee immigrates.

This initiative, which is expected to be implemented at the beginning of March 2024, is already part of the integration of the regional market, as a measure supported by the European Union through the “Growth Plan”, where one of the criteria is the integration of the regional market.

But while the agreement that is in its early stages of implementation looks good at first sight, what makes it not fully effective is related to the exclusion of half of the countries and of course this is a barrier in itself in achieving its objectives.

The effective implementation of such an Agreement, which constitutes curiosity and innovation in regional economic developments, naturally also carries the problems of labor markets, where the informality of employees, the different levels of payment, as well as the implementation of labor relations are different.

Based on the analyzed practice of the free movement of workers in the EU, these expected displacements of individuals also have potential negative impacts that may arise, often revolving around economic inequalities, regulatory challenges and social issues.

Of course, accepting an agreement cannot solve them and sometimes it can even happen that it cannot work, since the problems are bigger than the solutions.

In these cases, beyond the rush to promote political decisions of a similar nature, it is first necessary to include all the states that are part of the Balkan political geography, but also to approve all the protocols that address the complete solution of the internal problems of the market work.