In light of 15 years of the CEFTA agreement, CEFTA and European Policy Centre (CEP) are launching a competition for policy papers on the theme “CEFTA – regional trade area and beyond: Call for Innovative Policy Proposals”. Interested policy researchers think tanks and policy research organisations are invited to submit papers for the competition of policy papers (research, analysis, recommendation for improving the CEFTA policies, etc.) on a number of topics relevant for trade and trade-related issues, analysing an aspect of CEFTA’s implementation to date and/or providing inputs for further development of CEFTA.

Suggested topics include, but are not limited, to the following:

• How to improve:
  – trade in goods: agricultural and industrial?
  – trade in services (for example: finance, tourism, postal services)?
  – cooperation in trade related areas (for example: competition, consumer protection, IPR)?
  – digital trade?
  – CEFTA governance?
• How to manage trade in Covid-19 context?
• How to better link CEFTA with the EU integration?
• Relevant lessons from other (multilateral) FTAs
• How to increase benefits from CEFTA for companies, in particular SMEs?

Papers tackling new potential areas of CEFTA’s development and future work are more than appreciated.

The competition is open to papers from all fields of policy-making, i.e., papers which will include practical policy options, policy solutions, and policy recommendations that will support CEFTA Parties to make evidence-based decisions on future CEFTA development.

Eligible Candidates 

The competition is open to think tanks and research organisations, as well as individual policy researchers dealing with public policy issues. Co-authored papers are eligible but, to be considered for the award, the lead author should meet all eligibility criteria. It is important to note that papers from all geographic regions are eligible for the competition, not only from the CEFTA Parties.

Prizes

• The prize for first place is in the amount of 3000 €
• The prize for the second place is in the amount of 2000 €
• The prize for third place is in the amount of 1000 €

The author(s) should provide full acknowledgment to the CEFTA award in all future publicity and outputs stemming from the winning papers. The top 5 selected papers will be presented at the final conference that will be held in November/December in Belgrade.

Online information session Info day on the Call for Paper will be organised on September 22, in order to provide additional information and reply to all questions potential applicants may have. The session will be held online, using Zoom platform, and all interested applicants should apply for participation to the following e-mail address: office@cep.org.rs. Upon application, the participants will be sent an e-mail with a precise time and a relevant link for the event.

Submission

All interested candidates should submit a single file containing a short Curriculum Vitae (max. 2 pages) and the proposed policy paper for the competition, by October 20, 2021, at the latest, using the online application form available at the following link or to the e-mail address: office@cep.org.rs.

NB: Receipt of policy papers will be confirmed via email, in case there is no confirmation within 24 hours from sending your application, please contact us back at office@cep.org.rs.

Before you start to write your paper, please read thoroughly following documents!

Call for papers with detailed rules and information
Guidelines for drafting a policy brief