This thematic report, called “Barriers to international mobility and the integration of researchers from Western Balkan Countries (WBC) in the European Research Area (ERA)”, describes the most common obstacles to researchers mobility in Europe and the Western Balkan countries. Typical mobility problems that occur in the Western Balkan region are analysed and a special focus on each individual country is given.
Furthermore, the report looks at the ERA mobility strategy of the European Commission and summarises its content and the most relevant actions for its implementation, which range from legal and administrative measures to operative information portals. For each operative action the added value and importance for the Western Balkan region are identified and discussed.
A part of the report deals with FP7 as the main international source of funding for mobility of researchers and what impact the Western Balkan countries have in this programme. As a conclusion, the need for Western Balkan countries as well as for the EU Member States to take further action towards international mobility is defined.

This thematic report provides a general picture of the development of European mobility issues that have taken place in the last few years, and assesses the impact of these actions on the Western Balkan region.
The report is available from: http://see-science.eu/doc/2334.html

Article published in see-science.eu eJournal fall/winter 2007.