Open Balkan ID Initiative is about to take off in spite of difficulties

The Open Balkan ID Number, launched six months ago and marking the start of a single labour market between Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania, had some teething troubles.
The Open Balkan initiative is envisaged as a vehicle to remove barriers to the free movement of goods, services and people, currently taking in European Union membership candidates Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia.
The Open Balkan ID number, issued by each participating country and with which, for example, Serbian citizens can, in theory, apply to live and work in Albania or North Macedonia without having to pay for or even seek a work or residence permit, was unveiled by Serbia in March 2024.
There is no clear data in either Serbia, Albania or North Macedonia showing how many people have generated Open Balkan ID numbers or how many successfully found work in one of the other countries six months since the system went live. The reason is that the ID system is not user-friendly and many e-government services have yet to be translated into the other languages of the Open Balkan initiative.
According to Lidija Ilieva, the Open Balkan point person at the Ministry of Digital Transformation, Open Balkan ID numbers had been generated by 1,928 citizens of North Macedonia on the country’s e-government portal but the ministry had no data on how many of them had found work in Serbia or Albania. They only plan to translate into Albanian and Serbian the site which is currently only available in Macedonian.
The signed deal exempts the holder of such an ID number from seeking and paying for work and residence permits for the other two countries in the Open Balkan initiative.
An Open Balkan ID number allows an individual to move to Serbia and look for a job without a previously signed employment contract.
Nevertheless, one needs to renew the ID number every two years, while a work and residence permit is issued for three years in Serbia and eventually entitles the holder to permanent residence.
According to Serbian lawyer Relja Radovic Jevtovic, employers in Serbia still prefer the more familiar work permit system.
This especially concerns companies whose survival “depends on whether they will have workers or not”. It’s a common situation in Serbia due to a shortage of workers.
Employers need data to assess the effectiveness of the Open Balkan ID option.
Some political leaders hailed a 2021 agreement between Serbia, North Macedonia and Albania guaranteeing free labour market access as the creation of a single labour market, but in fact it merely replaces local work permits, because a person’s arrival and holding of an Open Balkan ID number has to be approved by national authorities.

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