The two policy briefs that this Jean Monnet Chair will issue annually for the period September 2017 – September 2020 will cover the following aspects of the contemporary developments of the Balkan States and the Eastern Partnership countries:  General macroeconomic and social trends in the region and their impact on NZ trade, tourism and its socio-cultural and people-to-people links with the Balkan and the Eastern Partnership countries;  Socio-political conditions and developments in the respective countries with regard to intra-regional cooperation and progress in democratisation and the European integration process. Particular attention will be paid to providing an overview of the current state of play as regards the Western Balkan states’ attempts to meet the official political and socio-economic conditions for EU accession, EU relations with the Eastern Partnership countries, and the latter’s progress in democratisation and in complying with the sociopolitical and economic requirements of the Eastern Partnership programme.