Balkan countries that are not yet part of the European Union (EU) represent a population of just under 18 million, equivalent to that of the Netherlands or Romania, but distributed among six states. Five of them were part of Yugoslavia before the 1990s wars. While tensions in the region have greatly stabilized in many ways, tensions remain. Corruption and the rule of law are recurring problems, although progress in the area of accession negotiations varies considerably from one country to another. We believe that the processes will take some time, in the most optimistic scenarios, before these countries meet the standards of the European Union's life. The main obstacle mentioned by the authors is low productivity. In order to change the state of affairs, investment is needed, strengthening weak institutions and increasing the competitiveness of the business environment. Currently private sector productivity in the Western Balkans is only 60% of EU countries, with only 55% in industry and services' productivity by an average of 70%.