SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRIES IN THE WESTERN BALKANS REGION

At the Sustainable Development Summit, which took place in New York from September 25-27, 2015, the Sustainable Development Agenda entitled "Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development", was adopted. The agenda establishes 17 sustainable development goals that are interconnected, interdependent. Within the paper, the author will analyze the following objective - Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. In order to achieve these goals, the author analyzes the content of the Strategy for Sustainable Development – the Europe 2020 Strategy which sets five goals – for employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate /energy. The next content that the author analyzes in the paper is the European Union's plan for growth in the Western Balkans (2023). The aim is to support countries that are candidates for membership or aspiring to candidate status to accelerate reforms and increase their economic potential in order to progress more quickly in the European integration process. When preparing the content of the paper, the author uses general methods: the descriptive method, the normative method, the comparative method, and the method of content analysis as a special scientific method.