SITE Receives Swedish Institute Funding to Strengthen the FREE Network
The Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) at the Stockholm School of Economics has received funding from the Swedish Institute for a new FREE Network project focused on strengthening economic analysis and policy expertise for future EU accession. The project will support research cooperation, policy analysis, capacity building, and knowledge exchange across Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
The project, “The FREE Network – Building Analytical Competence for Future EU Accession,” will run from September 2025 through August 2027. It aims to strengthen participating research institutions’ capacity to analyze the economic and institutional reforms required for future EU membership and to provide decision-makers with credible, independent, and research-based policy advice.
“EU accession is a demanding process that requires both strong institutions and access to credible, independent analysis. This funding gives us an important opportunity to strengthen cooperation between researchers across the region and bring research-based insights into the policy debate,” says Anders Olofsgård, Deputy Director of SITE.
Research and Policy Expertise Across Borders
The funding will support research seminars, conferences, policy analysis, and collaboration between institutions in the FREE Network across Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. An important part of the project will be knowledge exchange between researchers in countries aspiring to EU membership and colleagues in Poland and Latvia, who can contribute perspectives and lessons from their countries’ EU accession experiences.
The project will also support the publication of FREE Policy Briefs, which translate academic research and policy work into accessible, research-based analysis for policymakers, businesses, researchers, and other stakeholders. Within the project, particular attention will be given to economic reforms, institutional development, and other policy challenges connected to the EU accession process.
About the FREE Network
The Forum for Research on Eastern Europe and Emerging Economies (FREE Network) is a regional research network bringing together SITE in Stockholm, BEROC in Vilnius, BICEPS in Riga, CenEA in Szczecin, ISET Policy Institute in Tbilisi, the American University of Armenia in Yerevan, and KSE Institute in Kyiv. The network connects academic experts working on economic policy challenges in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and emerging economies.
Through joint research, policy analysis, conferences, seminars, and the FREE Policy Brief Series, the FREE Network works to bridge the gap between academic research and policymaking. Its research-based publications make economic analysis accessible to policymakers, researchers, businesses, and the wider public while supporting international policy dialogue and cross-border research cooperation.
FREE Network Research Initiatives
Alongside its broader economic policy work, the FREE Network has developed several joint research initiatives addressing major long-term challenges facing Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.
- FROGEE: The Forum for Research on Gender Economics focuses on gender inequality and its implications for socio-economic development.
- FROMDEE: The Forum for Research on Media and Democracy in Eastern Europe supports research and knowledge exchange on media, democracy, and related political-economy questions;
- FREECE: The Forum for Research on Eastern Europe: Climate and Environment advances research and policy analysis on environmentally sustainable economic development.
Together, these initiatives strengthen research collaboration across FREE Network institutions and translate academic expertise into accessible policy analysis on gender equality, democracy and media, climate and environmental economics, and sustainable development.
