In the area of WBC the need for a higher level of quality in all aspects of business and life is even higher than in the European Union. Long-lasting political instability in the WBC countries has left the region for behind the fast developing EU countries. There are indications that accession countries enjoy lower subjective well-being than is predicted by objective indicators in comparison to EU member states (Project EEA/RNC/03/0014).

No. of other documents and reports from WBC show that these societies recognize the need for fast improvement of quality in all aspects of the economy, life and society. It is a fact that improvement of quality is responsible for an increase in income, a reduction of costs, and has an influence on competitive abilities of companies as well as productivity and profitability.

Environment protection creates healthy food brands; therefore companies will have easier access to the world market. This will increase quality of life (QOL). Organizations that have realized these needs are a relatively small number in this region.

The wider objective of this project is to improve regional quality in order to increase competitiveness of the regional economy and to improve QOL. A specific objective is the development of a new quality infrastructure, a network of University centers and different org. in the field of quality management, that will provide training and services for enterprises in quality assurance, quality management and preparation for standardization (ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 22000 HACCP, CE mark, ISO 17025 and/or ISO 17020).

In the scope of the project, each partner country will have a specific focus based on the general basis of (ISO 9001): MNE – quality in tourism, SRB – quality and food safety and quality of services, and BIH– safety and the CE mark. This will eventually secure and enhance competitiveness of WBC enterprises by continuously improving productivity and process quality based on close university – enterprise relations.

• University of Montenegro – coordinator
• University of Kragujevac, RS
• University of Belgrade, RS
• University of Zenica, BA
• University of East Sarajevo, BA
• Cracow University of Economics, PL
•  Universidade do Minho, PT
• The European Organization for Quality, BE
• Technical College of Professional Studies, RS
• Association for quality and standardization of Serbia, RS
• City Development Agency East Sarajevo, BA
• Paulo & Beatriz – Consultores Associados, Lda, PT
• Business inovation centre LLC Kragujevac, RS
• Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, SK
• University of Girona Escola Politècnica Superior Spain, ES