Bibliogr. s. 138-139

In 2012, The Economist published the article entitled "Balkan Economies Mostly Miserable" which discussed the condition of the economies of the Western Balkan countries. The authors stated that the Balkan economies suffered much from recession in the period 2008-2009. Importantly, the authors also mentioned a difficult situation in the labour market in the region, notably the biggest country of the region, Serbia. Consequently, the most vulnerable groups, like women or people with disabilities and certain age groups may find it difficult to gain adequate employment. In the post-conflict societies such as the Western Balkan states, governed by the ethnic elites, which have established control over the national institutions and national capital, spreading the distributive justice principle across the poorer, excluded groups of these societies. Structure of ethnocracies prevents these groups from obtaining employment in the national labour markets in the region. These groups, with special emphasis on the national ethnic minorities, females and disabled people, often face discrimination, mostly due to the lack of appropriate legal regulations, but also as a result of social misinformation and the informality culture. Moreover, employees struggle with violations of their rights. The EU has spent a significant amount of funds in order to improve the situation of these groups and has carried out many projects dedicated to the most vulnerable groups on the labour market. The aim of this article is to examine the implantation of the distributive justice principle in the labour markets throughout the Western Balkan countries as well as to examine effects of the EU policies undertaken in order to improve situation of vulnerable groups. The paper was presented at the conference "The European Union and the Western Balkans - Between Lessons Learned and Innovative Ways Forward" on 17th June, 2015.