TIRANA – The 6th meeting of the Public Administration Reform Special Group for Albania took place on 8 March 2016 in Tirana. The meeting was co-chaired by Ms Milena Harito, the State Minister for Innovation and Public Administration of Albania and Ms Michela Matuella, the Head of Unit for Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the European Commission.
The Albanian authorities provided an overview of the main achievements focusing on civil service reform implementation, policy planning and coordination, service delivery and accountability. The European Commission recalled the main findings of the 2015 Albania report which noted good progress in the implementation of the public administration reform. The Commission also underlined the need to continue the implementation of all aspects of civil service legislation, of the laws on public consultation and right to information, as well as the importance of thorough preparation for implementation of the Code of Administrative Procedures. Further efforts are needed in the areas of budget transparency and the management of public finances, including fiscal decentralisation.
Reform of public administration is one of the five key priorities for the opening of the EU accession negotiations. The PAR Special Group is the main policy dialogue forum where the Commission together with Albanian government institutions and independent institutions discuss the progress in implementation of the reforms of public administration, decentralisation and public finance management.