European Commission published its annual enlargement reports yesterday. We report the key findings of the Report on Albania in the area of democracy, rule of law and economic criteria:
The electoral framework is conducive for organising democratic elections. Parliament adopted amendments to the Electoral Code. However, there has been limited progress in addressing outstanding recommendations from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)/Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Venice Commission, as the mandate of Parliament’s ad-hoc committee on electoral reform expired without any results.
Parliament can exercise its powers in a mostly satisfactory way. However, its oversight over the executive remains limited. Parliament’s activity was affected by continuous clashes between the ruling majority and a part of the opposition between October 2023 and March 2024. These reflected a lack of constructive and inclusive political dialogue and resulted in opposition MPs causing disruptions due to alleged restrictions on their rights. Despite the welcome return to the normal functioning of Parliament in March 2024, political polarisation remains high. This continues to negatively impact Parliament’s key legislative and oversight roles and extends delays in appointing individuals to key positions.
Albania’s bodies in charge of the integration process are in place. These EU integration structures were further consolidated and successfully completed the screening process in November 2023. EU integration expertise, planning and interinstitutional mechanisms will need to be strengthened to be able to cope with the EU accession process. The government needs to intensify its efforts to engage in public communication on EU integration.
The government continued to show its commitment to EU integration. Three waves of governmental changes occurred during the reporting period. A new major reform process on ‘good governance, rule of law and anti-corruption for Albania 2030’ was launched by Parliament, at the behest of the Prime Minister, yet without cross-party support. The government continued to adopt policies and laws raising concerns regarding the respect of EU standards. The division of responsibilities between local and central government remains a concern. Efforts are still needed to improve local government units’ financial resources, administrative capacity and fiscal autonomy.
Civil society organisations (CSOs) in Albania operate in a challenging environment, including in relation to registration requirements and limited public funding for CSOs. The role of civil society, including in the EU accession negotiation process, should be further strengthened. The structures in place for consulting civil society need to be reinforced and become fully operational. In addition, the conditions necessary for effective VAT exemption need to be put in place without further delay.
Albania remains moderately prepared in the area of public administration reform (PAR). It made limited progress in delivering on last year’s recommendations. A new position of Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption was created in January 2024, which provides a clear political leadership for the PAR agenda and should improve the overall coordination of the reform efforts. The new Public Financial Management (PFM) Strategy for the period 2023-2030 was adopted in June 2024, and a new National Anti-Fraud strategy will be adopted by end 2024. In order to step up the efforts, further anticorruption reforms will feature in the Reform Agenda.The development of the public administration reform (PAR) and anticorruption strategies continued, but adoption is still pending.
Albania is moderately prepared and has made some progress on the functioning of the judiciary. Albania continued implementing the justice reform and the vetting process, which led to significant improvements in the functioning of the judiciary that must be maintained. The end of the vetting process in first instance is imminent, which is a major milestone with 11 remaining cases out of 805 as of 3 October 2024. Concerns remain about attempted political interference and pressure on the judicial system and shortcomings in the merit-based appointments of non-magistrate members of the High Judicial Council (HJC) and the High Prosecutorial Council (HPC) and their integrity. The new judicial map was implemented, but there are still challenges with the quality and efficiency of justice. Some preparatory acts were adopted on the roll-out of an integrated case management system, but the necessary budget allocations are lacking, especially for the court component.
Albania is between having some level of preparation and a moderate level of preparation in the fight against corruption and has shown some progress. The continued implementation of vetting has had a positive impact on fight against corruption in the judiciary. The end of vetting of all judges and prosecutors is imminent at first instance with 794 cases closed out of 805 (98% of the total). Another direct outcome of vetting was registered in September 2024, as the IQC referred 19 vetting cases with prima facie criminal elements to prosecution for further investigations, thus following up on a key recommendation from the EU.
The Specialised Structure for Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK) has continued to produce good results by further advancing in the prosecution and investigation of complex anti-corruption cases, including those involving high-level politicians and officials, as well as cases involving the protection of EU financial interests. SPAK’s capacity in financial investigations has increased and the systematic use of financial investigations and asset confiscations has improved. Overall, corruption remains a serious concern and preventive efforts have had a limited impact. The adoption of a broad criminal amnesty law led to 40 individuals convicted by SPAK courts and being fully pardoned and 65 others having their sentence reduced, which raises concerns. Targeted risk assessments and dedicated measures are needed to address corruption in the most vulnerable sectors, including police, customs, land and property management, state cadastre and public procurement.
Albania’s legal framework sets out a generally good basis for the protection of fundamental rights. Progress during the reporting period included the adoption of a new strategy for the protection of crime victims, as well as the preliminary results of the national population and housing census published in June. Implementation efforts need to intensify overall, particularly in the areas of violence against women, protection of property rights and rights of persons belonging to minorities.
Albania is between having some level of preparation and a moderate level of preparation in the area of freedom of expression and made no progress during the reporting period. Media independence and pluralism continued to be affected by the high market concentration, the overlap of business and political interests, the lack of transparency of financing sources, the high concentration of media ownership, intimidation and precarious working conditions for journalists.
Albania is between having some and a moderate level of preparation in aligning with the EU acquis in the fight against organized crime. Some progress was made in meeting last year’s recommendations by increasing SPAK’s capacity in financial investigations (with improved access to databases), strengthening the fight against money laundering and seizing assets linked to organised crime. Albania needs to continue working to ensure the independence of its law enforcement agencies.
Albania has a good level of preparation in developing a functioning market economy and made some progress in this area. Economic growth has been robust, helped by strong tourism and rising investments. Inflation continued to decline. Employment and activity rates increased, but unemployment remained relatively high, particularly among young people. Fiscal performance improved markedly with lower deficit and debt ratios. The financial sector remained stable, bank profitability increased while and credit growth expanded. However, financial intermediation remains low. A large informal economy impedes the business environment and competition.
Albania has some level of preparation to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the EU and made some progress in this area. Transport infrastructure improved, but infrastructure gaps remain, and digitalisation and education need further improvements. Exports of services (tourism) increased, but exports of goods remain well below their potential.