TIRANA, Oct 19 /ATA/ – The European Commission presented the 2021 EU enlargement package and the Progress Report on Albania on Tuesday.
The European Commission notes in its report that “it is essential that the EU Member States endorse the negotiating framework so that the first intergovernmental conference takes place as soon as possible and before the end of this year.”
As regards the political criteria, general elections were held on 25 April 2021, following the cross-party agreement of 5 June 2020 that led to a wide-ranging electoral reform, in line with OSCE/ODIHR recommendations.
“Electronic identification of voters was implemented in 97% of polling stations, while e-voting and e-counting was piloted successfully in 32 polling stations in Tirana. The OSCE/ODIHR final assessment found that elections were generally well organised. The new electoral administration gained the trust of most stakeholders. Concerns remained related to the misuse of public resources or official functions, to allegations of vote buying, and to the leaking of sensitive personal data covering the political preferences of citizens. These cases are being investigated. Parliament continued to work under the restrictions brought in due to the pandemic,” the EC Progress Report reads.
With regard to EU oriented reforms, Parliament adopted a number of significant pieces of legislation, in areas such as asylum, the population census, and the efficiency of the judiciary.
Throughout the reporting period, the government maintained a focus on reforms required for the country’s path towards the EU, despite the challenge of addressing the negative social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In the new legislature, the majority and the opposition will need to improve political dialogue and work together with all parts of society to further advance the EU reform agenda and accession negotiations. Coordination within the administration needs to be improved, notably regarding EU integration. The territorial administrative reform should be further consolidated as part of the wider decentralisation agenda. This is particularly necessary to guarantee local fiscal autonomy and empower municipalities to provide good quality public services. Limited progress has been made to implement the roadmap on creating an enabling environment for civil society. Nonetheless, Albanian civil society has been able to provide support and services to most vulnerable people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic,” EC notes in its key findings.
EC adds that Albania is moderately prepared with the reform of its public administration.
“Some progress has been made in building capacity in line ministries to implement regulatory impact assessments, adopting guidelines for public consultations, setting up the IT systems for integrated planning, increasing the implementation rate of the National European Integration Plan, increasing the number of e-services, and completing the testing phase to automate the payroll system. Implementation of the 2015-2022 public administration reform (PAR) and the 2014-2022 public financial management (PFM) reform strategies has continued despite the impact of the pandemic,” the EC report underlines.
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