TIRANA, February 19 /ATA/ Democratic Party MP, who is also Chairwoman of the European Affairs Committee, said that Albania has not made any real progress in the process of integration into the European Union.
Speaking to reporters during an appearance in front of the Parliament, Tabaku said that, “Opening of the negotiations came as a result of a geopolitical decision”.
Tabaku said that, “It has been the Democratic Party that started this process, supports this process and will be the one that will complete this process in government”.
The DP MP underlined that, “There are no criteria fulfilled, there is no real progress, even in matters of the internal market, but it is a technical process that is continuing as a result of the geostrategic decision that was taken after the Russian aggression in Ukraine, at least three years ago”.
“Most of the initiatives taken by the Albanian government, have 2027 as the deadline of their accomplishment”, said Tabaku.
According to Tabaku, this shows a lack of seriousness; there is a very big gap in terms of the preparation of legislation for the market and such a thing has created uncertainty for business.
“Speaking about the domestic market of services, there are 300 legal acts, 38 sectors, 500 service activities that are 100 laws in themselves and they say that they will do it all in 2027. While this is happening, they continue and approve legal acts that contradict this. We are all aware that the Public Procurement Law has exceptions for strategic sectors, which is contrary to the EU directives; there are also exceptions regarding the VAT of hotels, which we have continuously raised as a concern”, said Tabaku.
The DP MP said that, “This shows a clear discrepancy between the vision that the government has and the lack of political vision with the fact that it adopts decisions that are not in line with the obligations it is taking in the integration process”.
Further on, Tabaku added that “The second element is related to the implications it has for the budget. There is no analysis at present regarding the budget, which tariffs will increase? Which will decrease? Is there an analysis of the impact of the budget, of the impact on the private sector? Nothing like that has happened”.
“This is to show you with two main elements that this is a process in which the government has postponed most of the obligations to 2027 to be fulfilled and on the other hand in most of the sectors that we have identified and made concrete proposals for, starting with the internal market, the measures that every government must take to comply with the EU, excessive regulation, business readiness, the removal of permits and licenses and ending with money laundering, which are the five main areas, the Albanian government has not fulfilled its obligations. When it has not fulfilled them in 10 years, it will not fulfill them in 2 years,” said Tabaku. /a.f/r.e/p.s./
