Rama said the transformation of Albania’s public administration had been reflected in assessments by several international institutions, adding that the country needed to take meritocracy to a new level.

He said he had initially been sceptical about the potential to improve the quality of the administration, but was pleasantly surprised by its contribution to EU accession negotiations and the positive assessment it received from Brussels.

“The work of Albania’s large team of representatives across all the negotiating chapters revealed a completely different public administration from the one I had imagined,” Rama said, attributing his earlier doubts partly to persistent negative media coverage of individual public employees.

The government head also referred to recent public protests, saying demands for merit-based recruitment reflected accumulated concerns as Albania moved from an era of scarcity to one of higher expectations.

“One of the most striking issues raised was precisely merit – how people enter public service in line with their ambition to serve the Albanian state,” he said.

Rama described SIGMA as an instrument used by the EU to assess the quality, needs and potential of public administrations. He said its findings placed Albania first in the region for public administration reform and improvements.

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Speaking at a press conference marking the conclusion of Public Administration Week, Pirdeni said Albania is working to address the challenges facing the public administration system as the country moves forward with EU integration.

She described the accession process as both a challenge and a major opportunity to strengthen state institutions, improve resilience and prevent abuses of public office, adding that anti-corruption efforts had also been a key focus.

Pirdeni said the EU’s common negotiating position established milestones for Albania to complete negotiations on Chapters 23 and 24, as well as for public administration reform.

She called public administration reform “the mother of all reforms,” saying improvements in the way state institutions operate have a direct impact across all sectors of government and the economy.

According to Pirdeni, Albania now has a clear strategy for the future of public administration reform, along with a modernised system for recruitment and career development within the civil service.

She said further measures would aim to make the system more open to new talent, strengthen its foundations and ensure it has the capacity to meet not only the demands of the negotiation process but also the responsibilities of EU membership.

Pirdeni added that the European Commission had assessed Albania’s public administration as having “highly developed capacities,” allowing the country to successfully complete the screening phase of negotiations and continue advancing discussions across chapters.

She said Albania had successfully reached key milestones in areas including justice, security and fundamental rights, demonstrating its readiness to complete further stages of the EU accession negotiations.

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Speaking at the third edition of Public Administration Week, held under the theme “Public Service for a European Albania,” the government head said meaningful reform cannot be achieved quickly because it depends on building institutions and administrative systems centered on people.

“Transforming public administration is an extraordinarily complex and difficult process,” Rama said. “It requires something that today’s world-and particularly Albania and Albanians-have increasingly less of: time.”

He said the country’s first comprehensive civil service law was adopted nearly a decade ago, arguing that the period since then has brought significant changes to Albania’s civil service.

Rama stressed the importance of distinguishing between the civil service and the broader public administration. He noted that the civil service comprises fewer than 10,000 employees, while the overall state administration includes tens of thousands of additional public sector workers operating under different employment frameworks.

The Prime Minister said the civil service has undergone a marked improvement in quality, describing it as a key factor behind Albania’s progress in its European Union accession negotiations.

At the same time, he said rising public expectations present a growing challenge for state institutions.

“Citizens have every right to demand more and to expect better treatment from public institutions,” Rama said. “Our task is to continue improving the quality of public services and the performance of the state administration.”

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Organized by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the high-level gathering brought together policymakers, civil society representatives, and international organizations to discuss innovation and reform in public administration under the theme: “Five Years to 2030: Accelerating Public Service for a Sustainable Future.”

Speaking at the forum, Pirdeni outlined Albania’s ongoing reforms aimed at creating a more efficient and citizen-focused public administration, supported by digital infrastructure designed to bring institutions closer to the public.

“From digital governance to artificial intelligence in support of European integration, we’re working to show that even small countries can drive ambitious reforms,” Pirdeni said in a social media post on Friday.

The forum served as a platform for exchanging experiences and best practices among participating countries, with discussions centered on ways to boost the resilience, inclusiveness, and responsiveness of public institutions.

Participants included ministers responsible for public administration from across the globe, senior government officials, local authority representatives, and international partners, all sharing strategies to improve institutional capacity and accelerate digital transformation in public services.

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“And through all the geopolitical, ideological, technical, and regional and international variables that condition Albania’s path to the EU, one axiom remains unchanged: Our integration into the family of a united Europe within this decade requires not only a government approach but also a nationwide approach and mobilization,” she stated.

Pirdeni noted that although the process faces challenges, these should be seen more as opportunities to create partnerships and collaboration, which will guarantee the irreversibility of the reforms already carried out. In essence, these reforms are rooted in, shaped by, and ultimately aim to achieve European standards.

According to her, Albania has become a regional leader in the field of public administration reform, now strengthened in terms of policy organization, enhanced financial management system, and the effective provision of digital services.

Pirdeni welcomed the work of the commission’s experts to discuss and agree on a clear, detailed sequence of the commitments we have taken on, which each of us is aware of, within the deadlines we have committed to stick to.

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In a televised interview, Pirdeni said that the country’s EU integration “is a nationwide process and not just the responsibility of an institution or government.”

“The re-energizing process aims at preparing public administration for Albania accession to EU by 2030. The process also seeks to ensure that our administrative capacities cope with the large bulk of work. The special commission has crucial role in efforts to deliver on fundamental rule of law and good governance reforms and the commission requires a comprehensive approach. It is not only the government that takes the country forward, but the process should see involvement of many other stakeholders and institutions,” the State Minister for Public Administration said.

According to her, the EU accession negotiations process demands progress of reforms in all sectors.

Pirdeni underlined that the modernization of the public administration and innovation serve the labor market.

“The government has significantly increased public sector wages under its wages reform and public administration has become very competitive. Average wage of public sector workers is 20% higher than in the private sector. The wage reform is set to complete this year with a second pay hike phase to include certain public sectors, namely the armed forces, the prison police, education and health sector, as well as the local government employees,” she said.

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Spiropali said that Albania has made steady progress in the public administration reform.

“The national legislation that ensures flexibility and stability, the digital revolution in public service delivery to the citizens and businesses, and the recent wage system reform for the civil service are some of the measures as part of the government vision for a highly professional and merit-based public administration,” she said.

The State Minister underlined that the SIGMA 2021 Monitoring report ranked Albania a regional leader in the region in public administration reform.

“The government is fully committed to implementing good governance and public administration reforms, as one of the key priorities for full integration into the European Union,” Spiropali added.

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