EU auditors say funding Western Balkans rule of law reforms hasn’t paid off
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- EU support for civil society and independent media is insufficient in meeting needs and mostly based on short-term projects, auditors also point out.
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TIRANA, Jan. 11 – Investment and efforts by the European Union has had little impact in advancing fundamental rule of law reforms in the Western Balkans, according to a special report published by the European Court of Auditors on Monday.
Some technical and operational reforms have taken place in the region, including in Albania, the report points out. But insufficient political will and a lack of enlargement progress has made EU support largely ineffective to tackle issues related to independence of the judiciary, the concentration of power, political interference, and corruption, the auditors said in a press release.
The auditors also note that EU support for civil society and independent media is insufficient in meeting needs and mostly based on short-term projects.
According to the report, Albania has received 134 million euros since 2014 for rule of law reforms, out of the 690 million overall for Western Balkan countries.
EU support for the rule of law in Western Balkans has clearly not been successful in bringing about wholesale change”, said Juhan Parts, the member of the European Court of Auditors responsible for the report. “The modest progress made over the last 20 years threatens the overall sustainability of the EU support provided under the accession process. Constant reforms lose credibility if they do not deliver tangible results.”
The report covers all six countries of the region, with Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia as candidates, and Bosnia-and-Herzegovina and Kosovo as potential candidates for EU membership.
Measures to address weak administrative capacity and political will are too few and often ineffective, the report notes.
In addition, the auditors point out the inconsistent application of pre-conditions for project funding and implementation.
Auditors also question why the EU has not used the leverage of suspending assistance if a beneficiary fails to observe the basic principles of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
