Albania signs EU 17.8 million grant

EU grant to support justice system, public administration reform, transport, employment, social inclusion, agriculture and rural development.
TIRANA, Dec. 1 – The European Union and Tirana have signed an agreement of 17.8 million euros to support key reforms in Albania in the areas of justice affairs, public administration reform, transport, employment, social inclusion, agriculture and rural development.
The agreement complements another grant of 64 million euros signed earlier this year.
The last agreement will be implemented for the first time in Albania through the de-centralized management modality.
The Central Finance and Contracting Unit within the Albanian Ministry of Finance will be responsible for the implementation of the agreement in terms of tendering process, contracting matters and financial administration of project activities.
Albania was granted the candidate status by the EU in June and is now working to complete the required reforms for the next step, launching the full membership talks.
But EU’s new leaders have also made it clear that there will be no new EU members in the next five years.
Identified as a result of continuous dialogue with the government, civil society and other donors, these areas of intervention target Albania’s EU integration priorities and economic development. The total amount provided by the EU to Albania since 1991 amounts to more than 1.4 billion euros, thus making it by far the biggest partner of the country.
Through this financing agreement, 3.5 million euros will be devoted to the justice and home affairs sector. The public administration reform will benefit by 3.5 million euros dedicated to the improvement statistical information systems and strengthening of auditing capacities.
Two million euros will be invested in the transport sector, with the objective of increasing road safety standards. Considering that vulnerable groups are usually hit the hardest by times of crisis, the EU has earmarked 3 million euros for employment and social inclusion to support employment-oriented vocational education and training.
The agriculture and rural development sector will get 5.8 million euros to improve the productivity of the livestock sector and to strengthen food safety laboratories.
“Through our assistance in the key areas of justice affairs, public administration reform and other important sectors of transport, employment, and agriculture we are helping the country to address some key challenges and needs,” said the head of cooperation of the EU Delegation to Albania Yngve Engstroem. “At the same time, in view of the country’s readiness in absorbing this support, it is crucial for Albania to take on successfully the decentralized management of the assistance that we are providing here today.”
The EU also welcomed the Albanian Parliament’s decision on the High State Control Law, considering it “not only a major step forward regarding Albania’s efforts to reform the external audit of public funds, (but) it also facilitates the way for the EU’s Budget Support Program for Public Finance Management.”
One of the key conditions for releasing the EU funds was that Albania adopts a revised High State Control Law in line with international standards for supreme audit institutions, which was met by the new law.
The EU’s Sector Budget Support Program for Albania’s PFM reform, the first of its kind for the Western Balkan region, is currently being finalized in Brussels. Once adopted, it will provide 40 million euros over three years for Albania’s reform efforts.
The Sector Budget Support Program is part of the wider 2014 Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) which amounts to 67 million euro. Albania will receive a total of 650 million euros in the next six years as part of the EU’s financial assistance for the period 2014-2020 which will help the country to drive the reforms forward, facilitate investments relevant for the accession process and contribute to Albania’s socio-economic development.