TIRANA, Oct. 12, 2022 – Albania’s proposed golden passport program and a draft fiscal amnesty have been red flagged by the European Commission in its latest progress report on candidate countries for EU membership.
Brussels’ concerns have been clear in the past, but the idea of Albania’s government granting citizenship to wealthy foreigners who invest in the country has not been taken off the board, as in July the government decided to hire foreign consultants to promote Albania to foreigners who want to buy an opportunity to get a second citizenship — a concept widely known as a “golden passport” program.
“Albania should give up the development of a citizenship scheme for investors as it would present risks, as it concerns security, money laundering, tax evasion, terrorist financing, corruption and infiltration of organized crime and would be incompatible with EU norms,” the EU Commission notes, according to reports from media outlets that were able to get early access to the report which will become public this week.
Moreover, EU’s annual report warns Albania’s government regarding its proposed fiscal amnesty, reminding Tirana of being “on the gray list” for money laundering concerns, which means the fiscal amnesty would be an added risk and is against the advice of both the EU and Moneyval, and could jeopardize progress in combating money laundering.
The amnesty, proposed by Prime Minister Edi Rama, would legalize funds for individuals who declare up to 2 million euros in cash assets, taxed at 7 to 10 percent, without having to disclose the origin of the money. Those who go through the process would be guaranteed protection from any criminal or administrative penalties related to not having declared the assets and their origin.
More high-level corruption wins urged
Albania has made some progress in several areas, but issues like corruption and freedom of expression continue to be problematic according to the report.
It notes “greater political will, further structured efforts, and adequate resources and skills remain necessary” to fight corruption.
“Despite some progress, corruption remains an area of serious concern. Increasing the number of final convictions of high-level officials remains an important priority to further address the culture of impunity. The sectors most at risk from corruption require targeted risk assessment and dedicated measures,” the EU Commission’s report notes.
The fight against organized crime is also considered a major issue where Albania saw “some progress in fulfilling last year’s recommendations” and “this effort must continue in the future,” according It adds: “Efforts must also continue to ensure increased prosecutions and final convictions, particularly at the highest levels.”
No progress on free press
An area in which Albania is assessed as having “not made progress” is that of freedom of expression.
“The intertwining of business and political interests continued to hinder media independence and the quality of journalism. Disinformation including smear campaigns is frequent, especially in online media, whose self-regulation must be ensured. The atmosphere of verbal attacks, smear campaigns and acts of intimidation against journalists has not improved,” the report notes, emphasizing that “any changes to the Media Law must be in accordance with the opinion of the Venice Commission and must be submitted for consultation with media organizations.”
According to the European Commission “it remains important to ensure that the media has direct and transparent access to government institutions and their activities” and also “the regulatory activity of the Authority for Audio-Visual Media (AMA) must be improved and the independence and resources of public broadcasters must be strengthened.”
