EU-funded project to strengthen fair competition rules

TIRANA, June 28 – A Euro 1 million twinning project enables the Albanian Competition Authority to better enforce antitrust, anticartel, merger and other fair competition rules in the Albanian market, and it will also enable the State Aid Directorate to deliver less but better targeted subsidies to minimise market distortions. The enforcement of fair competition rules is essential for a functioning market economy as it ensures that businesses are not discriminated and that consumers are not cheated with prices and quality. The EU has long assisted Albania in strengthening its market economy. This project builds on the improvements achieved progressively in the past and focuses on remaining shortfalls in competition policy. The Opinion of the European Commission on Albania’s membership application published last November noted the improvements in Albania’s legal framework but pointed out the necessity for better enforcement of the legal framework. The twinning project presented today, between the Albanian Competition Authority and its Italian, UK and Hungarian counterparts will focus on enforcement. During the awareness event, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Albania, Ambassador Ettore Sequi emphasised that “Strengthening Albania’s market economy will require the full commitment of the Albanian authorities to enhancing the monitoring and surveillance capabilities of both the State Aid Team and Competition Authority so that they can enforce the existing legislation efficiently”. Ambassador Sequi pointed out that coordination with the newly established Market Inspectorate is key to the success of competition policy in Albania in order to improve institutional capacities to manage, assess and implement Competition and State Aid legislation. The Euro 1 million project is composed of two components, one focusing on harmonization of Albanian legislation with the EU acquis in the area of competition, and the second component focusing on enforcement of legislation.