In latest progress report, EU asks for more political dialogue, tougher action on corruption

Romana Vlahutin, the Croatian diplomat who at the start of the month became EU’s new top representative in Tirana, said this week the country should address several key priorities: rule of law, judiciary reform, corruption, organized crime, public administration reform and economic governance.
TIRANA, Oct. 8 – The European Commission on Wednesday issued its latest annual progress report on Albania, urging more political dialogue in the country and stronger action toward fighting corruption and improving the judiciary system.
The report said that after getting the candidate status in June, the small Adriatic republic, “needs to build on and consolidate the reform momentum and focus its efforts on tackling its EU integration challenges in a sustainable and inclusive way. Both government and opposition need to ensure political debate takes place primarily in parliament.”
It strongly urged both political opposing groupings in the country’s politics to work together for the reform agenda. It said that the political confrontation serves none of them and the country too.
“In order to be able to move toward the opening of accession negotiations, Albania will need to undertake sustained efforts to implement reforms in key priority areas, with particular focus on public administration and judicial reform, the fight against corruption and organized crime and strengthening the protection of fundamental rights.” the report noted. “A sustainable political dialogue and compromise-based and constructive work in parliament by both government and opposition remain important elements for a successful reform process.”
The report said that “a tense political climate impinged on parliamentary work, resulting in the main opposition party abstaining from and, since July, boycotting all parliamentary work. Government and opposition should take steps to restore political dialogue in the parliament.”
Prime Minister Edi Rama has said his government will try not to continue history of failures in political dialogue with the opposition, a key negative trend in Albania’s post-communism years. He said he did not want the current opposition to be treated how his own Socialists were treated when they were in opposition until last year.
“We are waiting for the opposition to ask us what it wants us to do,” Rama said. “We still do not know what the opposition is asking for, other than it wants to government to resign, a request we can fulfill as it is the Albanian voters that make that decision.”
The Socialist-led coalition won the general elections last year in a landslide, but the Democratic Party-led opposition has boycotted most of the parliamentary life since then – offering a series of arguments, ranging from the fact that its voice is ignored in parliament to the physical attack on one of its members of parliament by two Socialist MPs who have since been criminally charged for the attack.
EU’s new top diplomat spells priorities
Romana Vlahutin, the Croatian diplomat who at the start of the month became EU’s new top representative in Tirana, said this week the country should address several key issues in the future, including rule of law and the reform in the judiciary, the fight against corruption and organized crime, the reform in the public administration and good economic governance.
Rama said that the importance of such reforms is not simply to please the European Union.
“It is decisive for us that the rule of law governs in Albania, that in Albania justice is not synonymous with corruption, that administration is not approximated with corruption and that the citizens’ life is not hampered by corruption,” he said. “We shall follow up on these key priorities with great determination and faster paste.”
The EU report also urged Albania “to vigorously pursue judicial and public administration reform. The fights against corruption and organized crime need to remain top priorities, with sustained and systematic efforts and consistent enforcement of legislation to fight corruption at all levels and combat all kinds of criminal activities.”
Specifically Brussels asked Albania “to further develop the track record of investigations, prosecutions and convictions in these areas.”
Judiciary was specifically targeted by the report. “The functioning of the judicial system continues to be affected by politicization, limited accountability, poor inter-institutional cooperation, insufficient resources and backlogs,” it said. ‘Vigorously pursue’ judicial reform Albania told
Over the next year, Albania will need to vigorously pursue judicial reform, through constructive cooperation with all stakeholders and continued engagement with the Venice Commission, the approval of provisions replacing the repealed Law on Judicial Administration, the phasing out of the system allocating cases to judges by court presidents, and the adoption of constitutional amendments and legislation to ensure the independence, accountability and efficiency of the justice system, according the report.
On the part of economy it said that the country should pursue fiscal consolidation efforts with a view to reducing the high public debt, while at the same time preserving room for growth-enhancing expenditure. It urged that the energy sector be reformed and pension and tax administration reforms be implemented to lower the risks to public finances.
The report also gave some figures. Between 2007 and 2013, the EU provided financial assistance to Albania has been in total approximately 594 million euro, while the EU assistance for 2014-20 will be 640 million euro.
The report also noted that “Corruption remains a serious concern in many areas.” It added that “Albania will have to intensify its anti-corruption efforts, adopt the anti-corruption strategy and action plans, enforce the amended legislative framework, and strengthen cooperation between law enforcement agencies.”
Brussels also urged Albania to upgrade its preparation for implementing EU acquis, notably as regards intellectual property law, energy, environmental protection, transport, food safety, and consumer and health protection. It also asked it to strengthen the administrative capacity for implementing and enforcing legislation and to improve transparency and accountability.