Industries become pessimistic about EU accession

TIRANA, Dec. 18 – Fearing tougher competition from the European Union and facing global crisis impacts, Albanian domestic manufacturing industries have become more pessimistic about the country’s EU accession, according to a survey carried out by the Konfidustria business association. The survey says that the manufacturers’ support to Albania’s EU accession bid has dropped by an average of 27 percent during the past two years. “The decrease is tougher in industries manufacturing for the domestic market especially, the agri-food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, construction materials, furniture industries etc,” says the survey. Meanwhile, representatives of industry sectors producing raw material for export especially in mining remain stable in their support to Albania’s EU integration.
The main reason for rising lack of confidence by Albania’s manufacturing industries about the country’s EU integration include disappointment over expectations from the implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement and the interim free trade agreements, increasing competitiveness from EU products and services in the domestic market.
The support to Albania’s EU integration has especially been declining in 2012 following the industries’ rising difficulty from the global crisis and key trade partners Italy and Greece, notes the report.
Meanwhile, the results of the latest annual Albanian Institute for International Studies survey on Albanians’ support for the country’s EU bid reveal that 86.5 percent of Albanians would definitely vote in favor of the accession of Albania in the European Union, while only 7 percent would cast their vote against it. The level of support has increased by 6 percentage points compared to last year and continues to be testimony to the fact that Albania has the largest support factor among perception of population in the region, the study’s authors note.