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EC Report on Albania: Corruption remains a concern, but reforms have progressed

2022-10-12 08:30:45Politikë SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
EC Report on Albania: Corruption remains a concern, but reforms have progressed
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The European Commission evaluates Albania's progress on the path of reforms related to the integration process, stressing that it must progress further together with the opposition and civil society.

In the draft report expected to be published on Wednesday, a copy of which VOA has, corruption continues to be considered a serious concern, while the country is warned that initiatives for fiscal amnesty and so-called "golden passports" risk backfiring. with the norms of the European Union.

One area where it is clearly written that no progress has been made is that of freedom of expression.

The Commission's document is a radiograph of the state of the country in relation to the criteria it must fulfill in its integration process. As for the political criteria, it is noted that "the internal conflict within the largest opposition party (PD) affected parliamentary life".

The government is appreciated for "maintaining the focus on reforms related to the country's path towards the EU and strengthening its coordination structure for EU integration", while it is criticized for "creating several government agencies under the Prime Minister's Office, without a comprehensive management framework and without a systematic attention to the lines of supervision and reporting" which, according to the Commission, "raises questions about the standards of public administration".

As for public administration reform, Albania is estimated to be "averagely prepared" and with "limited progress in strengthening the capacities of line ministries to implement regulatory impact assessments and hold public consultations". There is also criticism of the agencies under the ministries which "further worsened the issue of duties entrusted to personnel employed under the Labor Code, instead of civil servants". The report underlines that "provisions for merit-based recruitment under the civil service law remain to be fully implemented, especially for high-level positions."

Albania's judicial system, according to the European Commission, "has reached a moderate degree of preparation" and the Justice Reform is considered to have had "generally good progress". The report points out the appointments to fill the seats in the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, emphasizing that "however, long procedures and a large number of backlog cases continue to negatively affect the efficiency of the judicial system." The progress of the process of re-evaluation of judges and prosecutors is assessed as "continuing to progress steadily. By September 12, vetting institutions had completed 554 first-degree cases. About 64% of the vetting files processed so far have resulted in dismissals, resignations or termination of the mandate of the verified magistrates".

As for the fight against corruption, Albania appears to have "some degree of preparation". While it is estimated that there have been results, the report underlines that "greater political will, further structured efforts, and adequate resources and skills remain necessary". According to the Commission, "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 fight against organized crime is considered to be at the same level, where "some progress in fulfilling last year's recommendations" is noted. The report states that "strong and fruitful cooperation with EU member states, Europol and Eurojust has led to tangible results. Albania continued to show commitment to fight the production and trafficking of cannabis. Good progress has been achieved in seizing and confiscating assets linked to organized crime." According to the Commission, "this effort must continue in the future. Efforts must also continue to ensure increased prosecutions and final convictions, particularly at the highest levels."

Despite earlier criticisms from Brussels on the idea of ​​the Albanian authorities to grant citizenship to rich foreigners who want to invest in the country, in July of this year the government took another step when it approved a decision that paves the way for the engagement of an international company for the promotion of the Albanian passport. Even in the current report, the Voice of America has found that the same warning is repeated by the Commission, when it states that "Albania should give up the development of a citizenship scheme for investors (golden passports) 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".

Likewise, Albania is warned regarding the government's other fiscal amnesty initiative. She remembers that she is "on the gray list" as far as the fight against the financing of terrorism and against money laundering is concerned, and therefore "she must implement the remaining elements of the action plan of the Financial Action Task Force. The adoption of a tax and criminal amnesty against the advice of the EU and Moneyval, could jeopardize the progress in this area".

The field where 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".

Albania is positively evaluated for its foreign policy aligned with that of the European Union, as well as for its role in the region. The "Open Balkans" initiative, promoted by Albania, Serbia and North Macedonia, but which has encountered strong opposition from Kosovo, is also described with positive notes. "As long as the 'Open Balkans' initiative is consistent with the framework of the Regional Common Market, complies with EU standards and is fully open and inclusive, it is a useful step towards the development of a common market. among the six economies of the region", it is written in the report of the European Commission./VOA/


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