Albanian EU progress is very slow, shows report

The inability of political leaders to reach consensus on key reforms within in Albania is delaying the country’s progress towards European Union candidacy, a report published by the Open Society Foundation in Albania, OSFA, has shown.

Adela Halo, coordinator of the good governance and integration programme at OSFA and a co-author of the report, told Balkan Insight that political consensus was a key part of passing reforms in Albania.

“What we have concluded…is that a good part of the measures addressed as a priority by the European Commission, require political consensus,” she said.

OFSA’s report, which analyzed progress in implementation of measures planned by the Albanian government in the Action Plan Addressing the Recommendations of the EC Opinion, found that last year the pace of reforms slowed down considerably compared to the previous year.

Out of 102 planned measures for implementation in 2011, only 20 per cent were implemented, compared to 57 per cent in 2010, while 76 of the measures are partially implemented and work has not even started on four per cent of them.

Within the implemented measures, 80 per cent are in the fight against corruption and organised crime. No measures have been fully implemented in the areas of the functioning of the parliament, the appointment of the Ombudsman and Constitutional and High Court judges, and only 5 per cent of the overall implemented measures come from the priority on justice reform.