Ardian Fullani: Albania on the road to EU integration
Speech by Mr Ardian Fullani, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the launching ceremony of
the Needs Analysis for the Bank of Albania project, Tirana 17 April 2014.
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Dear Mr. Mersch,
Dear Mr. Hamza,
Dear Mr. Bajrami,
Your Excellencies Ambassadors,
Dear guests,
The purpose of the programme we are launching today is to support the Bank of Albania in
the process of approximation with the EU central banking rules, procedures and standards.
This is another step forward in the increasingly closer cooperation between the Bank of
Albania, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Eurosystem. I am delighted we have
here today the Governor of the Central Bank of Kosovo and Vice Governor of the National
Bank of Macedonia, as co-beneficiaries under this project.
The Project addresses 13 different fields of central banking, as identified by Bank of Albania
and ECB experts, wherein the Bank of Albania needs to make progress to reach comparable
benchmarks to an EU central bank. These fields relate to all the main functions of the Bank
of Albania, such as monetary and financial stability, operations, financial infrastructure,
transparency, accountability and human capital.
For the first time, information technology is also incorporated in the project scope, hence
reflecting the impact of technology's evolution on central bank operational systems over the
past decades.
The cooperation programme will be implemented with the support of experts from 11 central
banks in the EU, with the ECB being the overall coordinator. Only two years ago, the Bank of
Albania successfully concluded a twinning project with two of them: Banca d'Italia and
Banque de France.
During the six-months of the project implementation period, central banks of the Eurosystem
will provide expertise through training, conferences, seminars, study visits and support to
strengthen administrative capacities, and regular technical missions. This form of
cooperation will aim at fostering the existing relations and building a broader network of
cooperation between the Bank of Albania, central banks of the region and the Eurosystem.
The Project is funded by the European Commission, in the framework of support policies for
the central banks of the Western Balkans, to promote macroeconomic and financial stability
in the region. This form of technical assistance has been particularly successful in the past,
creating strong institutional ties between the central banks of the Eurosystem and those of
our region. The twinning is based on a detailed plan of action for achieving a series of
concrete and measurable objectives.
This means that upon conclusion of the project, having benefited from the technical
assistance, the Bank of Albania will be able to discharge its institutional duties and
responsibilities in the relevant fields more effectively and more efficiently. I believe the main
factor of success for such technical cooperation programmes is closely related to having
clear goals and objectives, set jointly with our European partners.
Twinning agreements are an important instrument for ensuring Albania's compliance with EU
legislation. This agreement is reached in a convenient time, taking into account that only two
months from now, a decision will be made by the Council of the European Union on the
candidate status with regard to Albania's EU membership.
The ultimate objective of this cooperation will go beyond the assistance; it will contribute to
achieving high levels of professionalism, independence and transparency. It will also
contribute to promoting the monetary and financial stability in Albania. Moreover, the
assistance will be an impetus to the country's European integration, with special focus on
compliance with criteria for legal and economic convergence with the European Union. This
underlines, once again, the role of European integration as a driver to economic and social
modernisation in our countries.
Today's agreement comes at a moment when the commitment of the European Central Bank
to our region is focused not only on the field of technical cooperation, but also extends to the
political one.
In addition to the close monitoring of the economy of Albania and other countries in our
region, the European Central Bank plays an active role in the Vienna Initiative 2.0, which
aims at identifying and mitigating systemic risks in the countries where European banks
operate. This initiative is experimenting a new coordinating mechanism between the
European Union and our region, bringing together representatives from parent banks,
subsidiaries, home and host supervisory authorities, international financial institutions and
the European Commission.
Moreover, the European Central Bank is assuming a new supervisory role for
130 systemic banks in the euro area, some of which operate in Albania or other
countries of the region through their branches or subsidiaries. This role, which is
expected to become functional in the field as of November this year, will be exercised
in cooperation with national supervisory authorities and will have implications for
Albania and other countries of the region, given the presence of euro area-based
banks in our banking sectors.
With the establishment of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the European Central Bank will
become the home supervisor for a number of banks operating in Albania. In addition to
improving the quality of banking supervision, this mechanism has the potential to facilitate
cooperation between home and host countries, hence fostering cooperation between the
European Central Bank and central banks in the region on financial stability.
Dear participants, the common challenges that lie ahead of us are numerous and should be
solved within a short period of time.
On behalf of the Bank of Albania, I would like to assure you that we will continue to be in
close contact with the European Central Bank and Eurosystem central banks, furthering our
existing open and sincere communication.
Approximation with best EU central bank standards and practices is a crucial process for a
central bank not only for the effective discharge of the duties, but also for the efficient and
stable functioning of the financial system, and benefit of the economy, overall. I am confident
that the implementation of this project will be characterised by the cooperative spirit between
the Bank of Albania and central banks in the region, on the one hand, and the European
Central Bank and Eurosystem, on the other.
I would like to conclude with a heart-felt appreciation and gratitude for all the stakeholders
having an active role in the launching of this project:
• the European Central Bank for coordinating all the activities;
• member central banks for providing a large number of experts to assist us with the
project implementation;
• Delegation of the European Union in Tirana for funding it.
We highly appreciate the Commission's assistance with regard to adopting the
implementation of the European Union legislation and are seriously committed to continuing
with the successful cooperation, established with the Delegation in the last twinning project.
In this context, I would like to reiterate my message that the road to European Union
integration passes through regional integration. The financial system and central banks
spearhead this process. We expect that public and private economic agents will determinedly
follow this step we are taking. In my view, regional cooperation can and should serve as a
forerunner to European integration.
Lastly, my special thanks and highest appreciation for Mr. Mersch for the fruitful cooperation
between our institutions during his mandate as the Governor of the central bank of
Luxembourg, and now as an Executive Board member of the European Central Bank and,
above all, as a friend of ours.
Thank you for your attention!