EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 6.10.2020 SWD(2020) 354 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Albania 2020 Report Accompanying the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions 2020 Communication on EU Enlargement Policy









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Table of Contents 1.Introduction 1.1.Context 1.2.Summary of the report 2.Fundamentals first: political criteria and rule of law chapters 2.1.Functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform 2.1.1 Democracy 2.1.2.Public administration reform 2.2.1.Chapter 23: Judiciary and fundamental rights 2.2.2.Chapter 24: Justice, freedom and security 3.Fundamentals first: economic development and competitiveness 3.1.The existence of a functioning market economy 3.2.The capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union 4.Good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation 5.Ability to assume the obligations of membership 5.1.Chapter 1: Free movement of goods 5.2.Chapter 2: Freedom of movement of workers 5.3.Chapter 3: Right of establishment and freedom to provide services

5.4. Chapter 4: Free movement of capital 5.5. Chapter 5: Public procurement 5.6.Chapter 6: Company law 5.7. Chapter 7: Intellectual property law 5.8. Chapter 8: Competition policy 5.9.Chapter 9: Financial services 5.10. Chapter 10: Information society and media 5.11. Chapter 11: Agriculture and rural development 5.12. Chapter 12: Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy 5.13. Chapter 13: Fisheries 5.14. Chapter 14: Transport 5.15. Chapter 15: Energy 5.16. Chapter 16: Taxation 5.17.Chapter 17: Economic and monetary policy 5.18. Chapter 18: Statistics 5.19. Chapter 19: Social policy and employment 5.20. Chapter 20: Enterprise and industrial policy93 5.21. Chapter 21: Trans-European networks96 5.22. Chapter 22: Regional policy and coordination of structural instruments98 5.25. Chapter 25: Science and research99

5.26. Chapter 26: Education and culture100 5.27. Chapter 27: Environment and climate change104 5.28. Chapter 28: Consumer and health protection107 5.29. Chapter 29: Customs union109 5.30. Chapter 30: External relations110 5.31. Chapter 31: Foreign, security and defence policy112 5.32. Chapter 32: Financial control114 5.33. Chapter 33: Financial and budgetary provisions116 Annex I – Relations between the EU and Albania118



1.Introduction 1.1. Context Albania has continued to implement the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and the meetings of the joint bodies under the agreement took place. In April 2018, the Commission issued its first recommendation inviting the Council to decide that accession negotiations be opened with Albania. In its June 2018 Conclusions, the Council acknowledged the progress achieved by Albania and set out the path towards opening accession negotiations in June 2019. In line with the Council Conclusions, the Commission started the preparatory work, including through the technical explanation of chapters of the EU acquis. In light of the significant progress achieved and the conditions set unanimously by the Council in June 2018 being met, the Commission recommended again in May 2019 to open accession negotiations with the country. In June 2019, the Council postponed the decision to October 2019. The European Council then decided to ‘revert to the issue of enlargement before the EU-Western Balkans summit in Zagreb in May 2020’. The Commission has continued to monitor thoroughly developments in Albania. The country has continued to implement reforms related to the EU agenda. On 26 November 2019, Albania was hit by a devastating earthquake of a magnitude of 6.3 Richter. Despite the challenge of dealing with the emergency situation, the Albanian authorities have maintained a constant, strong public political commitment to the country’s strategic goal of European integration. Overall, Albania has increased its efforts and delivered further tangible and sustainable results in the key areas identified in the Council Conclusions of June 2018. Consequently, in its update on Albania published in March 2020, the Commission confirmed that the bases of its 2019 recommendation to open accession negotiations with Albania remain valid. On this basis, on 25 March 2020, the Council decided – and European leaders endorsed this decision on 26 March 2020 – to open accession negotiations with Albania and tasked the Commission to report on a number of issues to be addressed by Albania prior to the first Inter-governmental Conference, including progress regarding the track record. The present Report also serves the purpose of reporting on the Council Conclusions on the conditions identified with regards to the first Inter-governmental Conference (IGC) as well as other important priorities and the issues to be reflected in the Negotiating Framework. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global shock that has not spared the Western Balkans. It represents an unprecedented burden on their health and social protection systems. The final extent of its footprint in terms of loss of human lives and damage to the economies is still difficult to assess, but early Commission estimates foresee a drop of between 4 and 6% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the region. Thousands of citizens are at risk of losing their jobs, and temporary government support measures (unemployment benefits, deferrals/waivers to tax and social security contributions, etc.) have an important fiscal impact. While the EU is itself heavily affected by the pandemic, it has spared no time and effort to provide essential and unparalleled support to the Western Balkans. This includes financial support of more than EUR 3.3 billion for countries in the region to address the immediate health crisis and resulting humanitarian needs, as well as longer term and structural impact on their societies and economies. Given the European perspective of the Western Balkans, the EU is also treating the region as privileged partners by associating them with the Union’s mechanisms and instruments. These include the Health Security Committee, Joint Procurement Agreements, Union Civil Protection Mechanism, Solidarity Fund, consular assistance in repatriation or exemption from temporary EU export restrictions of medical equipment. These and other measures have provided immediate relief and are a clear message of the EU’s political commitment towards the region. As of March 2020, the government reacted swiftly to the COVID-19 pandemic and took stringent measures thus managing the crisis with limited human and financial loss. It issued a series of decrees subsequently endorsed by the Parliament. The State of Emergency for Natural Disaster, put in place after the November 2019 earthquake, was extended until June 2020. The authorities notified a derogation from the obligations under certain articles of the Convention for the Protection of Human and Fundamental Freedoms. The European Commission recommended that emergency measures taken in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic are proportionate, restricted to what is necessary and limited in time so that rule of law and democratic and human rights standards are respected. As of 18 May 2020 the government lifted lockdown measures. All public and economic activities are open, except public transport, sports activities, schools and mass gathering activities. As of 1 June 2020 all movements in all territory are free without time limitations. All borders with the neighbouring countries are open. No quarantine is required for persons entering in the country. Quarantine is implemented only for specific cases recommended by the health authorities in the country or protocols issued/approved by the EU Infections Control.

1.2. Summary of the report As regards the political criteria, the political environment in Albania continued to be marked by intense polarisation. Parliamentary activities were affected by the opposition relinquishing their mandates. Institutional continuity was still ensured through gradual filling of vacant parliamentary seats. At the end of the reporting period, the Assembly had 122 out of 140 members. The opposition decided to boycott the 30 June 2019 local elections. These were held, while the President had issued a decision to postpone the vote to October. The Parliament initiated an impeachment procedure on the President that was finalised in late July 2020. The ad hoc inquiry committee of the Parliament concluded that while the President had overstepped his Constitutional competences, the violations did not justify his impeachment. The country's political stalemate saw an opening in January 2020, when the ruling majority and the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition reached an agreement to take forward the electoral reform, by establishing a Political Council, platform to complete technical and political talks and to implement the outstanding recommendations of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights at the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE/ODIHR), ensuring transparent financing of political parties and electoral campaigns. On 5 June 2020, the Political Council reached a breakthrough agreement to gradually introduce a depoliticised electoral administration, in line with OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. The parties also agreed to introduce electronic identification of all the voters (where technically viable), to restructure the Central Election Commission, and for the Electoral College to be comprised of vetted judges. The amendments to the electoral code were adopted by the Parliament on 23 July 2020, in accordance with the 5 June 2020 agreement thus meeting the condition for first IGC. In addition, the Parliament adopted on 30 July some amendments to the Constitution relating to the electoral system. These amendments that are unrelated to the implementation of the OSCE/ODHIR recommendations required further amendments to the electoral code which were discussed among parties in the Political Council, but without reaching a compromise before the Parliament voted on them on 5 October. Despite the positive outcome of the agreement reached on 5 June 2020, the political dialogue in the country needs to be improved, in particular on electoral reform and its implementation. On 9 June 2020, the Government presented to an extended meeting of the National Council for European Integration an action plan to address the conditions and priorities set by the March 2020 Council Conclusions on Albania. On 6 May 2020, the Government nominated the Chief Negotiator and the negotiating team. Albania is moderately prepared in the reform of its public administration. Efforts continued in several related areas, resulting in some progress in enforcing the guidelines on regulatory impact assessments across line ministries, in developing the legislative package related to policy planning, in increasing the number of e-services and improving transparency in data collection and human resources management between central and local level. These tangible achievements need further consolidation. Particularly the government needs to step up efforts towards more evidence-based policy making, by building administrative capacity in line ministries on policy planning and monitoring, data collection as well as usage of regulatory impact assessments to inform better policies. Albania's judicial system has some level of preparation / is moderately prepared. The implementation of a comprehensive and thorough justice reform has continued consistently, resulting in good progress overall. The new institutions for the self-governance of the judiciary have been performing their duties, including managing the processes to fill the vacancies at the High Court and the Constitutional Court. The High Judicial Council finalised the selection of three non-magistrate candidates for the High Court, appointed on 11 March 2019, thus allowing one of the chambers of the Court to function and meeting the related condition for the first IGC. The selection process for the fourth non-magistrate member is close to finalisation. The other magistrate candidates are in the process of being promoted from within the court system. Albania is making progress to reconstitute the Constitutional Court and has appointed three new members. This provides the basis for the Constitutional Court to regain functionality – a condition for the first IGC close to being met – and increase public trust. In December 2019, the Court had one judge in office out of nine as a result of the vetting. The Court now has four members. There was a dispute about the appointment procedure of one of the latest judges nominated. The Venice Commission has issued an opinion on the matter, providing the necessary guidance to the Albanian authorities to complete the outstanding appointments to the Constitutional Court. With the current four members, the Court has the minimum quorum to adjudicate on the admissibility of cases. The selection process for three vacant posts is ongoing. The process has been affected slightly by the COVID-19 crisis, but is expected to be finalised as a priority. Completion of appointments at the Constitutional Court will proceed once the High Court reaches the required quorum of three fifths of members in office, as the latter is the third appointing authority alongside the Assembly and the President of the Republic. The new General Prosecutor has been appointed, for the first time based on the procedures established in the latest justice reform. The establishment of the Special Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Structure (SPAK) was finalised in 2019 with the appointment of the Chief Special Prosecutor in December. With thirteen out of fifteen Special Prosecutors appointed, the Special Prosecution Office (SPO) is fully operational. On 30 July 2020 the Director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was also appointed by the High Prosecutorial Council and started performing his functions. The above developments fulfil the condition for the first IGC. The temporary re‑evaluation of all judges and prosecutors (vetting process) has advanced steadily, continuing to produce tangible results, hence meeting the condition for the first IGC. Under the aegis of the European Commission, the International Monitoring Operation has continued to oversee the process. More than 286 dossiers have been processed thus far, resulting in 62% dismissals, mostly for issues related to unjustified assets or resignations. During the COVID-19 lockdown period, the vetting institutions have continued to perform a number of important investigative activities in remote modality. The vetting institutions have resumed public hearings in June 2020. Albania has some level of preparation in the fight against corruption. Good progress was made in the reporting period. Albanian authorities strengthened operational, coordination and monitoring capacities in the fight against corruption, thus meeting the condition for the first IGC. Albania has continued its efforts towards the establishment of a solid track record on investigating, prosecuting and trying corruption cases. Although the vetting of the members of the judiciary is an administrative process, it is relevant to assess the concrete results by Albania to fight corruption. These have included the dismissal from office of a number of high-ranking magistrates, including at Constitutional Court and High Court level. In 2019, there were two final convictions for passive corruption of judges, prosecutors and other officials of the judiciary. In 2019, there were 262 first-instance convictions involving lower or middle-ranking officials in addition to 294 first-instance convictions in 2018. In 2019, there were 246 final convictions at appeal level involving lower or middle-ranking officials in addition to 289 final convictions in 2018. Further efforts towards establishing a solid track record in the fight against corruption have been made, although it remains a long-term objective that continues to require further structured and consistent efforts. While the number of ongoing investigations remains high, to date, final convictions in cases involving high-level officials remain limited. The newly established specialised anti-corruption bodies (SPAK and the Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Courts) are expected to significantly strengthen the overall capacity to investigate and prosecute corruption. However, overall, corruption remains widespread and is a serious concern. Albania has some level of preparation in the fight against organised crime. Albania has made good progress in strengthening the fight against organised crime, including through cooperation with EU Member States and through the action plan to address the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations, hence meeting the condition for the first IGC. Police operations to dismantle criminal organisations have further intensified and good progress has been made. As in the past years, Albania showed also in 2019 a strong, constant commitment to counter the production and trafficking of cannabis. Albania allows a very intrusive monitoring mechanism by a third country (aerial surveys by the Italian Guardia di Finanza, co-financed by the EU) to be in place. International police cooperation, especially with EU Member States, has also intensified, leading to a number of successful large-scale law enforcement operations in the course of 2019, also continuing in 2020. Cooperation between police and prosecutors further intensified. The SPO was established and provided with a set of important investigative tools. These steps represent some tangible progress in meeting last years’ recommendations on improving the track record. Efforts need to continue, to ensure increased prosecutions and final convictions, as well tackling money laundering and confiscating assets stemming from crimes and other unjustified wealth. On the fight against money laundering, the Albanian Parliament adopted a ‘Moneyval package’ in July 2019 aimed at addressing the recommendations issued by Moneyval in their report on Albania published in December 2018. On 21 February 2020, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) however listed Albania for enhanced monitoring and proposed an action plan focussing on some outstanding recommendations. Albania has made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF to address that action plan and has started implementing its measures. In that respect, a new law on the register of beneficial owners was adopted in Parliament in July 2020. Good progress has been made in the fight against terrorism and preventing/countering violent extremism through the implementation of the objectives set out in the Joint Action Plan on counter-terrorism for the Western Balkans and the bilateral implementing arrangement. Implementation efforts should be sustained notably as regards anti money-laundering. On fundamental rights, Albania complies with international human rights instruments and has developed its legal framework in line with European standards. During the reporting period, Albania made efforts to meet obligations that arise in this context. The overall implementation remains, however, to be strengthened. Regarding the implementation of the Law on Social Housing, nine sub-legal acts were approved following a wide consultation process. The legal framework in the areas of children rights and juvenile justice was also improved by sub-legal acts. Efforts are ongoing to implement a comprehensive land sector reform and to consolidate property rights. The Law on the Finalisation of Transitional Ownership Processes was adopted in March 2020, taking into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission Opinion of October 2019. Efforts need to continue to advance the process for registration and compensation. Albania needs to swiftly adopt the remaining implementing legislation related to the 2017 framework Law on the Protection of National Minorities. Albania is also in the process of preparing the law on the implementation of the forthcoming census. Swift progress is needed on this, and on the advancement of the process of registration of properties. Concerns have been raised by citizens belonging to the Greek minority in relation to property rights in the southern coastal region. As regards the freedom of expression, the country has some level of preparation / is moderately prepared. In December 2019, the Parliament approved a set of amendements to the media law, aiming to regulate online media and some aspects of defamation on which, in June 2020, the Venice Commission issued an opinion. The amendments fall short of international standards and principles of media freedom and raise concerns about increased censorship and self-censorship, and about possible setbacks on freedom of expression in the country. Representatives from the ruling majority publicly committed to follow up on the guidance of the Venice Commission opinion. The draft media law is currently being revised in light of the opinion of the Venice Commission. With regard to migration, some progress was made in improving the institutional capacity on border management and asylum. Reception capacity to deal with mixed migration flows was further enhanced and remained sufficient to accommodate the increased number of arrivals. Albania is the first of the Western Balkan countries where the European Border and Coast Guard Status Agreement with the EU has entered into force (May 2019). The Frontex joint operation, deploying teams together with Albanian border guards at the Greek-Albanian border, has proved successful in strengthening border controls, enhancing security at the EU’s external borders and combating migrant smuggling. The number of unfounded asylum applications lodged by Albanian nationals in the EU has decreased but remains high and requires continuous and sustained efforts, including addressing the phenomenon of unaccompanied minors. Albania has maintained its efforts to tackle unfounded asylum applications lodged by Albanian citizens to EU Member States and Schengen-associated countries. In 2019 there were around 2.7% fewer of these unfounded asylum applications than in 2018 and almost 20% fewer than in 2017. The decrease continued in the first two months of 2020 (pre COVID-19), with 35% fewer than in the same period in 2019. In the period January-May 2020, there were 3 305 applications lodged against 10 375 in the same period in 2019, which represents a decrease of around 74% in applications. The ‘recognition rate’ (i.e. the number of successful applications expressed as a percentage of all decisions) was around 6%, 1.6 pps less than in 2018. This issue has required and will continue to require substantial efforts by Albanian authorities. In addition to information campaigns on the rights and obligations of the visa-free regime, thorough border checks, refusal of departure for citizens with insufficient means and actions on addressing the underlying reasons, Albanian authorities have strengthened dialogue and cooperation with the most affected countries. In this regard, three Albanian police liaison officers have been deployed to the EU to expedite repatriation to Albania, and a liaison officer from the EU is located in Tirana to assist on exit checks. As regards the economic criteria, Albania has made some progress and is moderately prepared in developing a functioning market economy. While GDP growth slowed down due to lower hydroelectric power production, other sectors performed well and unemployment continued to decrease to record lows. Exports grew solidly, and the public-debt-to-GDP ratio continued to decline but remained high during the reporting period. Banks continued reducing the number of non‑performing loans and landing to private sector picked up. Steps towards developing the financial market have been taken, but financial intermediation remained low. The implementation of comprehensive justice reform advanced well, but has not yet improved the legal certainty for business. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the structural weaknesses and its economic fall-out erases some of the progress. Albania has made some progress and has some level of preparation in terms of capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. Infrastructure on energy, transport and digital communication, as well as educational outcomes have improved, but significant gaps remain compared to regional and European levels. Albania’s competitiveness is hindered by lack of entrepreneurial and technological know-how, a significant skills gap, weak institutions and low levels of investment and infrastructure quality. Integration into international value chains, and exports remained below potential. Furthermore, consolidation of property rights and a fully functioning cadastre are critical prerequisites for increasing investments and access to finance, as well as to achieve competitiveness of the agricultural and tourism sectors. With regard to good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation, Albania has continued to participate actively in regional cooperation and maintain good neighbourly relations. Albania continued to align its legislation to EU requirements in a number of areas, enhancing its ability to assume the obligations of membership. The country is moderately prepared in many areas, such as financial control, education and culture and statistics, or has some level of preparation, including in the areas of public procurement, social policy and employment and trans-European networks. Albania will need to continue its efforts as regards the overall preparations for adopting and implementing the EU acquis. Adopting a comprehensive Public Internal Financial Control policy and coordinating its implementation with ongoing public administration and public finance management reform remains key towards a functioning system of internal control in public sector. Albania should continue work on the development of the transport and energy networks, and related connectivity reform measures, also with a view to improving connectivity throughout the region. Albania has to finalise the adoption of the secondary legislation for the implementation of the employment reform and strengthen inter-institutional coordination on measures affecting the most vulnerable groups. The administrative capacity and professional standards of bodies charged with the implementation of the EU acquis need to be strengthened and the independence of regulatory bodies safeguarded. Enhancing transparency and accountability, in particular ensuring the effective, efficient and transparent functioning of the public procurement system and public finance management, remains essential. Albania has continued to fully align with all EU Common Foreign and Security Policy positions and declarations.

2.Fundamentals first: political criteria and rule of law chapters 2.1. Functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform 2.1.1 Democracy The political environment continued to be marked by intense polarisation. The opposition decided to boycott the 30 June 2019 local elections. These were held, while the President had issued a decision to postpone the vote to October. The Parliament initiated an impeachment procedure on the President, which was concluded in July 2020. The country's political stalemate saw an opening in January 2020, when the ruling majority and the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition reached an agreement to take forward the electoral reform, by establishing a platform to complete technical and political talks. An agreement was finally reached on 5 June 2020. Amendments to the electoral code were adopted by Parliament on 23 July 2020, in accordance with the 5 June 2020 agreement and implementing the OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. In addition, the Parliament adopted on 30 July some amendments to the Constitution relating to the electoral system. These amendments that are unrelated to the implementation of the OSCE/ODHIR recommendations required further amendments to the electoral code which were discussed among parties in the Political Council, but without reaching a compromise before the Parliament voted on them on 5 October. Despite the positive outcome of the agreement reached on 5 June 2020, the political dialogue in the country needs to be improved, in particular on electoral reform and its implementation. Elections On 30 June 2019, Albania held local elections in a strongly polarised political environment. Following its en bloc relinquishing of parliamentary mandates in February 2019 and months of street protests, the opposition decided to boycott the elections. On 8 June, on the grounds of security threats, the President decreed the cancellation of his previous decree setting the election date and announced 13 October as the new date. The President's decree was ignored by the ruling majority and the election administration bodies. As the extra-parliamentary opposition sought to delegitimise the elections, the international community warned that violence during the electoral process would be considered unacceptable. Mayoral candidates from the ruling Socialist Party (SP) ran unopposed in 31 of the 61 municipalities, of which the SP won 60 (the remaining one was won by an SP-backed smaller party). Following the election, the Parliament initiated an impeachment procedure against the President on the grounds of the unconstitutionality of his decision to cancel the date of the elections. The ad hoc inquiry committee of the Parliament concluded that while the President had overstepped his constitutional competencies, the violation did not provide enough grounds for the President's impeachment. The Parliament endorsed the ad hoc inquiry committee's finding on 27 July 2020. The relevant ad hoc parliamentary committee is still ongoing. In the final report from its election observation mission, the OSCE/ODIHR noted that, although the June elections had been organised without major problems, they had been held with little regard for voters’ interests, as voters did not have a full choice of political alternatives. It further recommended: ®an inclusive dialogue among political parties to carry out electoral reform; ®measures to eliminate the misuse of state resources; ®the de-politicisation of the civil service, including the establishment of independent election commissioners; ®ensuring the independence and impartiality of the Central Election Commission and the judiciary; ®swift and transparent investigation of alleged electoral violations. On 14 January 2020, the ruling majority and representatives of the parliamentary and extra-parliamentary opposition reached a breakthrough agreement to take forward the longstanding electoral reform. The agreement set up a Political Council, a cross-party platform composed of the two co-chairs of the Ad Hoc Committee representing the parliamentary ruling majority and the opposition, and two representatives of the extra-parliamentary opposition, to steer the reform on a consensual basis with the implementation of outstanding OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, ensuring transparent financing of political parties and electoral campaigns. The target date to reach a consensus within this framework was set to 30 June 2020. After lengthy negotiations, on 5 June 2020, the Political Council reached a breakthrough agreement to gradually introduce a depoliticised electoral administration, in line with OSCE/ODIHR recommendations. The parties also agreed to introduce electronic identification of all the voters (where technically viable), to restructure the Central Election Commission, and for the Electoral College to be comprised of vetted judges. The amendments to the electoral code were adopted by the Parliament, in accordance with the 5 June 2020 agreement, on 23 July 2020. In addition, on 30 July, the Parliament adopted some amendments to the Constitution, pertinent to the electoral system. The amendments introduce the possibility to amend the electoral code concerning open candidates lists, a national threshold and a ban on pre-electoral coalitions. The constitutional amendments adopted with cross-party support in Parliament were met with criticism by the extra-parliamentary opposition. These amendments that are unrelated to the implementation of the OSCE/ODHIR recommendations required further amendments to the electoral code which were discussed among parties in the Political Council, but without reaching a compromise before the Parliament voted on them on 5 October. Despite the positive outcome of the agreement reached on 5 June 2020, the political dialogue in the country needs to be improved, in particular on electoral reform and its implementation. Parliament Parliamentary activities were affected by the opposition relinquishing their mandates. However, institutional continuity was ensured through gradual replacement of vacant parliamentary seats, resulting in a new parliamentary opposition working with the ruling majority on a number of files. Although the situation had an impact on the Parliament's oversight functions, the Parliament managed to adopt new Rules of Procedure and increase its transparency. Involvement of the Assembly in the EU integration process remains to be strengthened. The control of political party financing needs to be improved. Following the opposition’s en bloc relinquishing of mandates in February 2019, the reporting period was marked by the gradual filling of the vacant parliamentary seats. The Central Election Commission issued mandates to 40 new Members of Parliament (MPs) from candidates remaining on the opposition parties’ proportional lists, bringing the total number of the MPs to 122 out of 140. Three new parliamentary opposition groups emerged from this process. The functioning of Parliament has therefore been ensured. The Parliament’s adoption of new rules of procedure in July 2019 was a positive development enhancing its functionality, transparency and accountability. Amendments to the Rules of Procedures have been adopted in April 2020, in order to enable the Parliament to operate remotely and to continue its activities in the course of the COVID-19 crisis. Parliament also made efforts to comply with the code of ethics, in particular by making entries in the conflicts of interest register. In July 2019, and ad hoc inquiry on the legality of the President’s actions was established. The committee also examined the procedures followed by the President to appoint one Member of the Constitutional Court, taking into account the Venice Commission's opinion on the issue of appointments to the Constitutional Court. The Venice Commission also issued an opinion in October 2019 on the scope of the power of the President to set the dates of elections. The Parliament adopted more acts than in the previous reporting period. Of the 91 laws approved, more than half were adopted by consensus between the ruling majority and the new parliamentary opposition. The reporting period was marked by the highest ever number of normative acts adopted, the majority of which related to the emergency situation following the earthquake and more recently due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Urgent legislative procedures were used in most cases, as a result of the pandemic situation. The Parliament reviewed 22 Presidential decrees, of which it rejected 5. In March 2020, the President questioned the constitutionality of amendments to the Law of Constitutional Court, related to appointments and swearing in procedure, and returned such legislative measure to the Parliament.

As regards its role in EU integration, in October Parliament adopted a Resolution supporting the launch of accession negotiations and expressing its commitment to implementing the European Commission’s recommendations and European Council conclusions. Parliament needs to improve its capacity to monitor the compliance of new legislation with the EU acquis and ensure its implementation. Of 91 laws that were adopted, 15 were aimed at partial alignment with the EU acquis. The EU Integration Committee held only three hearings in the reporting period. The National Council for European Integration still has to consolidate its role and guarantee its broader involvement in EU integration issues. With regard to EU-driven reforms, Parliament adopted the final laws making up the justice reform package and enacted the Constitutional Court’s decisions on the Law on the governing bodies in the justice system and the Law on the status of judges and prosecutors. With regard to Parliament’s oversight function, the new MPs made use of the instruments at the disposal of the opposition, tabling eleven ‘interpellations’ and one motion for debate. MPs addressed 96 requests for information to executive and constitutional institutions. Parliament appointed two new members of the Constitutional Court, the Prosecutor General and the chair of the Energy Regulatory Authority. It failed to reach consensus on some vacancies on the steering board of the public broadcaster. It removed a member of the Bank of Albania’s Supervisory Council. During the reporting period, the Parliament appointed the new chair of the Financial Supervisory Authority. The new chair of the State Audit Institution was voted by the Parliament in June 2020. On transparency and accountability, Parliament made some positive steps in addressing, in a timely fashion, requests based on the right to information. However, parliamentary documentation, such as minutes of plenary sessions and committee meetings, should be subject to greater transparency. Parliament continued to publish regular online data on MPs’ financial benefits. Research staff and support for MPs and parliamentary groups need to be strengthened. The administration’s performance is still poor when it comes to implementing recommendations from the Ombudsman, the Commissioner for Protection against Discrimination and other independent institutions. Governance The government remained committed to the EU integration process and pursued good efforts to move essential reforms forward. The 26 November 2019 earthquake had a strong impact on the overall objectives of the executive’s action. The restructuring of ministries and agencies performed in 2017 has created some administrative gaps that persist to date. Coordination within the administration needs to be improved, especially regarding their involvement in EU integration processes. The territorial administrative reform continues to be implemented successfully and should be further consolidated as part of the wider decentralisation agenda. This is particularly necessary to guarantee local fiscal autonomy and empower municipalities to provide standard quality public services. Albania maintained its primary ambition opening accession talks by pursuing EU-driven reforms in key sectors such as justice and home affairs. However, extreme political polarisation has affected the administration’s performances. This has been particularly visible at local level, where the handover of municipalities to the ruling majority, following local elections without participation by the opposition, created some disruption. In the course of the COVID-19 crisis, all political actors demonstrated a certain degree of unity in supporting government initiatives to counter the emergency. In April 2019, the government approved the 2019-2021 national plan for European integration. In July, it adopted a decision establishing the arrangements for cooperation with local government in the EU integration process. Public administrations suffer from a general lack of capacity and resources, which has an impact on their capacity to plan, implement and monitor public policies. The government should allocate more human and financial resources to EU accession work and put more emphasis on coherent and targeted domestic communication on EU matters. In November 2019, Albania was struck by an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude, which left 51 casualties, around 1,000 people injured and over 10,000 without a home. A Minister for Reconstruction was appointed in December to oversee the reconstruction process. As of March 2020, the government reacted swiftly to the COVID-19 pandemic and took stringent measures thus managing the crisis with limited human and financial loss. It issued a series of decrees subsequently endorsed by the Parliament. The State of Emergency for Natural Disaster was extended until June 2020. The authorities notified a derogation from the obligations under certain articles of the Convention for the Protection of Human and Fundamental Freedoms. On 9 June 2020, the Government presented to an extended meeting of the National Council for European Integration an-action plan to address the conditions and priorities set by the March 2020 Council Conclusions on Albania. On 6 May 2020, the Government nominated the Chief Negotiator and the negotiating team. Following the June 2019 mayoral elections, two mayors were dismissed based on the decriminalisation law. The inability of the Constitutional Court to issue rulings due to lack of quorum had an impact on legal certainty during the reporting period and exacerbated a number of constitutional disagreements between the government and the President of the Republic. Albania made progress in reconstituting the Constitutional Court. (see section 2.2.1 Chapter 23: Judiciary and fundamental rights). The territorial administrative reform needs to be further consolidated as part of the wider decentralisation agenda. The Ministry of Interior revised the national cross-cutting decentralisation and local governance action plan, extended to 2022. Full political support is needed to bring the decentralisation reform forward. The new legislation affecting local government is not fully harmonised and implemented. While municipalities have been given greater policymaking powers, local government units (LGUs) still lack sufficient financial resources and administrative capacity to exercise them effectively. LGUs’ fiscal autonomy is also at risk, as most of their budget is dependent on national transfers. As a result, although the municipalities are getting better at collecting own revenues, the overall ability of local institutions to deliver quality public services remains limited. Implementation of the Civil Service Law (CSL) remains incomplete at local level. Municipalities have made further progress on public participation in local decision‑making, especially in the area of participatory budgeting. However, the institutional framework for effective and inclusive participation needs further strengthening. Local‑level implementation of the Law on public consultation remains unsatisfactory. An increasing number of municipalities disclose public information, with all 61 having appointed a local coordinator for the right to information. The Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services (ADISA) expanded its presence, with more one‑stop shops on the ground. A parallel roll‑out of ‘front desks’ delivering administrative services at local level now covers 50 of the 61 municipalities. National minimum standards for services have still to be established. On territorial planning, general local plans for the remaining 16 municipalities are being drafted. Coordination of the national sectoral strategies with local plans is weak. On transparency, all municipalities publish regularly decisions of their municipal councils online. Five municipalities have piloted and adopted integrity plans with measures to combat corruption at local level. The Consultative Council operated as the main forum for institutional dialogue and coordination between central and local governments. While policy and legal discussions would benefit from an earlier involvement of the local level, LGUs and their associations rarely manage to come to the table with consolidated positions. A 'matrix of competences', dividing responsibilities between levels of governance and recommending measures when gaps or overlaps are identified, was presented in April 2019. In July 2019, these recommendations became the subject of a Prime Minister's order requesting line Ministries to take the related actions; implementation is on-going. The network of EU local coordinators has strengthened the LGUs’ involvement in the EU accession process, raising awareness of EU policies, the EU acquis, funds and programmes. The implementation of the Decision of the Council of Ministers from July 2018 institutionalising and upgrading the so-called municipal "EU desks" into "EU Units" needs to be completed. A second report on the performance of municipalities on EU matters was launched in January 2020, with the Ministry of Interior committing to make this exercise a regular annual process under its own lead. Civil society No progress has been made on the implementation of the roadmap on an enabling environment for civil society. The Law on the National Council for Civil Society needs to be amended to reflect changes in ministerial portfolios and provide for appropriate representation in the Council. Substantial efforts are needed to ensure meaningful and systematic consultations with civil society as part of an inclusive policy dialogue for reforms. These efforts should involve comprehensive feedback and follow up mechanisms. The financial sustainability of civil society organisations remains a challenge due to unfavourable fiscal and legal frameworks. An empowered civil society is a crucial component of any democratic system and should be recognised and treated as such by state institutions.

During the post-earthquake emergency in November 2019 and again in the course of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Albanian civil society provided rapid first response, reaching out to most vulnerable and remote citizens, supporting and complementing state interventions. Albania’s legal and regulatory framework on the right of freedom of association is generally in line with international standards. However, the registration process continues to be problematic, due to the high costs of registration, lengthy procedures and lack of specialised judges. The legal framework on freedom of peaceful assembly needs improvement to clarify when only ‘notification’ is required, as opposed to ‘permission’. The law should also address the right to spontaneous assembly and counter‑assembly, and make notification procedures easier to complete and more accessible. A revised roadmap on an enabling environment for civil society was approved in July 2019, but its implementation depends to a large extent on donor funding. The 2014 Law on public consultation, laying down the procedural norms for transparency and public participation in decision-making, is generally in line with European standards. However, its scope should be extended to government decisions. It requires reporting on how inputs from civil society organisations (CSOs) are taken into consideration, but there is little evidence of the use and effectiveness of the feedback mechanisms. No progress was made on public consultation in the adoption of sub-legal acts and the implementation of the Laws on volunteerism and social enterprises. The National Council for Civil Society met only once in 2019 and the meeting was inconclusive, with no operational follow-up. The Law on the National Council has still not been amended to reflect changes in ministerial portfolios and representation in the Council, and to improve its functioning. The Council should engage more with other civil society actors representing CSOs’ opinions in the policymaking processes. The Agency for the Support of Civil Society remains the main public body providing financial support for civil society. However, public funding remains insufficient to sustain CSOs’ activity, in particular in social services. Some changes were made to the tax arrangements applying to CSOs, e.g. a new instruction aims to improve the VAT reimbursement situation for CSO beneficiaries of the Instrument for Pre‑Accession and other donor grants. Overall, the lack of favourable tax arrangements represents a significant financial burden for CSOs and the current legal environment does not support alternative funding sources. Tax incentives for corporate donations do not promote donations to CSOs and there are no tax incentives for individual donations. 2.1.2. Public administration reform Albania is moderately prepared with the reform of its public administration. Some progress was made in enforcing the guidelines on RIAs across line ministries, in developing the legislative package related to policy planning, in increasing the number of e-services and improving transparency in data collection and human resources management between central and local level. Implementation of the public administration reform and public financial management reform strategies has continued by extending the action plans until 2022. Some progress was made on the Commission’s 2019 recommendations, which remain largely valid. In the coming year, Albania should in particular: ®continue building capacity in line ministries to effectively implement regulatory and budgetary impact assessments for not only legislative but all policy proposals; ®upgrade further the regulatory framework on policy planning and monitoring, and roll out the integrated policy-making system; ®advance preparations to adopt a salary policy for civil servants and connect the human-resource-management information system with the treasury to provide an automated payroll. Policy development and coordination The legal basis and the institutional set-up are partially in place to ensure a consistent policy‑making system. Some progress was made in preparing the rollout of the Integrated Planning Information System by setting the IT foundations. The system should help to automate strategic policy planning and budgeting, once data collection and processing is ensured. In relation to this process, a Council of Ministers decision was adopted to guide ministries in data collection. Training modules were launched to support the administration in the usage of this IT system. The General Secretariat of the Prime Minister’s Office has issued further guidance to improve the quality of the Annual Legislative Plan and further harmonisation with the National Plan for European Integration (NPEI). To improve coherence of the strategic planning and monitoring system, the authorities should upgrade the existing regulatory framework on medium-term policy planning, improve coherence between policy planning and the related budgeting, establish a dedicated central quality control function, and improve the effective internal control of the policy implementation phase. The government needs to step up efforts to upgrade administrative capacity in both line ministries and the Prime Minister’s Office on data collection, as well as on defining better policy planning and monitoring functions. The Prime Minister’s Office needs to improve coordination with other centres of government institutions in policy processes, and promote managerial accountability effectively (see Chapter 32). In June 2020, a Prime minister’s order was adopted to establish a technical level working Group to prepare a revised rulebook. The rulebook aims to improve the overall responsibilities of the Prime Minister’s Office to increase its steering role and quality control of policy making processes. The framework and guidelines for the NPEI are in place. Some progress was made in developing a new planning methodology for the NPEI 2020-2022. An inter-institutional co-ordination structure for more effective implementation of the NPEI was established since 2018 at both political and technical level. Overall, NPEI implementation rate has improved up to 60%. A stronger coordination between the Prime Minister’s Office and MEFA would further support line ministries in the process of planning and implementation of the NPEI. The government needs to step up efforts in rendering the NPEI a more credible planning document for EU Integration and assign the right responsibilities at the Prime Minister’s Office level to guide the process. On inclusive and evidence-based policy and legislative development, the administration needs to strengthen its capacity, particularly to harmonise the legislation with the EU acquis. Administrative data collection and its systematic use for policy and law-making should be improved across the administration. The adoption of the guidelines on regulatory impact assessment (RIA) has helped line ministries to make more systematic impact assessments for legislative measures. Some progress has been made in establishing quality criteria for RIAs and building capacity at the Prime Minister’s Office level to guide the process. The government needs to step up efforts in the institutionalisation of RIAs for all policy proposals and the consolidation of administrative capacities in line ministries. Public consultations are required for policy and legislative development. Some progress has been achieved to train line ministries to better use public consultations, although a methodology on public consultations has not been adopted. The electronic web-portal for public consultations is operational, but its use by the public remains limited. The quality control function on public consultation remains weak and focuses mostly on the process rather than on content. Public scrutiny of government work remains limited. The role of parliamentary oversight on government performance needs to be increased. Most government reports on various policies continue to present implemented activities rather than explain the actual results of government policies. Coordination structures for monitoring policy implementation need to become operational through IPMGs. Communication to the citizen of the ongoing reforms needs to be enhanced. Public financial management The Ministry of Finance and Economy, which leads the public financial management reform, underwent further restructuring in 2019. There are still several posts unfilled in the Ministry at present. The mid-term review of the PFM strategy was completed in March 2019. Following consultations from July to September 2019, the revised and extended PFM strategy for 2019-2022 was approved in December 2019. The strategy includes a new specific objective on domestic revenue mobilisation and dedicated chapters on the governance of the reform process and the rolling-out of the financial IT system as it relates to the objectives. Increased attention is put on the repayment and prevention of arrears, the reduction of the public debt, to extending fiscal risks management to include SOEs, arrears and those risks embedded in Private Public Partnerships and concessions contracts. rogress was achieved with the preparation of the 2019 and 2020 budgets and the execution of the 2018 and 2019 budget in line with the revised Organic Budget Law. A budget revision in March 2020 reflected COVID-19 expenditure measures. However, revenue and growth figures still need to be revised. The law on concessions and public-private-partnerships (PPPs) was amended, including to reduce scope for unsolicited offers and to strengthen the role of the Ministry of Finance and Economy in the assessment and approval of PPP contracts and addenda. Data collection for and preparation of a medium term revenue strategy are ongoing, in view of changed assumptions due to COVID-19. (See also Chapters 5, 16, 29 and 32).

Budget transparency remains satisfactory with the publication of all key budget documents. The annual budget, the citizens’ budget, and the list of public investments (including PPPs under the medium-term budget programme) have been published. However, the timeliness of budget execution reports, in particular reporting on arrears, need to be improved. Also, information on state assets contained in this report does not allow for a full comparison with the original budget. Public participation in the budget process needs to be further strengthened. Public service and human resources management Due to a fragmented legislative framework, there are not yet uniform standards on merit-based recruitment, promotion and dismissal across the whole public administration. The Civil Service Law (CSL) provides a solid basis for merit-based recruitment and promotion. Mostly all of the planned vacancies in 2019, amounting to 95%, were filled, compared to 92% in 2018. Overall transparency and fairness of recruitment at the central level has improved thanks to introduction of a full digitalised recruitment and selection process for the civil service, further harmonisation of job descriptions, improved quality of examinations and organisation of recruitments. More needs to be done in these areas. Better compliance with the legal provisions regulating merit-based recruitment for senior ranks needs to be ensured. An ad-hoc selection procedure was used for the integration of highly qualified young graduates in the public administration. The initial Council of Minsters Decision was brought into line with the principle of merit-based recruitment enshrined in the CSL. Proper implementation of the CSL requires more efforts at the local level. There were 896 dismissals of civil servants in 2019, a substantial increase compared to the 568 dismissals in 2018. This was mainly due to restructuring of some institutions and resulting redefinition of their personnel as not part of the civil service. The backlog of court decisions confirming unlawful dismissal of civil servants was reduced. The human resources management information system (HRMIS) is not fully functional and remains to be extended to the local level. It now has more data on public-service organisations and employees, but does not cover the whole civil service yet. The Commissioner for Oversight of the Civil Service needs more staff and financial resources to better fulfil its oversight responsibilities. The government is stepping up efforts to establish a coordination mechanism on human resource management between central and local level, in particular through the administrata.al porta, whichincreases transparency in data collection. The remuneration system is based on a job classification system, that requires further reform. The fairness and coherence of the system are impaired by the ongoing lack of a salary policy that would establish clear criteria for pay supplements and salary increases is still not adopted. The awarding of salary supplements is not consistent across institutions. Inter-operability of HRMIS and payroll systems needs to be ensured for both automating payroll and improving the quality of data in the public service. The Albanian School of Public Administration training programmes contribute to the professional development of civil servants. However, an integrated training management cycle remains to be established. The School’s budget remained at mantained the same level as in 2018.The number of training courses has increased. Although local-level civil servants received more training, the professional administrative capacity at this level needs to be strengthened. A law is in place to prevent corruption and to ensure the integrity of public officials and civil servants, but institutional capacity for verifying assets and assessing conflict-of-interest declarations should be reinforced. Accountability of the administration The legal framework for the organisation of the central administration establishes accountability lines between institutions. The restructuring of the central government in 2017 has created the need to better optimise the workflow and decision making processes. Further restructuring of subordinated agencies have led to the transfer of personnel from the civil service into employment regulated by the labour code. Such human resource decisions are not consistent with institutional development plans and create different professional human resource management standards. Administrative bodies subordinated to ministries, parliament and prime minister have been created in the last years without strategic planning. Policy making institutions do not always monitor policy implementation of the subordinated agencies. A lack of strategic plans and a monitoring framework with performance indicators, hinders the functioning of internal control process. Managerial accountability within institutions is still focused on processes rather than the achievement of results, and not much decision‑making is delegated from top to middle management. However, an instruction, defining the process of delegation of tasks within government units was issued by the Ministry of Finance and Economy (See Chapter 32). Citizens’ right to good administration is limited. Public institutions do not systematically implement the recommendations of oversight bodies. The number of Ombudsman recommendations that are implemented remains low. The Law on the Right to Information regulates citizens’ right to access public information. An increasing number of public authorities have adopted transparency programmes. The Commissioner for the Right to Information and the Protection of Personal Data should be given greater powers of oversight. There is a central registry for information requests, but its coverage should be expanded. A legislative framework is in place for the right to administrative justice. The capacity of the administrative court system to deal with the backlog of cases remains weak. There is a backlog at appeal-court level since Albania has only one administrative court of appeal. The capacity of appeal boards to process cases remains weak. Legislation is in place for protecting the right of citizens to seek compensation, but court cases remain rare due to the public’s limited awareness of their rights. A lack of data collection makes it impossible to assess the effectiveness of the liability regime. Service delivery to citizens and businesses Institutions and laws on public-service delivery are in place to ensure user-oriented administration. The Agency for the Delivery of Integrated Services continued to set up one-stop-shops across the country. E-services were developed further and the level of automation increased. Public information on public services has been made more accessible to citizens. However, there is no overall plan for the extension of services. The Code of Administrative Procedures provides the legislative framework for simplifying administrative procedures. However, legal uncertainty for citizens and businesses persists, as there have been delays in adopting the implementing legislation and amending sectoral legislation. Greater coordination and training are needed to upgrade the administration’s capacities to harmonise and effectively implement the legislation. Strategic framework for public administration reform Throughout 2019, the Government continued to monitor implementation of the 2015-2020 public administration reform strategy (PAR) and the 2014-2020 public financial management (PFM) reform strategy. Despite the COVID-19 crisis, a modest implementation record of the public administration reform strategy has been maintained and more needs to be done to achieve results-oriented monitoring. A new action plan on PAR and PFM covering the period 2018-22 was approved. The passport of indicators of the PAR strategy should be accordingly updated. Political responsibility for PAR is assigned to the Deputy Prime Minister and technical support continues to be provided by the Department of Public Administration and the Department on Good Governance. However, the link between technical and political support for PAR needs to be strengthened. Financial sustainability needs to be improved, as the overall reform of public administration is still dependent on external donor funding. 2.2.1. Chapter 23: Judiciary and fundamental rights The EU’s founding values include the rule of law and respect for human rights. An n effective (independent, quality and efficient) judicial system and an effective fight against corruption are of paramount importance, as is respect for fundamental rights in law and in practice. Albania has some level of preparation/is moderately prepared in implementing the EU acquis and European standards in this area. Good progress was made, in particular through continued implementation of the comprehensive justice reform. This included the establishment of the Special Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Structure (SPAK), composed of a Special Prosecution Office (SPO) and the National Bureau of Investigations (NBI). The Director of the NBI has been appointed and started performing his functions. The Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Courts have also been established. Furthermore, a new General Prosecutor and the new High Justice Inspector were appointed. The vetting process continued to deliver tangible results. The legislative framework has been further strengthened to fight corruption more effectively. Operational efforts against corruption are bringing results. Due judicial follow up must be ensured to increase the number of final convictions in high-level cases. On human rights, new legislation package on anti-defamation raised concerns as to its potential negative impact on freedom of expression. The Albanian authorities have committed to follow upon the guidance of the Venice Commission on this matter. On property rights, efforts should continue to bring tangible results on registration and compensation. As regards the protection of national minorities, Albania needs to swiftly adopt the remaining implementing legislation related to the 2017 Framework Law. Functioning of the judiciary

Albania has some level of preparation/is moderately prepared on the functioning of the judiciary. Good progress was made, significantly advancing the conditions set by the Council Conclusions of 25 of March 2019, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The vetting process has continued to render concrete and tangible results, under the thorough supervision of the International Monitoring Operation (IMO). To date, more than 62% of the vetting dossiers processed have resulted in dismissals or resignations. An important milestone was reached on 11 March with the appointment of three new members to the High Court, which has regained its quorum to adjudicate on cases. Albania is making progress to reconstitute the Constitutional Court and has appointed three new members. This has set the basis for the Constitutional Court to regain functionality and increase public trust. Appointments to the Constitutional Court are ongoing. With four out of nine members in office, the Constitutional Court regained the quorum to review the admissibility of cases. The General Prosecutor has been appointed by the Parliament. The new specialised bodies in the area of anti-corruption and organised crime (SPAK) have been established. The new bodies for the self-governance of the judiciary have been operating effectively. The 2018 recommendation on the need to make more effective use of an improved case management system remains outstanding. In the coming year, Albania should in particular: ®further advance the process of re-evaluating judges and prosecutors; ®ensure the full functioning of the Constitutional Court and the High Court; ®adopt effective measures to fill the priority judicial vacancies and continue the progress in the recruitment of new magistrates; ®continue efforts to strengthen the effective use of an improved case management system, with sound statistical capacity based on CEPEJ methodology, which ensures the random allocation of cases. The comprehensive transitional re-evaluation of all judges and prosecutors (vetting) advanced steadily and delivered tangible results. The International Monitoring Operation (IMO), deployed under the aegis of the European Commission, continued to exercise independent oversight. Until the end of the reporting period, of the total 805 magistrates that have to undergo vetting, the vetting institutions have completed 286 vetting cases at first instance, including all priority dossiers. Of the 286 decisions, over 186 vetting decisions are final (i.e. after appeal). Overall, 62% of the vetting dossiers processed so far have resulted in dismissals or resignations by the assessees. The breakdown of first instance decisions is as follows: ®117 dismissals, mostly for issues relating to unjustified assets; ®105 confirmations in office; ®62 decisions on termination of the vetting proceedings; ®2 decisions to suspend the assessees, with an obligation to attend training. The first‑instance vetting body (IQC) has formally initiated investigations regarding over 603 assessees. The IMO has consistently performed its oversight role in the vetting process and issued opinions on first-instance assessments, including 12 recommendations for appeal and two dissenting opinions. The vetting institutions followed all recommendations for appeal. Due to the restrictions linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, during the lockdown period, all vetting public hearings have been temporarily suspended. However, the vetting institutions and the IMO managed to pursue investigations on dossiers based on agreed contingency measures. The vetting institutions resumed hearings on 3 June 2020. The vetting institutions are expected to continue to systematically transmit to prosecution services all dossiers in which the suspicion of commission of a crime has emerged. Due investigation and judicial follow up, where necessary, shall be guaranteed. To date, 23 subjects have been submitted to prosecution, including 10 former high-level judges of the High Court and Constitutional Court, dismissed following vetting procedures. Out of 23 cases, 21 investigations are still ongoing, one investigation was dismissed, one resulted in a conviction. 10 additional subjects have been referred by SPO to the competent district prosecutors’ offices for evaluation. Asset investigations are underway in the ongoing cases. Strategic documents The cross-sectoral 2017-2020 justice strategy and action plan were updated in 2019. The Ministry of Justice has established the necessary inter-institutional coordination structures to support the implementation of the reform. The estimated budget for the implementation of the strategy is EUR 98 million, 35% of which is provided by international donors. Monitoring, evaluation and reporting mechanisms are weak. The independent commission for the coordination, monitoring, and enforcement of the Law on the Governance of the Judiciary has closed its mandate with the creation of the High Justice Inspector. It has issued 17 reports and held a final parliamentary hearings in February 2020. New specialised bodies New judicial governance bodies

The new institutions for the self-governance of the judiciary, as established in 2018, include the new High Judicial Council (HJC), High Prosecutorial Council (HPC) and the Justice Appointment Council (JAC). These are fully functional and operated effectively throughout the reporting period. The new High Justice Inspector (HJI) has also been appointed. Independence and impartiality The comprehensive justice reform has significantly improved the independence and impartiality of magistrates. Appointments of judges and prosecutors are exclusively managed by the new self-governing institutions of the judiciary, subject to completion of compulsory initial training at the School of Magistrates, which is a significant additional guarantee of magistrates’ independence. The recruitment process for the School of Magistrates has improved. The HJC and HPC check candidates’ merits and assets prior to their admission. The reform has in addition strengthened the guarantees of independence as regards career advancement and promotions, which are managed by the new self-governance institutions with reinforced independence safeguards in place. Judges and prosecutors cannot be transferred without their consent, except in the event of disciplinary measures, structurally justified changes or temporary need. Appeal procedures are available against disciplinary measures concerning the magistrates. Judges can be dismissed only for serious misconduct or if sentenced for a criminal offence. They can also lodge appeals against dismissal decisions at the Constitutional Court. The reform has given prosecutors greater autonomy and has reduced the centralisation of the system around the Prosecutor General. Attempted interference with the judiciary, including by authorities within the judiciary, and internal and external pressure on prosecutors remain an issue. Many shortcomings have become apparent in the courts’ electronic case‑management system. The latter should be significantly strengthened and effectively used, notably to ensure random allocation of cases. Cases are allocated to prosecutors randomly, but prosecution offices often fail to make full use of the system to produce reliable data. The laws provide for administrative and criminal sanctions in cases of undue influence over a court case or when magistrates consider their independence to be jeopardised, falling under the jurisdiction of the SPO. Accountability The HJC and the HPC are responsible for approving and monitoring the ethics rules and code of conduct. The HJC has improved evaluation forms and adapted them to the new legal standards. However, regular evaluation of judges’ performance remains to be implemented. The Code of Ethics for judges and prosecutors is now regulated by law. Despite the overall strengthening of independence across the sector through the comprehensive justice reform, the Minister of Justice still retains the right to submit complaints asking the HJI to investigate on magistrates. This prerogative of the Minister has continued to be used during the reporting period. The legal definitions for the list of misconduct for judges and prosecutors, as a basis for disciplinary proceedings, have been now regulated by law. Previous definitions were repealed by the Constitutional Court decision on the Law on the status of judges and prosecutors. Under the latest reform, disciplinary proceedings have to be conducted by the HJI. The HJI has inherited a considerable backlog of complaints, of approximatively above 300 cases. The HJI has completed the verification of 50 other cases and started investigations in 35 cases. The capacity of HJI should be significantly reinforced to effectively verify and process the high backlog of complaints. The HJC has adopted rules and procedures for the regular evaluation of judges. Similar regulations have been adopted by the HPC. The HJC continues to suffer from an evaluation backlog inherited from the High Council of Justice, with the latest evaluation dating back to 2012. The HJC and HPC should advance further the implementation of the new methodology for evaluation of judges and prosecutors, also in view of reducing the accumulated evaluation backlog. The Plenary sessions of the councils have been open to the public and recorded. The minutes are publically available, thus increasing their accountability and transparency. This practice needs to be continued and further consolidated. Professionalism and competence The system for recruiting, selecting, appointing, transferring and dismissing judges and prosecutors has improved. Constitutional and legal changes have reduced political influence during the appointment process, ensuring a merit-based career system exclusively managed by the self-governing institutions of the judiciary. The Justice Appointment Council adopted two detailed regulations for the evaluation and ranking of the candidates for the Constitutional Court and HJI. The HPC adopted similar regulations for the appointment of the Prosecutor General. The quality of first year initial training programme of the School of Magistrates was considerably improved. Continuous training requires further improvements, notably regarding the quality of curriculum and trainers. During the academic year 2018-2019, 134 judges and 138 prosecutors fully attended the continuous training programme, which represents the maximum number registered yet. The School of Magistrates is an observer of the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN). It should benefit more proactively of the EJTNs activities and from the expertise within the network. An important milestone was reached on 11 March 2020 with the appointment of three new non-magistrate members to the High Court. This membership allows the Court to function. The nomination of the candidate for the remaining non-magistrate position is pending final evaluation by the HJC. The other magistrate candidates are in the process of being promoted from within the court system. The HJC is currently reviewing the first applications for the appointment of 11 magistrate candidates and is expected to open subsequent calls for the remaining vacancies in a gradual manner. In June 2020, the High Judicial Council has terminated the mandate of the fourth non-magistrate member, whose mandate had expired. In July 2019, the HJC also took the decision to temporarily appoint judges to the High Court for the adjudication of the most urgent cases related to the extradition of persons, in line with obligations deriving from international conventions. Albania made progress to reconstitute the Constitutional Court. Due to the outcome of the vetting and early retirements, up until December 2019, there was only one sitting judge. Four new members were appointed at the end of last year. Although one did not eventually pass the vetting process, with four members in office, the Constitutional Court regained basic functionality and the quorum to review admissibility of cases. There has been a dispute about one of the judges nominated by the President of the Republic, due to differing interpretations of the appointment procedure. The Venice Commission has issued an opinion on the matter, providing the necessary guidance to the Albanian authorities to complete the outstanding appointments to the Constitutional Court. The Justice Appointment Council is managing the assessment of candidates for three vacant posts. The process has been slightly affected by the COVID-19 crisis, but is expected to be finalised as a priority. Completion of appointments at the Constitutional Court will proceed once the High Court reaches the required quorum of three fifths of members in office, as the latter is the third appointing authority other than the Assembly and the President of the Republic. The new General Prosecutor has been appointed, for the first time based on the procedures established in the latest justice reform. Quality of justice Albania had 329 full-time judges (12 per 100 000 inhabitants) and 299 full-time prosecutors (11 per 100 000 inhabitants) in 2019. According to the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), the European averages are 21 judges/11 prosecutors per 100 000 inhabitants. The 2018 budgetary allocation for the justice sector was EUR 98 million, while in 2019 it was raised to about EUR 100 million. This amounts to around EUR 5.3 per inhabitant. The new justice institutions and the vetting process are supported by a EUR 12 million budgetary plan. Court infrastructure remains poor overall and future budget allocations should take this into account. In July 2019, the School of Magistrates has been moved to significantly better premises in a new Justice Centre, along with the HPC, HJC and HJI. It continues to rely heavily on donors’ support and has limited capacity in terms of academic staff and qualified specialised trainers. The HJC and HPC set the number of candidates to be admitted in the 2020/21 academic year at 75 for judges and prosecutors and 25 legal advisors. The admission examination was held in June 2020, being slightly postponed due to COVID-2019 restriction measures. At the final exam, 68 judges and prosecutors and 12 legal advisors and assistants have been admitted. In 2019, only 24 magistrates were appointed and 21 are expected to be appointed in 2020. There will be no magistrate graduates from the School for the year 2021 as the Parliament failed to adopt the transitory legal changes necessary to increase the intake. A significant increase in graduates of the School of Magistrates is expected in 2022 and 2023, with 46 and respectively 70 candidate magistrates admitted, as defined by the HPC and HJC. The HJC has been transferring judges to fill in most urgent vacancies for relevant positions. Decisive progress in the recruitment of new magistrates to fill in the positions made vacant by the vetting remains essential in the current stage of implementation of the justice reform. The HJC monitors and evaluates court activities on a monthly basis. All courts are required to send a monthly report to the HJC and produce annual activity reports. All courts have websites that are publicly accessible, but these are not standardised. The electronic case management system is still unable to produced reliable and coherent statistical information. The current budgetary and human resources allocated to the Councils remain insufficient to establish and maintain an adequate case management system.

Court decisions are reasoned and hearings are audio-recorded. Publication in due time of courts’ decisions has slightly improved, but should still be addressed with priority. Efficiency There is still a lack of consolidated reporting on the efficiency of the justice system. Decisive effort is required to ensure an effective and reliable case-management system able to produce automatically reliable statistical data in line with the recommendations and methodology of the CEPEJ about the performance of both judiciary and prosecution. To this end, it is necessary to adopt the legal basis, ensure appropriate budgetary allocation and human resources, as well as adopt a clear roadmap laying out concrete steps towards the effective functioning of the case management system. Efficiency of the justice system is affected by issues such as the length of proceedings, the clearance rate and the backlog of cases at all court levels including the Constitutional Court. The clearance rate is lowest in the appeal courts and in particular at the Administrative Appeal Court (backlog of 12 798 cases in June 2019 compared to 11 401 in December 2018). This is due to a high number of appeals and the low number of judges allocated to the Administrative Appeal Court. Vacancies in the judiciary have contributed to an increased backlog of cases. The High Court has made some progress with the processing of pending cases after resuming its judicial functions in March 2019, however its backlog remains particularly high, with over 35 000 pending cases. A comprehensive strategy is necessary to address this backlog, including effective measures to continue the progress in the recruitment of new magistrates. Measures for re-distribution and transfer of judges and prosecutors to priority vacancies have had limited impact. Further efficiency measures should be implemented with priority, including a new judicial map and measures to address the backlog of cases. There are 36 cases pending before the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers for supervision of execution of final judgements of the European Court of Human Rights. Changes in the procedural codes under the reform have provided for improved legal provisions on the length of proceedings. However, correct implementation of these improved legal provisions requires more training for judges and lawyers. The use of alternative dispute resolution continues to be limited and needs to be further strengthened. In addition to the overall length of court proceedings, the execution of court decisions remains a cause of concern. Since the introduction of the private offices’ service, enforcement of court decisions has improved, but is should still be addressed as a priority. Fight against corruption Albania has some level of preparation in the fight against corruption. Good progress was made in strengthening the fight against corruption. Progress was achieved with the adoption of the new action plan 2020-2023 for the implementation of the Inter-sectoral Strategy against Corruption; the amendments to the Law on Political Party Financing and Electoral Code as well as the adoption of a new Law on the Administration of seized and confiscated assets. The ongoing vetting of members of the judiciary as well as of the police are also bringing results in the fight against corruption. The operational capacity for dealing with corruption cases is overall sufficient and institutional coordination and monitoring structures are being strengthened. The establishment of an Anti-corruption Task Force has increased the proactivity of administrative investigations and the creation of a dedicated Anti-corruption Directorate contributes to better performance on investigating, prosecuting and trying high-level corruption cases. The creation of a network of anti-corruption coordinators in 16 agencies in 2019 has also contributed to improving the effectiveness in the fight against corruption. An Asset Recovery Office still needs to be set up. The recommendations of the last annual report were partially implemented. Efforts should continue towards consolidating a track record of seizure and confiscation/recovery of criminal assets resulting from corruption-related offences. Direct access to databases for prosecutors and the police continued to improve. Further efforts towards establishing a solid track record in the fight against corruption have been made. This remains a long-term objective. Overall, corruption is prevalent in many areas and remains an issue of concern. The justice response against high-level corruption has started to generate results, although convictions in cases involving high-level officials remain limited. In the coming year, Albania should therefore: ®keep strengthening the fight against corruption; further progress towards establishing a solid track record of corruption cases, seizure and confiscation/recovery of criminal assets resulting from corruption-related offences; further increase the use of financial investigations; ®ensure that recently established specialised anti-corruption bodies of the Special Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Structure (SPAK), i.e. the Special Prosecutor's Office (SPO) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), as well as the Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime courts are operational and effectively address high-level corruption; ensure adequate resources and cooperation between these new structures and with other prosecution and judicial entities; ®continue to improve access to national electronic registries for law enforcement authorities. Track record Further efforts were made as regards the track record of investigations, prosecutions and convictions in the fight against corruption, although it remains a long-term objective that requires further structured and consistent actions. There were 246 final convictions involving junior or middle-ranking officials in 2019 (289 in 2018). The overall number of referrals to the prosecution increased to 2,257 in 2019 (2,126 in 2018). On convictions of high-level state officials, the judiciary has achieved some results. In 2019, three Judges of the Serious Crimes Court of Appeals were found guilty of passive corruption and a High Court Judge was sentenced to prison for falsification of documents. There were 98 new cases opened at prosecution level against high-level state officials in 2019 (10 persons indicted) against 102 cases in 2018 (7 persons indicted). Investigations have so far not resulted in a substantial number of final convictions of high-ranking state officials. This fosters a culture of impunity within the higher levels of the State. The vetting of members of the judiciary has had an impact on the fight against corruption. Of the more than 286 magistrates that underwent vetting, so far 62% have been dismissed from office, mostly for issues related to unjustified assets, or resigned. Among the high-ranking magistrates, eight out of nine Constitutional Court judges and 15 out of 18 High Court judges have been dismissed through the vetting or have resigned. The SPO has started criminal proceedings against 23 former magistrates, including 9 cases concerning High Court and Constitutional Court judges. Asset investigations are underway in all cases. The vetting of the State Police, Guard of the Republic and Service for Internal Affairs and Complaints (SIAC) has begun with the first 45 out of 300 high level officials vetted, leading so far to one dismissal and one resignation. The vetting process and its results remain crucial to restore public trust in the judiciary and law enforcement bodies of the State. Reaching final convictions in high-level corruption cases remains an important priority and data collection methodology for both corruption and organised crime cases is yet to be further improved. Ensuring efficient operation of SPAK and NBI work will be of key importance in the upcoming months in order to minimise the backlog of sensitive/high-level cases. District law enforcement authorities will have to be strengthened in order to efficiently deal with special cases not covered by the SPAK and NBI mandate. Cooperation between these different instances must be effective. The newly created special Anti-corruption Directorate in the Ministry of Justice should reinforce internal coordination structures. Inter-institutional coordination against corruption will be streamlined, following the establishment of an anti-corruption and anti-evasion special unit within the Prime Minister’s office.

On asset declarations by high-level state officials, in 2019 there were 7 cases referred by the High Inspectorate for the Declaration and Audit of Assets and Conflicts of Interest (HIDAACI) to the prosecution, one of which resulted in a conviction and a dismissal. In 2018 there were 27 cases referred to prosecution that resulted in 6 convictions and 7 dismissals. In total, HIDAACI referred 12 low- and mid-ranking officials to prosecution services in 2019. In the same year, 12 final convictions occurred. In 2018, there were 43 referrals and 17 final convictions. Seizure and confiscation of criminal assets are not systematically ordered and carried out in corruption-related cases. Risk assessments have been piloted in some sectors (Customs Administration, General Inspectorate) and should be further expanded. Some progress was made in setting up an interface between the different electronic case‑management systems of the police, prosecution and courts. A system to manage the follow-up of denounciations of corruption is being set-up by the Ministry of Justice Implementation of the Law on whistle-blowing and whistle-blower protection continued and an evaluation on its implemenation is ongoing. At both central and local level, 166 units responsible for protecting whistle‑blowers and for reporting cases to HIDAACI have been established while 446 units responsible for the protection of whistle-blowers were established across private companies. In 2019, 14 external reporting cases were registered and investigated by HIDAACI, compared to 16 in 2018. On internal control mechanisms, the Anti-corruption Task Force carried out 26 inspections in 2019 leading to 91 administrative measures, 105 disciplinary measures and no criminal referrals, compared to 36 criminal referrals in 2018. The implementation rate of the proposed measures is low. In 2019, SIAC has referred 250 cases involving 474 officials to the prosecution which resulted in 501 disciplinary proceedings. In 2018, 201 cases involving 265 officials were referred to the prosecution resulting in 752 discliplinary proceedings. The State Supreme Audit Institution referred 28 cases in 2019involving 40 executives to the prosecution. The rate of implementation of the State Supreme Audit Institution’s general recommendations by public institutions remains low. On access to information, in 2019, the Commissioner for Information and Data Protection received 786 complaints and issued 18 decisions, while 820 complaints were received in 2018. A system was established and installed in 31 public institutions to record the overall number of requests made and to enable citizens to submit online requests for public information. The impact of anti-corruption measures in particularly vulnerable areas (customs, tax administration, education, health, public procurement, PPP contracts etc.) remains limited. Internal checks and inspection mechanisms within the public administration remain weak and ineffective. Institutional framework Prevention of corruption The capacity of the anti-corruption network in line ministries, at local level and in the Office of the National Coordinator against Corruption (NCAC) is weak. The Ministry of Justice, which serves as the NCAC also chairs the Inter-ministerial Coordinating Committee for the Implementation of the Strategy, which monitors the progress of the Strategy and is responsible for the enforcement of administrative sanctions taken by the Anti-corruption Task Force. In 2019, a separate Directorate for Anti-corruption was established within the Ministry of Justice, together with a network of Anti-corruption coordinators in 16 agencies, with the aim of preventing and attacking corruption in state administration institutions and its structures. Effective coordination should be ensured between the new structures at the Ministry of Justice, the Unit for Transparency and Anti‑Corruption at the Prime Minister’s office, the Special Unit for Anti-Corruption and Anti-Evasion recently established also at the Prime Minister’s office, as well as the Integrated Policy Management Group for PAR and Good Governance. The impact of the anti-corruption structures on preventing public sector corruption remains unclear. The role of HIDAACI in detecting conflicts of interest and checking asset declarations was strengthened by the adoption of the Law on whistle-blowing and whistle-blower protection and the implementation of the vetting process. The role of the State Supreme Audit Institution in the overall anti-corruption framework is to identify and effectively address systematic weaknesses. The inspection capacity in public procurement needs to be further improved. E-procurement is expected to achieve more transparency and reduce opportunities for abuse. The Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) has published its Second Compliance Report (fourth round) on Albania in July 2018, and concluded that Albania had dealt satisfactorily with only four of the 10 recommendations. GRECO undertook the first visit of the fifth round dealing with the prevention of corruption and promoting integrity in central governments (top executive functions) and law enforcement agencies in November 2019. Integrity-related secondary legislation is in place but an overall integrity risk-management system has yet to be established. No integrity plans have been developed for ministries. A ‘Manual of Ethics on Public Service Delivery’ has been adopted. In 2019, the online portal to promote ‘co-governance’ with citizens has received a total of 23 605 complaints related to public administration of which 22 423 were addressed leading to 171 administrative measures and 20 cases to Anti-Corruption Task Forces. There were 28 such cases reported in 2018 out of the 26 936 overall registered complaints. Law enforcement Specialised bodies in charge of investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating complex corruption cases have been established, such as the Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime courts and the SPAK, comprising the Special Prosecution Office (SPO) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). A Chief Special Prosecutor and thirteen Special Prosecutors have been appointed after passing the vetting. The SPO lacks guidelines and best practices to tackle complex high-level corruption cases. There is a lack of specialist knowledge necessary to ensure the quality of the investigation and prosecution work. The transfer of 16 Judges to the first and second instance special Anti-corruption and Organised Crime courts that mirror the jurisdiction of the SPO has been completed. Police and prosecution have been granted direct access to additional private and public national registries. This has improved the capacity of law enforcement authorities to operate, and has also made investigations more efficient. Concerns remain over high staff turnover and insufficient inter institutional cooperation. The overall resources of law enforcement authorities are insufficient. Legal framework

Albania is a party to all international anti-corruption conventions, including the United Nations Convention Against corruption. It has continued to improve its legal framework on the prevention and combatting of corruption. In June 2019, the Parliament adopted a new law on the administration of confiscated assets as part of the "Moneyval package" which foresees the establishment of an Asset Recovery Office. Proposed amendments to the criminal code related to the criminal reliability of entities involved in the construction sector need to be adopted. Amendments to the Law on political party financing and the Electoral Code were thoroughly discussed at the ad hoc electoral committee within the Assembly, as well as in the context of the political platform for electoral reform gathering representatives from the majority, the parliamentary and the extra parliamentary opposition. The amendments to the electoral code were adopted by the Parliament on 23 July 2020 (see also section 2.1.1 Democracy). All the secondary legislation for the legal framework on integrity is in place but it remains highly complex and fragmented. While Albania has an increasingly comprehensive legal framework, effective and high-quality implementation is lacking. Strategic framework The implementation of the Inter-sectoral Strategy against Corruption is overall on track, although weaknesses remain. These weaknesses include the need to strengthen ownership, strengthen institutional capacities, ensure proper costing and budgeting of the strategy’s activities. A new action plan for 2020-2023 for the implementation of the extended strategy was adopted in July 2020. A mid-term review of the Strategy has been undertaken. According to the 2019 draft annual monitoring report, 59 activities out of 97 planned have been realised (61%) while 12 are ongoing. In 2018, out of 97 planned activities, 55% were fully implemented. The monitoring mechanism and its accountability need to be strengthened. Consultations with relevant stakeholders before the approval of the reports have improved. Feedback is not systematically provided to stakeholders who participate in developing anticorruption policies. The comprehensive performance assessment framework has been updated together with the new action plan up to 2023, and reporting on the performance indicators is included in the annual monitoring reports however not used as a tool to strive towards more progress. Fundamental rights Albania complies overall with internat