EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 6.10.2020 SWD(2020) 356 final COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT Kosovo* 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 {COM(2020) 660 final} - {SWD(2020) 350 final} - {SWD(2020) 351 final} - {SWD(2020) 352 final} - {SWD(2020) 353 final} - {SWD(2020) 354 final} - {SWD(2020) 355 final}



Table of Contents 1.Introduction 1.1. Context 1.2Summary of the report 2. Fundamentals first: political criteria and the rule of law 2.1Functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform 2.2.1Democracy 2.1.2Public administration reform 2.2Rule of law and fundamental rights 2.2.1Judiciary and fundamental rights 2.2.2Justice, 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.Normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia 6.European standards 6.1.Free movement of goods

6.2Movement of workers, services and right of establishment 6.3Free movement of capital 6.4.Financial services 6.5.Customs 6.6Taxation 6.7Competition 6.8Public procurement 6.9Company law 6.10Intellectual property law 6.11Social policy and employment 6.12 Consumer and Health Protection 6.13 Education and culture 6.14Science and research 6.15Trade issues 6.16Enterprise and industrial policy 6.17 Agriculture 6.18Food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy 6.19Fisheries 6.20Environment and climate change 6.21 Transport policy

6.22Energy 6.23Trans-European networks 6.24Information society and media 6.25Financial control 6.26 Statistics Annex I – Relations between the EU and Kosovo



KOSOVO 1. Introduction 1.1. Context The EU-Kosovo Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) has been in force since April 2016. The European Reform Agenda (ERA) has continued to serve as a useful tool to guide the implementation of EU-related reforms in the SAA context. In July 2018, the Commission confirmed that Kosovo has fulfilled all visa liberalisation benchmarks endorsed by the Council. The Commission continues to stand behind this assessment. The European Parliament confirmed its support for the Commission’s proposal for visa liberalisation. The proposal is pending in the Council and should be treated as a matter of urgency. During the reporting period, Kosovo lifted the 100% tariff on imports from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been imposed in November 2018, as well as all reciprocity measures. This has allowed for a restoration in trade with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and for the resumption of the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. The Kosovo authorities continued to demonstrate publicly their commitment to advance on its European path. 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 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. In Kosovo, the government declared a public health emergency in March 2020 and introduced containment measures and restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus. Measures were gradually lifted from early May 2020. However, in response to increasing numbers of cases from early June, the government reintroduced in mid-July several public health measures, including obligatory wearing of facemasks, curfews and testing requirements for entry into Kosovo. In August 2020, the Kosovo Assembly adopted a new Law on prevention and fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to provide a solid legal framework for the required public health measures. In order to mitigate the social and economic effects of the COVID-19 crisis, an initial emergency package of EUR 180 million was adopted in April 2020 to provide support for businesses, farmers and employees, additional social protection and assistance measures, flexibility for loans and tax payments. On 30 July, the Kosovo Assembly endorsed an Economic Recovery Programme which includes an additional EUR 185 million for the year 2020. On 14 August, the Assembly ratified the EU Macro-Financial Assistance loan agreement worth EUR 100 million, which aims to help Kosovo limit the economic fallout of the pandemic. 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.

1.2Summary of the report As concerns the political criteria, the reporting period was marked by early legislative elections, two changes of government and relatively long periods with only a caretaker government in place. Due to this volatile political context and the necessary focus on the pandemic response, there was overall limited progress on EU-related reforms in Kosovo. Following the resignation of the then Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj in July 2019, early legislative elections took place in October 2019, with a higher turnout than for the previous elections. The new Assembly was constituted in December 2019 and a new government headed by Prime Minister Albin Kurti took office on 3 February 2020, with a stated commitment to pursue EU-related reforms, foster economic development and the fight against corruption and organised crime. However, this government was dismissed less than two months after, by a no-confidence vote, following disagreements between the coalition partners. The vote of no-confidence led to a political crisis, notably over the constitutional procedures regarding the formation of a new government. After the Constitutional Court clarified the issue, a new government led by Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti took office on 3 June 2020. During the reporting period, the Assembly did not improve its overall performance as a forum for constructive political dialogue and representation, as demonstrated notably by the frequent lack of quorum. Under the new legislature, there have however been some improvements in the organisation of its work. The Assembly should prioritise EU-related reforms and ensure parliamentary best practices. The legislative elections of October 2019 were overall well-administered and transparent, but the vote-counting process exposed vulnerabilities. The campaign was competitive, except in the Kosovo Serb areas where the campaign environment was marred by intimidation against non-Srpska Lista candidates and supporters. Recurring election process shortcomings need to be urgently addressed, in line with the recommendations of several EU election observation missions. The situation in the north of Kosovo remains challenging, in particular when it comes to corruption, organised crime, and the conditions for freedom of expression. There is some level of preparation in the area of public administration reform. During the reporting period, limited progress was made in increasing transparency in the public administration and of public procurement procedures. Implementation of the package of three public administration reform laws adopted in February 2019 was stalled as a result of the political situation and the request for constitutional review of the Law on salaries and the Law on public officials. On 30 June 2020, the Constitutional Court declared the Law on salaries unconstitutional in its entirety and ruled that the Law on public officials needs to be amended for it to fully enter into force. The Law on organisation and functioning of the state administration is fully in force and its implementation should continue. Weak central and inter-ministerial coordination remains a challenge for the overall implementation of the reform. During the reporting period, non-merit based recruitments remained a concern, while inclusive and evidence-based policy-making was hampered by ad hoc decisions, often influenced by special interests. Kosovo authorities need to ensure that the reform of the public administration remains a priority and should build on the progress achieved so far. Kosovo's judicial system is at an early stage of preparation. Some progress was achieved with the partial implementation of rule of law related legislation including the Law on the disciplinary liability of judges and prosecutors and the Law on mediation, and with the advancement of the roll out of an electronic case management system and central criminal record registry. The judiciary is still vulnerable to undue political influence. The ongoing Functional Review of the Rule of Law Sector has provided a sound basis to reform and modernise various aspects of the judiciary. The Kosovo authorities should now take this work forward. The administration of justice remains slow and inefficient and rule of law institutions need sustained efforts to build up their capacities. The COVID-19 pandemic limited the holding of court hearings in Kosovo; yet the Criminal Procedure Code specifies that if no hearings are held for 3 months, the trial has to re-start. An important number of criminal trials (including high-profile ones) may be affected by this rule. Kosovo authorities should follow-up on this issue and take the necessary measures to ensure effective and efficient conduct of justice. Kosovo is at an early stage/has some level of preparation in the fight against corruption. Kosovo has made limited progress in this area, including on the investigation and prosecution of high level cases, on the confiscation of assets as well as through the creation of the Special Departments handling cases regarding high-level corruption (and organised crime) in the courts. Final confiscations of assets and the overall capacity of the prosecution, including as regards supporting staff, remain low. Corruption is widespread and remains an issue of serious concern. There is a need for strong political will to effectively address corruption issues, as well as a robust criminal justice response to high-level corruption. The adoption of the revised Criminal Procedure Code is still pending, while the revision of political party financing legislation was delayed. Kosovo is at an early stage in the fight against organised crime. Progress has included investigating and prosecuting high-level cases, recruiting additional staff for the special prosecution office and training and awareness raising on the freezing of assets. However, overall progress has been limited. There are still few financial investigations, final confiscations of assets and final convictions. Measures are needed to strictly ensure there is no political interference with operational activities of law enforcement bodies and the prosecution. The situation in the north of Kosovo with regards to organised crime continues to pose challenges for law enforcement agencies. In July 2020 Europol and the Kosovo Police concluded a Working Arrangement. Kosovo was the only partner in the Western Balkans without any structured and formalised cooperation with Europol, which created a significant gap. The arrangement will constitute the basis for enhanced cooperation between Kosovo Police, Europol and EU Member States, in particular in addressing terrorism and extremism as well as organised crime. Progress was made in the fight against terrorism, in line with the objectives set out in the EU-Kosovo implementing arrangement for the Joint Action Plan on counter-terrorism for the Western Balkans, especially with regard to the rehabilitation and reintegration of foreign terrorist fighters and their families. The Kosovo authorities need to be more effective in their efforts to fight money laundering and the relevant law should be brought in line with EU acquis and international standards. The legal framework broadly guarantees the protection of human and fundamental rights in line with European standards. However, the implementation of human rights legislation and strategies is often undermined by inadequate financial and other resources, particularly at local level, limited political prioritisation and lack of coordination. The large dependence on foreign donors remains. The adoption of the Law on Child Protection fulfilled one of the recommendations of last year’s report. More needs to be done to effectively guarantee the rights of persons belonging to minorities, including Roma and Ashkali and displaced persons, to ensure gender equality in practice, and to advance the protection of cultural heritage. Kosovo has some level of preparation regarding freedom of expression, which is enshrined in the Constitution. Kosovo benefits from a pluralistic and lively media environment. Rule of law institutions need to continue efforts to follow-up on threats and attacks against journalists. The public broadcaster remains vulnerable to political influence and a sustainable solution for its funding still needs to be found. The Kosovo authorities have made progress in managing both regular migration and mixed migration flows. Kosovo activated its contingency plan due to the influx of asylum seekers and irregular migrants. Its efforts should be continued and built on. As regards the economic criteria, Kosovo is at an early stage and has made limited progress in developing a functioning market economy. Robust economic growth continued in 2019, but the difficult labour market situation and the lack of economic diversification remain a challenge. While the government adhered to the fiscal rule in 2019, the composition of public spending has further deteriorated. Decreasing capital spending, rising pressures related to non-poverty-targeted social benefits and increasing public wages pose risks to public finances and hinder private sector development. The business environment saw limited improvements. Private sector development remains constrained by a widespread informal economy, a slow and inefficient judiciary, a high prevalence of corruption and the overall weak rule of law. Kosovo’s economic outlook started to deteriorate rapidly in spring 2020, as the COVID-19 quarantine measures disrupted the financial flows with diaspora. Kosovo is at an early stage and has made limited progress in terms of capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces in the EU. The quality of education remains a concern. Kosovo made some progress in improving road infrastructure, but there are large gaps in railway and energy infrastructure. Although investments in renewables are gradually increasing, Kosovo remains reliant on a predominantly coal-based, outdated and unreliable energy production system. Kosovo made some progress as regards the digitalisation of the economy. The economy’s sectorial structure is shifting towards non-tradable activities, which weight on competitiveness and growth of merchandise exports. As regards good neighbourly relations and regional cooperation, Kosovo continued to participate in most regional fora. In April 2020, the Kosovo government lifted the tariffs imposed since November 2018 on imports from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and on 6 June all reciprocity measures were lifted. This has allowed for a restoration in trade with Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and for the resumption of the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. Regarding the normalisation of relations with Serbia, the EU-facilitated dialogue resumed with high-level meetings on 12 and 16 July, and 7 September 2020. A number of expert level meetings took place in Brussels. Kosovo needs to make further substantial efforts and contribute to reaching a comprehensive legally-binding agreement with Serbia. Such an agreement is urgent and crucial so that Kosovo and Serbia can advance on their respective European paths. As regards alignment with European standards, Kosovo has overall some level of preparation. Legislative alignment has continued in some areas but implementation is often weak. Good progress was made in the area of taxation, including as regards revenue collection. Some progress was made in the area of free movement of goods, services and capital, as well as on financial services, public procurement and competition. Some progress was also made in the area of energy, notably with energy efficiency measures in the public sector and a gradual increase of investments in renewable energy sources. Limited progress was achieved in addressing environmental issues. No progress was made in the area of education and the quality of education needs to be improved considerably. Overall, Kosovo needs to improve its administrative capacity and coordination, across all sectors, to ensure effective implementation of the EU acquis. 2. Fundamentals first: political criteria and the rule of law 2.1Functioning of democratic institutions and public administration reform 2.2.1Democracy

The reporting period was marked by early legislative elections, two changes of government and relatively long periods with only a caretaker government in place. The elections of October 2019 were competitive (except in Kosovo Serb areas), but the vote-counting process exposed vulnerabilities. The governing coalition that resulted from these elections collapsed after a no-confidence vote less than two months after taking up office, leading to a political crisis in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and to the formation of a new government. The Assembly has continued to function during the pandemic crisis, albeit in a reduced mode. Two local by-elections were postponed due to the pandemic. Due to the volatile political context and the necessary focus on the pandemic response, there was overall limited progress on EU-related reforms during the reporting period. Elections The early legislative elections of October 2019 were overall well-administered and transparent, but the vote-counting process exposed vulnerabilities, in particular in the handling of complaints. The campaign was competitive, except in the Kosovo Serb areas where the campaign environment was marred by intimidation against non-Srpska Lista candidates and supporters. Kosovo's electoral process needs to be further strengthened by effectively addressing long‑standing weaknesses throughout the electoral cycle. Recurring systemic problems with the election process, which were already identified by EU election observation missions in 2014, 2017 and 2019, need to be addressed by the Assembly and other institutions. The legal framework governing campaign and political party financing remains in need of substantial amendments in line with Venice Commission guidance and best international practice. Following the resignation of former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj in July 2019, early legislative elections were held on 6 October. The elections were called with the longest possible notice of 45 days after the dissolution of the Assembly, as provided by the Constitution. Voter turnout was 44.5% (compared with 41.3 % in 2017). The two opposition parties Vetëvendosje and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) became the largest parties in the Assembly with 29 and 28 seats respectively, having won 26.27% and 24.55% of the vote. The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) won 24 seats (21.23%), the pre-electoral coalition of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) won 13 seats (11.52%) and the pre-electoral coalition of the Social Democratic Initiative (Nisma), the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) and the Justice Party (PD) won 6 seats (5.00%), just passing the parliamentary threshold. Srpska Lista won all 10 seats reserved for the Serb non-majority community of Kosovo with 6.40% of the total vote. The remaining 10 seats are shared between eight political parties representing other non-majority communities. Election preparations and election day itself were generally well-administered and transparent and the EU Election Observation Mission has assessed the process positively. The campaign was vibrant and competitive, allowing contestants to campaign freely in most parts of Kosovo. However, there was a lack of competition in the Kosovo Serb areas and the campaign environment was marred by intimidation, targeted at non-Srpska Lista Serb candidates and supporters. Throughout Kosovo, cases of misuse of public resources and a lack of transparency in campaign financing resulted in an uneven playing field. The credibility of the post-election day counting and tabulation process was negatively affected by several factors, most notably the inefficient handling of complaints by the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel and controversial court decisions. These had an important impact on the final election results – one ruling in particular enabled one of the pre-electoral coalitions (NISMA-AKR-PD) to pass the parliamentary threshold narrowly – and significantly delayed their certification. Long-standing weaknesses of the election process in Kosovo include the lack of effective oversight and enforcement of political party and campaign finance, underrepresentation of women in political party structures and elected office, deficient electoral dispute mechanisms, voter list inaccuracies and deficiencies in the process of out-of-Kosovo voting. Kosovo institutions need to address these challenges early on in the new legislative period, in line with the EOM recommendations and in close collaboration with international and local partners. The joint initiative taken by the Kosovo Assembly caucus leaders in April 2019 to address shortcomings and strengthen the electoral process in line with the recommendations of the electoral observation missions led to the Assembly deciding to establish an ad hoc parliamentary committee on this matter, involving local and international experts and stakeholders. While this is a welcome step, no concrete steps have yet been taken by the Assembly Committee. The new legislature should start this work without delay. Women candidates did not receive equal financial or logistical support from their political entities for their campaigns, and they rarely spoke at rallies. The media gave priority coverage to male candidates. Among the 120 newly elected Members of Parliament, 39 are women. Women remain underrepresented at all levels of participation and decision-making in political parties, electoral administration, and central and local assemblies. There are still discrepancies between the electoral legal framework, which mandates a 30% gender quota for the Assembly, and the equal representation provision of the Law on Gender Equality (50%). In 2019, 10 out of 11 members of the Central Election Commission (CEC) were appointed, enabling the CEC to carry out its work. The CEC has to improve its internal organisational structure with clear terms of references for each staff member in the secretariat and clear lines of hierarchical responsibility in order to avoid quality control failures. The legal framework and regulatory practice governing party and campaign finances does not ensure complete reporting, timely disclosure, meaningful oversight or accountability for irregularities (see the ‘Parliament’ section, below). During the reporting period, two mayoral by-elections, in Podujevë/Podujevo and Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North (in both cases triggered by the resignation of mayors after their appointment as government members) were postponed due to the COVID-19 crisis. Parliament During the reporting period, the Assembly did not improve its overall performance as a forum for constructive political dialogue and representation. This has continued to hamper its legislative activity. However, under the guidance of the new Speaker, there has been some improvement to the organisation of the Assembly’s work. The Assembly needs to address its shortcomings and reinforce its functioning, notably by improving its regulatory framework, including rules of procedures. The Assembly remained open during the pandemic crisis, while putting in place sanitary protection measures. Following the 6 October 2019 early elections, on 26 December 2019 the seventh legislature of the Assembly of Kosovo was constituted. For the first time, the elected Speaker of the Assembly is a woman. The Assembly has 120 deputies, including 10 representing the Serb community and 10 representing other non-majority communities. Kosovo has a mandatory quota of 30% of Assembly seats reserved for women. On 3 February, the Assembly elected with a majority of 66 votes the new government headed by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, based on a coalition between Vetëvendosje and LDK. Less than two months after, on 25 March, the Assembly (with 82 votes) voted for the dismissal of the government, based on a motion of vote of no-confidence initiated by then junior coalition partner LDK. The coalition fell at a time of disagreements over the conditions for abolishing the 100% tariff on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (introduced by the previous government), as well as regarding the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The vote of no-confidence led to a political crisis, notably over the constitutional procedures regarding the formation of a new government. Vetëvendosje considered that a new government should only be formed after new elections. The party challenged, before the Constitutional Court the President’s decree to mandate Avdullah Hoti (LDK) to form a government. On 28 May, the Court validated the President’s decree, opening the way for the election of the new government. The Assembly elected the new Hoti government with a narrow majority (61 out of 120 votes), based on a coalition between LDK, AAK, Srpska Lista, NISMA, and non-majority community parties. During 2019, under the previous legislature, the Assembly’s efficiency was reduced due to recurrent absence of deputies from Assembly proceedings and the irregular holding of plenary sessions, with items dragging from one session to another. Due to the polarised political environment, the lack of majority of the former ruling coalition, frequent boycotts by opposition parties, the absence of ruling coalition members, the Assembly was frequently unable to reach a quorum to adopt laws and make decisions. Frequent violation of the Assembly rules of procedure, improper management of the plenary sessions and an inability to use the ordinary/primary mechanisms to oversee the government’s work, were features of almost every plenary session. In 2019, out of a total of 24 plenary sessions, only 6 were regular (i.e. not of an extraordinary, special or solemn nature). In 2020, the new legislature assumed its work in difficult circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Assembly continued to meet, however in a reduced manner during several months, applying public health prevention measures. Plenary sessions and committee meetings took place without the presence of media and visitors; plenary sessions were live streamed over the internet. In the first half of 2020, out of 16 plenary sessions, 7 were regular. Since the vote of no-confidence, including after the election of a new government in June, the Assembly has been marked by a lack of a stable majority, high political polarisation and important delays in decision-making, including on issues of major importance related to the COVID-19 crisis, such as the ratification of international financing agreements. Under the new legislature, there has been some improvement in the management of plenary sessions, resulting in better compliance with the rules of procedures. In May 2020, measures were taken by the Assembly Presidency to improve financial control. Parliamentary oversight of the executive as well as other institutions remains weak overall, and the existing parliamentary instruments for oversight of the executive were not utilised. For instance, the Assembly needs to strengthen the work of parliamentary committees and create follow-up mechanisms to oversee the executive as well as other institutions. The Assembly's Committee on Oversight of Public Finances reviewed the reports provided by the Office of the Auditor General. However, there was no effective follow-up, showing that coordination with other parliamentary committees needs to be improved. Although the Parliamentary Committee on European integration carried out its work correctly, the Assembly's capacity to monitor the compliance of new legislation with the EU acquis and to ensure implementation remains limited.

As regards parliamentary inquiries, in June 2019, the Assembly adopted the inquiry committee’s report on the illegal deportation of six Turkish nationals legally residing in Kosovo, which found 31 violations, including serious breaches of human rights and legal procedures. The prosecution followed up on some of those alleged violations by investigating and indicting several police officials involved in the operation. Most other inquiry committees did not finalise their work. The Assembly needs to build up specialist expertise to lend more effective support to parliamentarians and committees. The Ombudsperson Institution of Kosovo continued to promote, protect and uphold fundamental rights and freedoms, to assist the Assembly in its oversight function. During the reporting period, the Ombudsperson addressed 225 recommendations to public authorities, of which only 71 received a response from institutions. The implementation by institutions of recommendations remains stable. Furthermore, the Ombudsperson has used his mandated powers to refer legislation adopted by the Assembly to the Constitutional Court. The financing and expenditures of political parties and electoral campaigns remains non-transparent, the existing legal framework is largely unenforced, and most political parties represented in the Assembly continue to exhibit serious weaknesses in internal financial control. Political parties, oversight institutions and the CEC should assume responsibility for ensuring transparency, accountability and effective use of enforcement mechanisms. The Parliamentary Committee on Oversight of Public Finances has conducted formalistic audits of parties' annual financial reports and political parties have provided campaign disclosure reports. However, even clear violations and breaches of legal limits as well as unidentifiable money flows have not been followed up by competent authorities. The CEC's Office of Political Parties Registration and Certification continues to need significant strengthening, additional capacity and legally guaranteed operational independence in exercising its functions. Furthermore, better cooperation with other competent authorities, such as the Auditor General, the Anti-Corruption Agency, the prosecution and tax authorities are crucial. Legislative amendments, which were prepared by the government after consultation with the Venice Commission and would have addressed many of the severe weaknesses in the current legal framework, were not supported in the Assembly (under the previous legislative period) and eventually withdrawn. The new government should work with the new legislature to ensure that meaningful and substantial progress is made in this area, building on the work done previously. Governance In an overall context of political instability, only limited progress was made in further implementing European Reform Agenda (ERA) commitments and availing opportunities of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) during the reporting period. Kosovo institutions should urgently reinvigorate the reform processes. Since March 2020, government priorities have also been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, the caretaker government, under the then outgoing Prime Minister Kurti, lifted the 100% tariff on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while introducing gradual trade reciprocity measures, later revoked by the successor government under Prime Minister Hoti. This has allowed for restoration of trade with these two countries and paved the way for the resumption of the EU-facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue in July 2020. The reporting period was marked with two changes of government and prolonged periods of caretaker government. In July 2019, Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj announced his resignation, citing his summons by the Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor's Office. During the second half of 2019, as political focus shifted to early elections, the Haradinaj government continued to exercise routine functions in its role as caretaker government. During 2019, overall limited progress was made in implementing commitments under the ERA and the Economic Reform Programme (ERP). The government maintained overall financial and budgetary stability, notably by increasing tax revenues and carrying out tax reforms. However, it failed to improve the conditions necessary to address structural challenges undermining private sector employment and did not bring forward educational reforms. Furthermore, ad hoc decision-making that conflicted with stated reform objectives continued. This included decisions with significant budgetary implications and non-merit-based appointments. This further undermined overall public trust in government institutions. Following the October 2019 legislative elections, the government led by Albin Kurti, based on a coalition between Vetëvendosje and LDK, took office on 3 February 2020. It included 2 deputy prime ministers, 15 ministers and 31 deputy ministers. It was therefore significantly smaller than the previous government, whose excessive size had become the subject of public concern. Women representation in senior government positions increased: of 18 government members, 5 were women. The short-lived government led by then Prime Minister Kurti had put forward a programme focused on the fight against corruption and organised crime and on economic development. Several controversial decisions of the previous government under Ramush Haradinaj were reversed (e.g. ad hoc increase of senior officials’ salaries, excise tax on tobacco, insufficiently costed infrastructure projects). The government also dismissed the boards of several publicly-owned enterprises, on the grounds of irregularities and lack of performance identified in audit reports, and replaced them with interim boards. Permanent board members will need to be appointed following open, transparent and merit-based selection processes. More generally, the governance of publicly-owned enterprises needs to be significantly improved. Shortly after taking office, the Prime Minister Kurti’s government was faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and declared a public health emergency. The government introduced a number of restrictive measures to prevent transmission of the virus, and adopted initial economic emergency measures. After the collapse of the coalition, in April 2020 the caretaker government under Albin Kurti adopted a decision to lift the 100% tariff on goods from Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while introducing gradual trade “reciprocity measures”, initially limited and implemented in line with existing agreements. The measures were however significantly expanded on 30 May, before being completely revoked by the successor government of Prime Minister Hoti in early June. The government of Prime Minister Hoti, which took office on 3 June, adopted a programme which prioritises the resumption of the dialogue with Belgrade and the post-COVID-19 economic recovery. The government of Prime Minister Hoti includes 4 deputy prime ministers, 16 ministers and 46 deputy ministers. Out of 21 government members, 4 are women. As the central institution in charge of the legal approximation process with the EU acquis, the Ministry of European Integration coordinated the implementation of the SAA and the fulfilment of ERA priorities and actions and prepared regular reports on ERA implementation. The Ministry’s planning and monitoring of measures and activities has improved. However, coordination, planning and monitoring of donor assistance needs to be strengthened. The new government decided to dissolve the Ministry of European Integration and to put EU coordination functions under the Office of the Prime Minister, under institutional arrangements that are yet to be defined. It will be of critical importance that the knowledge and expertise built up to coordinate all EU-related matters, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and EU financial assistance, is preserved. Local government improved its performance and service delivery. However, significant disparities between municipalities persist and human and financial resource constraints continue to negatively impact municipalities’ ability to carry out their mandates. Municipal assemblies have limited effective budgetary powers and exercise insufficient oversight over municipal administrations, while excessive political influence over local administrations weakens local governance. Legislative reforms are necessary to realign funding and competences between central and local government and to create a specific grant for social services. Apart from regular transfers in the form of a general grant, municipalities receive significant funding for capital investments at the discretion of line ministries. In this context, the Ministry of Local Government Administration’s creation of a municipal performance grant, which puts in place non-politicised rules for grant disbursement, is a welcome step. Other ministries should also develop ways to disburse their grants in a rule-based, fair and transparent way. Women remain underrepresented in local decision-making and there are currently no female mayors in any of Kosovo's municipalities. Out of Kosovo's 38 mayors, 27 are from the Albanian community, 10 from the Serb community and 1 is from the Turkish community. All municipalities have fulfilled their obligation to appoint deputy mayors from non-majority communities. Civilian oversight of security services As regards parliamentary oversight of security forces, there have been some improvements in the work of the parliamentary committee on internal affairs, security and supervision of the Kosovo Security Force and of the oversight committee for the Kosovo Intelligence Agency. However, parliamentary oversight of security forces expenditure remains insufficient. The Assembly’s Inquiry Committee on the illegal deportation of six Turkish nationals legally residing in Kosovo, whose report was adopted in June 2019, found alleged wrongdoings by Kosovo’s security institutions involved in the operation. Civil society The environment in which civil society operates continued to improve and government authorities continue to make efforts to enhance the ability of civil society to contribute meaningfully to policy development. However, further efforts are needed to enhance transparency of public funding for civil society organisation. An empowered civil society is a crucial component of any democratic system and should be recognised and treated as such by public institutions. Civil society organisations (CSOs) in Kosovo continue to play an important role in the democratic debate and in the design and implementation of public policy. They play an active and critical role in promoting civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, and do so largely free from undue pressure by Kosovo authorities. The Law on freedom of association approved in April 2019 aligned the legal framework for CSOs to the best international standards and practices. The strategic framework for cooperation between the Kosovo government and civil society for the 2019-2023 period was approved in February 2019 following extensive consultations with CSOs and the general public. Based on this strategic framework, a new Government Council for Cooperation with Civil Society was set up and started work in July 2019. Public consultations launched by the central government are becoming more regular but should be further improved with easier access to data and more regular feedback from public authorities. Awareness and promotion of consultation platforms is crucial in order to broaden the engagement of CSOs and citizens.

The transparency of CSOs’ public financing needs to be further improved. Despite some improvements in the last two years, the limited capacity of both local and central authorities to correctly implement new transparency and accountability standards means that the public funding of CSOs remains at risk of corruption and conflicts of interest. Easy access to detailed information regarding public funds disbursed to CSOs by any public body should be made publically available. At the same time, access banking services is determined by the legal framework for preventing money laundering and terrorism, which creates several limitations to the financial viability of CSOs. The sectorial risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing of the CSO sector needs to be comprehensively updated so that the legislation can be revised to allow for a flexible approach to lower-risk CSOs (see section on the fight against organised crime and section 6.3 on the free movement of capital). More transparent and better harmonised procedures for CSOs’ public service are needed in order to improve their financial viability. A comprehensive legal framework and favourable tax regime for individual and corporate philanthropy should be considered. There should be standard criteria and procedures for allocating public property and confiscated assets for use by CSOs, and these should be implemented at central and local level. Volunteering should be further promoted through dedicated programmes, and volunteer standards and practices should be aligned with international standards. Work on a comprehensive legal framework on volunteering has started. 2.1.2Public administration reform Kosovo has achieved some level of preparation in the reform of its public administration. Limited progress was made in increasing transparency of the public administration and of public procurement. Implementation of the package of three public administration reform laws adopted in February 2019 stalled. Two of the laws, the Law on public officials and the Law on salaries, were temporarily suspended by the Constitutional Court almost as soon as they entered into force. The Court, in June 2020, declared the Law on Salaries unconstitutional, while requiring amendments to the Law on Public Officials by the Assembly for it to fully enter into force. Overall, weak central and inter-ministerial coordination continues to hamper the implementation of cross‑cutting reforms. Delays in harmonising special laws with the Law on General Administrative Procedures continue to cause legal uncertainty for citizens and businesses. The government should ensure that the public administration reform remains a priority and follow on the reform efforts of the previous government. Instances of political influence on recruitments to senior civil service positions and non-merit‑based recruitments continue to undermine citizens trust in the public administration. Ad hoc policy-making, in cases influenced by special interests, remained an obstacle for inclusive and evidence-based policy-making. These issues were among the central concerns expressed by citizens during the campaign for the legislative elections in October 2019. It is of utmost importance that Kosovo institutions ensure integrity and transparency in recruitments in the public service. As last year's recommendations were not sufficiently mplemented, they remain valid. In the coming year, Kosovo should in particular: ®make the necessary legislative amendments to the Law on public officials in line with the Constitutional Court ruling, finalise outstanding sub-legal acts and start effectively implementing the law; ®align contradictory special laws with the Law on General Administrative Procedures and address the current backlog of administrative court cases; ®increase accountability in the public sector by implementing the action plan on the rationalisation of agencies and creating a clear framework for managerial accountability and the delegation of responsibilities in public institutions, in line with the new Law on organisation and functioning of state administration and independent agencies; ®ensure full respect for merit-based recruitment and dismissal of public officials, especially senior management. Strategic framework for public administration reform Progress in the implementation of the three public administration reform strategies slowed down following the resignation of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, due to lack of decision-making on key implementing legislation. Implementation of the 2016-2020 public financial management reform strategy continued. The government continued to monitor implementation of the strategies and published annual monitoring reports. Reporting improved further. However, monitoring of the public administration reform strategies focused primarily on the implementation of individual activities without a proper analysis of specific results, which made real assessment of progress difficult. Further progress on linking strategic priorities with government budgeting will improve both implementation and monitoring. Civil society continues to monitor the government’s reform efforts. The lead central institutions are working well together to efficiently coordinate the reform process and ensure an appropriate monitoring and reporting system. There is a need to improve administrative data collection, storage and quality control. The Minister for Public Administration and the National Coordinator for State Reform in the Haradinaj government demonstrated political support for the implementation of reforms. However, during the political transition following the resignation of former Prime Minister Haradinaj, such political commitment was lacking, which slowed down reforms. The Albin Kurti government’s decision to decrease the number of ministries and therefore, merge the Ministry of Public Administration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs further delayed implementation of reforms. Under the new government, responsibilities for the public administration reform remain within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, while the Deputy Prime Minister has been put in charge of the overall political coordination of reforms, including the public administration reform. It is important that the new government builds on the progress already achieved and demonstrates commitment to and ownership of the public administration reform. Policy development and coordination The policy-making system, including for EU‑related reforms, is complex and is currently being reviewed, to better link strategic priorities with the budgeting process. A new national strategic management framework is being developed, and will accompany the administrative instruction on strategic planning, development and monitoring. The new framework aims to reduce overlaps between sector strategies and should improve prioritisation and budget planning, as well assimplify reporting. The Office of the Prime Minister has to ensure that there is strong quality control and monitoring to support implementation. Some aspects of inclusive and evidence-based policy and legislative development are in place, though ad hoc policy-making persists, and in many cases is influenced by special interests. The Office of the Prime Minister should take a stronger leadership role in ensuring that regulatory and budgetary impact assessments and EU acquis alignment opinions are systematically considered and addressed in adopted government decisions. Improved administrative data collection and its systematic use for policy-making remain necessary across the administration. Public consultations are organised regularly, but the minimum standards for such consultations are not being followed consistently. In 2019, more than 82% of all primary policy documents and draft laws were published for consultation on the web portal. As the response rate from civil society and the public remains relatively low, the government is making efforts to promote the use of the web-portal. Public scrutiny of government work is improving with the increased availability of public data on the government’s open data platform. By the end of 2019, 195 data sets were published in the Open Data Portal. Consistent implementation of the new Law on access to public documents should further improve the public’s ability to hold the government to account. The government continued to make efforts to increase the possibility for civil society to contribute meaningfully to policy design, monitoring and the evaluation of government plans and programmes. Parliamentary scrutiny of the government remains inadequate (see section 2.1.1 – Democracy). Public financial management The 2016-2020 Public Financial Management Reform Strategy sufficiently addresses the most pressing challenges facing the government in this area. The 2019-2020 Action Plan is well developed and includes detailed costing.

Work to improve the relevance of the medium-term expenditure framework linking national development priorities and budget planning is ongoing. Public procurement procedures are increasingly transparent. However, contract implementation remains prone to irregularities and vulnerable to corruption. Domestic revenue collection increased during 2019, albeit still falling short of budgeted projections. (see also Chapters 5, 16, 29 and 32) To improve budget transparency, the Ministry of Finance launched a regularly maintained and well functioning ‘transparency portal’ containing budgetary information from central and municipal level institutions. The government continues to publish the citizen-friendly budget. However, the IT systems available in the Ministry of Finance and related bodies need to be looked at further to ensure that they provide better integrated real time information on public revenue and expenditure. Public service and human resource management The legal framework for the merit-based recruitment, promotion, dismissal, and the remuneration of civil servants improved with the adoption of the Law on public officials and the Law on salaries in February 2019. However, application of the laws was suspended after the Ombudsperson challenged them in front of the Consitutional Court. In June 2020, the Court took its final decision on the application of the two laws, declaring the Law on salaries unconsitutional and proposing further legislative amendments to the Law on public officials. The merger of the Ministry of Public Administration into the Interior Ministry has delayed the development of organisational capacities to manage the new system of public officials as set out in the Law on public officials. Some secondary legislation, including the classification of public officials, still needs to be finalised to fully implement the Law. . Although the procedures for the recruitment of senior civil servants improved, political influence over such appointments and dismissals remained a serious concern. Non-majority communities remain underrepresented in central public institutions and women are still highly underrepresented in senior positions in the civil service. The Independent Civil Service Oversight Board, the autonomous appeals body tasked with ensuring compliance with applicable civil service legislation, is currently not functional due to a lack of board members. As a result, hundreds of complaints regarding employment disputes of civil servants and candidates for admission to the civil service have not been reviewed. Cases are ending up in courts instead. The capacity of the Kosovo Institute for Public Administration with a limited budget and ability to provide the necessary training remains weak, which continues to hamper the recruitment process and professional development of civil servants. Performance appraisals continue to have little impact on career development. This undermines the implementation of the Law on public officials, in particular for the recruitment, initial training and professional development of civil servants. Also, line institutions’ human resources management units need to be improved. An information system was set up to manage human resources, but not all modules are operational and there is still no interoperability with the payroll system. Although measures such as integrity plans are in place to promote integrity in the public service, they are not systematically implemented across the administration. Implementation of the Law on conflicts of interest remains patchy. Progress was made in the implementation of whistle-blower protection rules with the appointmenmt of officers tasked with handling whistle-blower complaints in over 175 public institutions. However, whistle-blowing mechanisms and protection requirements now need to be strengthened in practice. Annual reports on disciplinary measures taken against civil servants are being regularly published (see section on the fight against corruption). Accountability of the administration Kosovo demonstrated its commitment to strengthening the lines of accountability in its administration. Despite this commitment, however, there was no progress on implementing the action plan on the rationalisation of agencies adopted in June 2018, due to the political situation in Kosovo. Implementation of the Law on the organisation and functioning of public administration and independent agencies which paves the way for a more efficient administration respecting the principles of merit and transparency, is currently hampered by the absence of approved implementing legislation. It is important that the implementing legislation is effectively enforced throughout the administration once it is in place. Although the new law introduces clearer administrative, budgetary and decision-making lines within the administration, Kosovo still needs to make considerable further efforts to implement managerial accountability, put in place better performance management mechanisms, and delegate decision-making responsibilities within the public administration (see section 6.25 – Financial control). The independent oversight institutions, especially the Ombudsperson and the Kosovo National Audit Office, continue to address citizens’ right to good administration. The government should ensure more efficient implementation of their recommendations. The Law on access to public documents was adopted in May 2019, thus ensuring citizens’ right to access public information. The judiciary needs to increase its efficiency in handling administrative dispute cases in order to support citizens’ right to administrative justice. The Basic Court in Pristina still struggles with a large backlog of administrative cases as well as many incoming minor offence cases. The backlog in administrative cases dropped from 1,511 cases in 2018 to 950 cases in 2019, but had by the end of June 2020 climbed back up to 1,415, likely due to the courts only dealing with urgent cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Likewise, the Basic Court in Pristina received 301 minor offence cases while by the end of June 2020 the number was at 1,705. . The liability of public authorities in cases of wrongdoing and the right to seek compensation are affected by fragmented legislation. The Law on general administrative procedures is not correctly enforced by the justice system. No data is collected to monitor implementation. Service delivery to citizens and businesses Although the government promotes a user-oriented administration, there are weaknesses in the leadership, policy direction and coordination of the overall reform process. Many institutions continue to implement their own solutions alongside the central electronic identification (eID) tools that are being developed. Ways to collect citizens’ and businesses’ feedback on the quality of service delivery still needs to be systematically developed. An interoperability platform exists and is now functional but the quality of registered data needs to improve for the platform to be useful. While legislation on equal access to services is in place, it is not systematically applied. Kosovo continued to make limited progress on the simplification of administrative procedures. An inventory of laws with special administrative procedures now exists, but only limited progress was made on aligning the sector laws with the Law on general administrative procedures. Considerable efforts are needed both from the administrative justice sector and the public administration to uphold the obligations and rights under the Law on general administrative procedures. 2.2Rule of law and fundamental rights 2.2.1Judiciary and fundamental rights Kosovo is at an early stage in/has some level of preparation for applying the EU acquis and the European standards in this area. Some progress has been made, including in the investigation and prosecution of some high-level corruption and organised crime cases and with the partial implementation of some rule of law-related legislation concerning judiciary, corruption and organised crime. Problems with the capacity of judiciary and prosecution persist. As regards fundamental rights, strategies and policies need to be streamlined and proper oversight provided. The government needs to take fundamental rights more seriously and include it higher on the political agenda. Existing human rights mechanisms need to be strengthened. Functioning of the judiciary Kosovo is at an early stage in developing a well-functioning judicial system. The administration of justice remains slow and inefficient. Some progress was achieved in 2019. As regards last year’s recommendations, the Law on disciplinary liability of judges and prosecutors started being implemented efficiently. This work should continue. The roll‑out of an electronic case‑management system and the establishment of a central criminal records system have advanced well. The Kosovo Judicial Council and Kosovo Prosecutorial Council have made efforts to implement the legislation relevant to their functioning, which entered into force in early 2019. The ongoing Functional Review of the Rule of Law Sector has provided a sound basis to reform and modernise various aspects of the judiciary. The government should take this work forward. Work on the implementation of the Law on Mediation has progressed, however some secondary legislation remains to be adopted. There were cases of political interference in the judiciary. Rule of law institutions need sustained efforts to build up their capacities. The COVID-19 pandemic limited the holding of court hearings in Kosovo; yet the Kosovo Criminal Procedure Code provides that a trial has to re-start after 3 months without any hearing. An important number of criminal trials criminal trials (including high-profile ones) may be affected by this rule. Kosovo authorities should follow-up on this issue and take the necessary measures to ensure effective and efficient conduct of justice in Kosovo. Among the lessons learned from the crisis, it appears necessary to have measures in place for the organisation and work of courts, including through IT connections, as well as for communication of the judiciary with the wider public during states of emergency.

In the coming year, Kosovo should in particular: ®continue to strengthen the capacity of judges, prosecutors and support staff, and improve the court administration, in particular through the full roll-out of the National Centralised Criminal Records System as well as the Case Management Information System throughout Kosovo with the latter system able to perform random case allocation and to provide reliable statistical data, in line with the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ) methodology; ®finalise the work on the Functional Review of the Rule of Law Sector and put in place a comprehensive sector strategy aiming at strengthening the independence, impartiality, integrity, accountability as well as the overall capacity of judiciary and prosecution, with a specific focus on fighting corruption and organised crime; ®step up efforts to reduce the backlog of cases, including by using alternative dispute resolution tools and in particular mediation, the use of which should be properly financed and promoted. Strategic documents The Kosovo Prosecutorial and Judicial Councils have adopted strategic plans and objectives for judiciary and prosecution system. However, overall these documents only set the general objectives and should be accompanied by detailed annual action plans for such objectives to be actually met. Kosovo lacks a proper mechanism for inter‑institutional coordination. Kosovo institutions should have more effective mechanisms to ensure proper coordination of the many rule of law programmes supported by various donors in order to avoid inefficiencies, incoherence and duplication of efforts. Kosovo still has no comprehensive strategy for the rule of law sector. The functional review of the rule of law sector, which is expected to produce such a strategy, has stalled due to the parliamentary elections and change in governments. The government should continue to support the drafting of a strategy in the rule of law sector, including an action plan, prioritise the functional review and support continuous work on its completion. Activity related to the Justice 2020 initiative was halted when the Haradinaj government resigned in the summer of 2019. Management bodies The Kosovo Judicial and the Prosecutorial Council are the key bodies in charge of ensuring the independence and impartiality of the judiciary and managing the judicial system and careers of judges and prosecutors. Their composition and appointment procedures are broadly in line with European standards. The judiciary has elected its remaining members of the Kosovo Judicial Council. After some delays, in August 2020, the Assembly also elected two members of the Judicial Council. One position, a representative from the non-majority communities, remains open. Likewise, the Assembly elected one member of the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (representing the law faculty). Two other members, out of 13, (representing the Bar Association and Civil Society) have still not been appointed by the Assembly. The Assembly should ensure a full constitution of both Councils, without delay. The formal process of integrating Kosovo Serb judges and prosecutors in the judicial system was concluded in 2017. Continuous efforts are necessary to uphold provisions on composition of panels for cases coming from Serb-majority municipalities, in particular in appeal, and to ensure that judicial proceedings can be accessed in all official languages across Kosovo. The number of qualified translators is insufficient, however, and poor translation of legislation remains an issue. There is a problem of access to judgments and decisions, rendered by the Serbian courts in Kosovo between 1999 and up until the integration of Serbian judges in October 2017, and there is no procedure in place to implement the agreement providing for the recognition of such judgements and decisions.. Independence and impartiality The Constitution and legal framework provide clear safeguards for the independence and impartiality of the judiciary. In order to ensure this in practice, more efforts are needed to effectively shield the judicial system from undue pressure and interference. The Councils should react more efficiently and actively in cases of alleged political interference in the prosecution and the judiciary. Under the existing legal framework, judges and prosecutors cannot be transferred without their consent. The Regulation on Internal Organisation of Courts provides for random allocation of cases, which is available through the case management information system since mid-February 2020. However, in practice cases are not always randomly assigned to either prosecutors or judges. A random assignment of all cases through the case management information system is not yet possible as this system has yet to be fully introduced in the justice system. High profile and sensitive cases are not always processed in a timely manner. Protective measures to ensure the safety of judges and prosecutors are the responsibility of the two Councils. There were no new requests in 2019; one prosecutor was granted protection at the beginning of 2020. Two other prosecutors are still under close protection granted earlier. Accountability Codes of ethics are in place for judges, prosecutors and attorneys. Continuous efforts are needed to ensure effective implementation. The new Code of Ethics for prosecutors entered into force in March 2019. As of July 2019, disciplinary procedures are conducted in accordance with the 2018 Law on Disciplinary Liability of Judges and Prosecutors, which provides for more robust and clear disciplinary mechanisms with set deadlines and a clear division of powers and responsibilities. The Councils enacted the relevant secondary legislation to implement this law in a timely manner. Several disciplinary investigations against judges and prosecutors were conducted by the respective panels. In the reporting period, the Judicial Council took immediate action to suspend two judges who had been arrested on suspicion of having committed criminal offences. One prosecutor was dismissed based on a proposal of the Prosecutorial Council. Most of the other investigations resulted either in the decision that there was no violation of the rules, or in the disciplinary measures of non-public written remarks and temporary reductions of salary. Although there has been some progress in the implementation of the legal framework on disciplinary measures, efforts are still needed to ensure more consistent and effective application of disciplinary proceedings against judges and prosecutors. This includes the provision of reliable and accurate information on on-going and finalised disciplinary proceedings carried out by both Councils. Judges and prosecutors are obliged by law to declare their assets and gifts received, and to report any possible conflict of interest to the Anti-Corruption Agency. In 2019, they all did so in a timely manner.

Professionalism and competence The Councils independently organise recruitment processes for judges and prosecutors on the basis of merit-based criteria after which successful candidates are appointed by the President for an initial three-year term. During the reporting period, 12 Basic Prosecution Offices prosecutors were appointed. However, 27 vacancies for judges remain unfilled. The Councils need to ensure that the evaluation and background checks of judges and prosecutors have a clear legal basis and do not interfere in the private lives of judges and prosecutors. The Councils are required to carry out performance evaluations of prosecutors and judges with a permanent mandate every three years. In 2019, the Prosecutorial Council evaluated 90 prosecutors and the Judicial Council evaluated 74 judges. The results of the evaluation (95% of prosecutors and 99% of judges with permanent mandates were rated ‘good’ or ‘very good’, and none were rated ‘insufficient’) are in stark contrast to the public perception of prosecutors’ and judges’ professionalism. The quality of performance evaluations conducted by both Councils remains an issue, and there is no realistic, effective and systematic evaluation based on clear criteria. The level of professionalism and competence, especially of prosecutors, remains a matter of concern: some are inadequately trained and some are unwilling to apply the training received and to take full responsibility for their cases. Quality of justice The Academy of Justice is responsible for delivering initial in‑service training for judges and prosecutors and the legal and administrative staff of courts, prosecution offices and both Councils. It also provides training for the free legal professions. Further in‑service training is needed, including on values and professional skills. In particular in specialised areas such as economic crime including money laundering, confiscation and public procurement, mediation, the new provisions of the revised Criminal Code (including on domestic violence and sexual harassment), and European Court of Human Rights case law, more work is needed. Judicial education needs to play a more prominent role in the performance evaluation process. Oversight and reporting lines of the Academy of Justice should be strengthened in line with European best practices. On jurisprudence, despite the adoption of sentencing guidelines by the Supreme Court, there are still cases of lenient sentencing (in particular in the area of high-level corruption and organised crime), with a prevalence of fines and suspended sentences. The 2018 Law on Courts aims to increase transparency by making it obligatory for all courts to publish their judgments on an accessible and searchable web portal within 60 days. Some progress has been made but publications have not always been consistent or timely due to a lack of resources. The prosecution offices publish relevant information on indictments on the website of the State Prosecutor within 24 hours. The Academy of Justice maintains a database of legislation, commentaries and other legal material accessible to all judges and prosecutors. Following the appointment of 37 judges in January 2019 and 12 prosecutors in May 2019, Kosovo now has 416 judges (137 women and 279 men) and 181 prosecutors (78 women and 103 men), which means around 23 judges and 10 prosecutors per 100,000 inhabitants. According to the Council of Europe’s European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ), the European average is 21 judges and 11 prosecutors per 100,000 inhabitants. Kosovo still has a low percentage of female judges and prosecutors in comparison with most other European countries. The initially approved budget for the judiciary (including prosecution, courts, the Academy of Justice and the Correctional and Probation Service) was EUR 59.2 million in 2019 and EUR 59.5 million in 2020 (up from EUR 48.9 million in 2018), or respectively 2.53% and 2.49% of the general budget (2.35% in 2018). For e-justice tools, the implementation of the case management information system (CMIS) is ongoing. The CMIS enables both judiciary and prosecution systems to process all cases electronically, which will end manual registrations. Data for all parties in proceedings must be correctly verified. Efforts are underway to connect the police information system to CMIS (see section on the fight against organised crime). Continued commitment is needed to ensure that the systems are used systematically and that the data entered is accurate, in particular so that it is possible to automatically obtain reliable statistical data on the performance of the judiciary and prosecution (in line with the recommendations and methodology of the CEPEJ). Work on a central criminal records registry has shown very good progress with almost 100% of cases and convicted people entered into the system. Verification of the real identities of convicted people is ongoing. However, more commitment from the courts is needed to ensure the system’s sustainability and full involvement of court staff. There is a tracking mechanism for high-level corruption and organised crime cases; it currently includes 61 cases. The mediation system has been operational since 2008. The new Law on Mediation, which entered into force in September 2018, was followed up in April/May 2019 with both Councils adopting the Regulation on Mediation for their respective organisations. Mediation clerks were assigned in all basic courts and prosecution offices. In 2019, the courts referred 2,846 cases to mediation and prosecution offices referred 2,244 cases, a significant increase compared with 2018. The 189 licensed mediators (67 women, 122 men), of whom 14 were from the Serb-majority municipalities, solved 3,859 cases. Public awareness and familiarity with alternative dispute resolution tools remains low. Several awareness‑raising campaigns and training activities were carried out in 2019. The mediation system needs further strengthening, and this can be achieved through full implementation of the recently adopted Law and allocation of a sufficient budget. Positive first steps on online mediation were started in early 2020. Efficiency The efficiency of criminal justice is seriously hampered by shortcomings in criminal legislation. The outstanding revision of the Criminal Procedure Code, which would address many of the existing issues, remains to be adopted by the Assembly. The capacity of judges to manage court proceedings efficiently needs to be significantly improved to avoid unreasonably protracted proceedings and ultimately low-quality decisions. Judges do not make full use of the tools available to them, such as the possibility to impose punitive and disciplinary measures on parties absent at hearings. Frequent transfers of cases between administrative bodies and basic and appeal courts further lengthen court cases and place additional administrative burden on court officials. Scheduling conflicts, leading to the absence of a judge or a prosecutor, means to a further amount of hearings fail. The organisation of judges in fixed panels within the special departments should be avoided. Overall, all this leads to long disposition times (i.e. the average time from filing an indictment to receiving a judgment). Furthermore, these delays in proceedings, in combination with a preference for detention over other restrictive measures, have led to cases of overly long detention. In the reporting period, the Ombudsperson again received a high number of complaints concerning delays in judicial proceedings. Authorities need to consider introducing an effective judicial legal remedy to address such delays, including compensation. There is a need to improve strategic planning, which also requires efforts to introduce reliable statistical systems for the judiciary based on CEPEJ indicators, and to use the findings for the management and policy-making purposes. Although the number of professional associates in all Kosovo courts has increased in 2019, the number of legal staff directly assisting judges and prosecutors is still insufficient. A number of vacancies remain open and not all positions needed were budgeted in the 2020 budget. The reform of the enforcement system, with which Kosovo passed in 2014 from court enforcement to a combined system of private enforcement agents and courts, has been generally successful. The introduction of private enforcement agents has shortened procedures and raised the overall level of debt collection. The court run enforcement system still faces a considerable backlog, however. Enforcement agents must be given easy access to public registers pertaining to their work. Institutions are often not aware of the possibility to send cases to the private enforcement agents, despite attempts at raising awareness. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, courts and prosecution offices have functioned with significantly reduced capacities since mid-March 2020. However, on-duty staff still duly process urgent actions (in line with applicable legislation). In order to address the risk of an increased backlog of cases and cases reaching their statutory limitations, both the Kosovo Judicial Council and the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council have developed emergency plans, which also include measures to return to work and some virtual court hearings in individual cases. The COVID-19 pandemic limited the holding of court hearings in Kosovo; yet the Kosovo Criminal Procedure Code provides that a trial has to re-start after 3 months without any hearing. An important number of criminal trials (including high-profile ones) may be affected by this rule. Kosovo authorities should follow-up on this issue and take the necessary measures to ensure effective and efficient conduct of justice in Kosovo. Among the lessons learned from the crisis, it appears necessary to have measures in place for the organisation and work of courts, including through IT connections, as well as for communication of the judiciary with the wider public during states of emergency. Domestic handling of war crime cases The Kosovo Prosecutorial Council adopted the strategy on war crimes in February 2019, but its implementation is severely hampered by political issues, a lack of resources and the lack of international and regional cooperation. In the reporting period, the Kosovo Police arrested seven people suspected of war crimes and several investigations were opened. Following two acquittals in the beginning of 2019, in June 2019 the Basic Court of Prizren delivered the first conviction for a war crime since the end of EULEX’s executive judicial mandate in June 2018. Significant concerns remain about the willingness to investigate, prosecute, judge and effectively enforce convictions in war crime cases involving former Kosovo Liberation Army members. The Kosovo police introduced some reforms in this area, including the installation of a new electronic war crimes database and a reconfiguration of the War Crimes Investigation Unit. This constitutes significant progress in the field of case management, case building and case analysis.

The Special Prosecution Office of Kosovo filed its first war crimes indictment only in May 2019. Its war crimes department continues to face significant challenges, after its workload substantially increased with the various cases handed over by EULEX. The department operates with only three prosecutors, which is not sufficient. There is a need for more training and more support staff. Mutual legal cooperation between Kosovo and Serbia in war crimes cases is extremely limited. Cooperation with the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals in The Hague, which possesses a lot of evidence and prosecutorial know-how, remains difficult due to status-related issues. The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office (SPO), set up to investigate and prosecute allegations stemming from the 2011 Council of Europe Report, which alleges serious violations of international law, stepped up their work with interviews of dozens of potential witnesses and suspects. In February and April 2020, the SPO formally notified the Specialist Chambers of his intent to initiate proceedings, subject to confirmation of a pre-trial judge. On 24 June 2020, the SPO made public that the latter request concerns a ten-count indictment, including against Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi and the leader of the opposition party PDK, Kadri Veseli. In September, the SPO conducted several arrests. Full cooperation with the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office and Specialist Chambers remains essential. It is crucial that the Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office are able to continue to do their work independently, without any outside interference. A working arrangement establishing cooperation between the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office and Europol entered into force on 4 July 2020. As from February 2018, victims can apply to the Government Commission on Recognition and Verification of the Status of Survivors of Sexual Violence during the Conflict for recognition and verification to receive individual benefits. By August 2020, 1,283 individuals had submitted applications, of which 846 were accepted and 262 were rejected. The timeframe of the law excludes those who suffered conflict-related sexual violence after 20 June 1999. Often, in addition to problems regarding access to justice, survivors of sexual violence also face societal stigma. The legislation does not address this aspect. Kosovo needs to develop an overarching strategy for transitional justice, including a comprehensive approach to addressing its past. The preparatory team in charge of drafting a normative act, which will serve as the basis for a future Truth and Reconciliation Commission, met on a weekly basis throughout 2019. A round of consultations with civil society, religious groups, legal professionals, former political prisoners, artists, organisations advocating for missing persons, veterans and women victims of sexual violence during the war was concluded in May 2019. The preparatory team should make sure that the future Commission is a gender sensitive and inclusive body in which all Kosovo communities are adequately represented. This Commission should enjoy cross-party support, in accordance with EU and international standards. Other reconciliation initiatives are taking place as well. In May 2019, the Kosovo Coalition for Reconciliation, led by three Kosovo civil society organisations, started its activities. At the regional level, Kosovo maintained its participation in the Coalition for the Commission tasked with establishing the Facts about All Victims of War Crimes and Other Serious Human Rights Violations committed in the territory of the Former Yugoslavia (RECOM). Fight against corruption Kosovo is at an early stage/has some level of preparation in the fight against corruption. In the reporting period, limited progress was made, including on the investigation and prosecution of high level cases, on the confiscation of assets as well as through the creation of the Special Departments handling cases regarding high-level corruption (and organised crime) in the courts. Additional special prosecutors have been recruited, but the overall capacity of the prosecution, including as regards supporting staff, remains low. The revised Criminal Procedure Code is still not adopted, while the revision of political party financing legislation was delayed. Overall results achieved by prosecution and courts remain poor and final confiscations of assets remain low. Kosovo has partly followed some recommendations of the 2019 report (capacity of the special prosecution office, partial implementation of legislation). Most of the recommendations remain valid. Robust implementation of the previously revised legislation remains crucial. Overall, corruption is widespread and remains an issue of serious concern. Despite efforts made, there is a need for strong and continual political will to effectively address corruption issues, as well as a robust criminal justice response to high-level corruption. In the coming year, Kosovo should in particular: ®strengthen the efficiency of confiscation regime by promoting systematic use of both extended and ‘regular’ confiscation by prosecution and police, by the creation of a confiscation fund and by improving the sales process of sequestrated and confiscated assets managed by Agency for the Management and Sequestrated and Confiscated Assets (AMSCA); ®adopt the revised Criminal Procedure Code, including provisions on the suspension of public officials indicted for corruption-related offences; ®ensure that the financial reports and campaign disclosure reports of political parties are consistently published and audited, and sanctions applied for violations of relevant laws. Amend the legal framework governing political party and campaign financing in line with the opinion of the Venice Commission, to ensure effective enforcement, accountability and transparency. Track record In July 2018, the European Commission confirmed that Kosovo had met the benchmark in its visa liberalisation roadmap to strengthen the track record in the fight against organised crime and corruption. These efforts should continue and the Commission will continue to actively monitor the further development of this specific track record. The track record mechanism for visa liberalisation, established in 2015 to monitor and coordinate high-level corruption and organised crime cases includes 66 cases by July 2020. There have been 56 indictments so far, of which 36 cases concern corruption and 20 cases concern organised crime. 13 cases had a final verdict, out of which 8 ended with a (partially) guilty verdict, leading to 15 individuals being convicted of corruption-related offences. This track record was designed in the specific context of visa liberalisation benchmarks Eventually, there should be one, comprehensive track record which covers all high-level cases relating to organised crime and corruption. As such, the rules governing inclusion of cases within this mechanism (standard operating procedures) should be revised to allow all cases against high-level officials to be prioritised and be handled with the highest level of scrutiny within a single comprehensive and overall track record. Since it was set up, the Anti-Corruption Agency has sent more than 1,000 cases to the prosecution, including more than 100 referrals in 2019. Of the 126 cases pending in 2019 (55 pending from previous periods, 71 new referrals in 2019), the prosecution has filed indictments in 42 cases. There were 11 court decisions in 2019. Many of the reports submitted by the Agency still suffer from poor quality. The prosecution should demonstrate more willingness to pursue cases related to corruption. In 2019, 419 new cases of criminal offences against official duty involving 896 individuals were reported. There were 6 new cases related to corruption in public procurement and 502 new cases related to economic crimes. Asset confiscation continues to be seen as only an auxiliary aspect of criminal proceedings with insufficient focus and resources put into it. Although in general the institutional and legal framework is in place and has been significantly improved with the entry into force of the new Law on Extended Powers of confiscation in January 2019, this has not yet delivered results. The concept of asset confiscation is poorly understood amongst prosecutors and judges, including a restrictive interpretation of legal principles. The willingness to confiscate assets is low. The prosecution remains the weakest link in this regard. It should improve its technical shortcomings. The total amount of confiscated assets remains low. Preliminary confiscation of assets fell to EUR 8.7 million in 2019 (compared with EUR 28 million in 2018). The value of final confiscation rose substantially (EUR 991,593) compared to 2018 (EUR 49,394), albeit in the context of only one case. Furthermore, the Agency for the Management of Sequestrated and Confiscated Assets (handling more than EUR 1.3 million in various assets in 2019) struggles to manage the assets in its portfolio, partially due to the courts not allowing asset sales (it has only managed to sell assets totalling EUR 74,166). Work on the creation of a Confiscation Fund, which would allocate confiscated funds in part to law enforcement, prosecution and courts and in part to social projects, has not progressed and should be taken up by the government.

In 2019, almost 99% of the 4,819 officials obliged to submit annual declarations of assets did so on time (only 60, less than 1.25%, failed to do so). The Anti-Corruption Agency has 974 officials under the full assets control procedure and more than 62 cases under investigation for false declarations. In the reporting period, prosecution offices received a number of cases on irregularities detected in asset declarations concerning 60 persons; the cases of 60 people were solved during this same period. The system for declaring and assessing the origin of property belonging to senior public officials remains incomplete. The Agency still lacks tools and resources to verify asset declarations. The long-proposed amendments to the relevant legislation, together with amendments to the Law on the Anti-Corruption Agency remain to be adopted. Furthermore, these checks require closer cooperation and the exchange of data with the police, the tax administration, the Financial Intelligence Unit, the land registry and municipal authorities. An e-declaration system would simplify filing and monitoring, increase transparency and decrease instances of human error. In 2019, the Agency handled more than 167 cases of conflict of interest, of which 2 were addressed using the minor offence procedure and 3 were sent for further criminal investigation. In 26 cases, a conflict of interest was avoided. Funding for political parties and campaign financing lacks transparency and the regulatory framework remains inadequate. Overall, the regulatory framework does not ensure complete reporting, timely disclosure, meaningful oversight or accountability for irregularities. Political entities are required to submit campaign finance reports to the Central Election Commission only within 45 days after election day, which does not facilitate transparency or oversight. Furthermore, auditors are required to verify the content of financial reports submitted but not to identify unreported income or expenditure, which limits the scope of oversight. Past auditing reports identified inaccuracies in political party financial reports, but no sanctions were imposed. Existing sanctions (mostly fines ranging from EUR 1,000 to EUR 5,000) are not dissuasive or effective. Institutional framework There are 19 different anti-corruption institutions in Kosovo. Coordination between them remains weak and therefore responsibilities frequently overlap. Strengthening inter-institutional coordination, including securing access to relevant databases, is key to effectively fighting corruption in Kosovo. Prevention measures The Anti-Corruption Agency is responsible for preparing, monitoring and supervising the adoption and implementation of the anti-corruption strategy and action plan. Its responsibilities include: (i) supervising and verifying the asset declarations of state officials, (ii) supervising and preventing conflict of interest cases and the acceptance of gifts, (iii) deciding on restrictions on the performance of other activities, (iv) providing advice on the implementation of the related laws and on anti-corruption issues, and (v) assisting public and private sector institutions in developing codes of ethics. The Auditor-General, the tax authorities, the customs authorities and the Financial Intelligence Unit also have inspecting and auditing powers. Training must be provided for staff of the main anti-corruption bodies, especially training on risk assessment. The Academy of Justice has integrated the anti-corruption programme into its training curriculum, including a specialised capacity building training programme on combating corruption, sequestration and confiscation, public procurement and financial investigation and money laundering. The existing trainings on asset confiscation need to be better attended. Overall, more training is needed, especially on asset confiscation. There is a continuous need to promote integrity in the public service as a tool for preventing corruption and ensuring discipline. The Anti-Corruption Agency did not continue further work on integrity plans for municipalities. Law enforcement Kosovo has specialised institutions for fighting corruption: the National Coordinator for Combating Economic Crimes within the prosecutorial system and the Police Directorate for the Investigation of Economic Crimes and Corruption, which maintains anti‑corruption units at police stations and headquarters. The organisational restructuring of the Kosovo Police in February 2019 also brought changes to the structure and staffing of the Economic Crime Directorate. The Anti-Corruption Task Force operates as a specialised unit within the Kosovo Police Investigation Department and aims to prevent, investigate and detect criminal offences against the economy and finances, as well as any corruption. The police has been involved in some investigations of corruption within the institutions of the Kosovo government and as a result, some high-profile cases have been presented to the prosecution. Separately, a complex investigation using covert measures has led to the indictment of two serving judges in two different regions. During the reporting period, the number of financial investigators working on organised crime and corruption investigations has increased. Financial investigations need to be carried out systematically, independently and in parallel with the criminal procedure for corruption and organised crime cases. The quality of investigations and indictments still often remains insufficient. Despite some progress, the Special Prosecution Office continues to suffer from a lack of sufficiently specialised staff with the required level of training and competence to deal specifically with financial and procurement cases. The Office still needs to be connected to the case management information system; this is planned for 2020. It is still not fully staffed with 15 prosecutors out of a planned number of 18. The position of Chief Special Prosecutor, who leads the Office, was vacant for nine months before a new Chief was appointed in December 2019. The Office has four prosecutors working in a new specialised section handling high-level corruption cases. The Basic Prosecution Office in Pristina has a Special Unit for Financial and Corruption cases, to which 10 prosecutors (3 from the General Department and 7 from the Serious and Organised Crime Department) are assigned. Each basic prosecution office has a designated anti-corruption prosecutor. Following their establishment by the new Law on Courts, special departments in the Basic Court of Pristina and the Court of Appeals handle all cases of the Special Prosecution Office, including corruption cases. Legal framework Criminal law provisions on corruption are generally in line with relevant European standards. Due to status-related issues, Kosovo is not a party to international anti-corruption conventions. This includes most notably the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the Council of Europe’s Criminal Law Convention on Corruption. However, Kosovo has made substantial efforts to align its legislation with these instruments. The new Criminal Code, which entered into force in April 2019, harmonised several provisions with European best practices and introduced the mandatory removal from office of public officials convicted of corruption. Substantial amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, such as provisions on the suspension of public officials indicted for corruption, have an important potential for the anti-corruption field, but they still remain to be adopted by the new legislature. The new Law on Extended Powers of Confiscation entered into force in January 2019 and gives Kosovo prosecutors more effective tools, which should now should be used. Although the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering clearly stipulates that the predicate offence does not have to be proven to retain a conviction on money laundering, this principle still remains unclear to both judges and prosecutors. As a result, many stand-alone money laundering cases are dismissed by the Special Prosecution Office. The Law on the Prevention of Conflicts of Interest, revised in 2018, should be fully implemented by the authorities. 659 senior public officials still occupy two or more posts, with several officials holding as much as five posts simultaneously, in direct violation of the law. Kosovo has no specific legislation on lobbying. The Law on the Protection of Whistle-Blowers is broadly in line with international standards, including the new EU legislation in this area. Officers tasked with handling whistle-blowers’ complaints were appointed in over 175 public institutions, but the secondary legislation detailing the procedure for such handling is yet to be adopted. Strengthened whistle‑blowing mechanisms and protection requirements still need to be implemented in practice.

In 2019, the Assembly failed to adopt amendments to the legal framework on political parties and election campaign finances prepared by the government after consultation of the Venice Commission. Kosovo continues to need better functioning, more accountable, more transparent and enforceable party finance and campaign finance legislation. The government and Assembly should take this forward on the basis of the existing draft law. Strategic framework The anti-corruption strategy and action plan for 2018-2022, adopted by the government in March 2018, were submitted to the Assembly only in October 2018 and have not yet been approved. In parallel, the government started reviewing its strategic framework on anti-corruption in the context of the functional review (see section on the functioning of the judiciary). The government still needs to demonstrate genuine leadership, the ability to practise advance planning and a willingness to allocate adequate resources to the fight against corruption. A monitoring mechanism should be set up to regularly assess the impact of a new strategy and action plan. Fundamental rights The legal framework guarantees the protection of fundamental rights and is in line with European standards. The adoption of the new Law on Child Protection fulfilled one of the recommendations of last year’s report. More needs to be done to promote and ensure full implementation of human rights legislation and policies. The government’s coordination of human rights and minority protection mechanisms, both at the central and local levels, needs to improve and fundamental rights issues need to feature higher on the political agenda. Human and financial resources are lacking and relevant authorities are still dependant on donor support and guidance and need to assume greater ownership. Inter-ministerial coordination mechanisms are often treated as a formality and have proven to be ineffective in advancing human rights. More efforts need to be undertaken to address recommendations of the 2019 report, which are still applicable. In the coming year, Kosovo should in particular: ®re-assess and strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of the mechanisms for the coordination and implementation of human rights policies and strategies. Strengthen the role of the anti-discrimination officers in mi