FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Albania the last in the region to absorb EU funds...
Albania is one of the most pro-European Union countries in the Western Balkans. According to the latest Eurobarometer survey (autumn 2024), in Albania, 81% of citizens show trust in the EU and 83% believe that EU membership would be a positive thing.
Support is much higher than other countries such as Montenegro (75%), Kosovo (70%), North Macedonia and Bosnia (each 56%) and lowest in Serbia, with only 38%.
The high support for the EU in Albania reflects several factors such as the fact that EU membership is seen as a path towards higher democratic standards and justice.
Many Albanians believe that joining the EU will bring investment, employment, improvements in public services, and a higher standard of living.
On the other hand, this belief reflects the lack of trust, or the inability of post-'90 governments to improve and develop the country, which even today is among the poorest in Europe and among the most corrupt, according to the Transparency International indices.
Although the EU, in the last decade, must admit that it has not had a great appetite for expansion, opportunities for Albania have not been lacking, within the framework of regional plans for economic development.
But how much have we used them?! Data from the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF) for 2020-2024 show that Albania has attracted projects with an investment value of around 600 million euros, very low compared to Serbia (2.5 billion euros), or Bosnia and Herzegovina (2 billion euros).
Even among these projects, there are those that have been endlessly delayed, such as the Tirana bypass (worth over 200 million euros), which still does not know when it will be completed.
This was the only road project within Corridor 8 and the Blue Corridor, while the government preferred to develop the other road segments in the form of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects, with costs per kilometer that are resulting much higher than the projects that the Western Balkan countries are carrying out through the WBIF.
The projects that Albania is currently benefiting from are mainly in the railway field, where again there have been delays (Tirana-Durres railway), they are taking more than three years and do not yet have an exact deadline for completion.
IPARD (Instrument for the Improvement of Agriculture and Rural Development) projects, an EU financial instrument intended for candidate and potential candidate countries, aiming to improve the rural sector and agriculture, are another missed opportunity.
The project was suspended by the European Union due to corruption cases, leaving agriculture without funding, forcing the government to create a special financing line through the Bank of Albania. For the years 2023-2027, this project would finance about 100 million euros for agriculture.
Albania is now part of the Western Balkans Growth Plan, which offers 6 billion euros in additional financial assistance to support socio-economic and fundamental reforms, as well as relevant investments.
Until 2027, Albania has the opportunity to receive up to 922.1 million euros in total from the Reform and Growth Mechanism for the Western Balkans, in exchange for reforms in the rule of law and fundamental rights, renewable energy, digital economy, human capital and private sector development.
Don't expect this plan to work miracles.
First, the amount itself is not high. For example, the government's capital expenditures from the budget have already reached 1 billion euros per year. On the other hand, only 30% of it are grants, while the rest is investment, i.e. loans, which Albania, with its improved public debt indicator (about 54% of GDP) can get anywhere.
Allocated annually, these grants do not exceed 80-100 million euros, the same amount we receive today from the IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance), an EU financial tool that aims to help candidate and potential candidate countries prepare for membership.
Second, this money will be provided in exchange for reforms in the rule of law and fundamental rights, renewable energy, the digital economy, human capital and private sector development. Disbursements are conditional on the achievement of reforms specified in the Reform Agendas prepared by each beneficiary.
These reforms are, in fact, much more important than the grants or funding we can receive from the EU.
Before expecting from others, Albania must have the will to put its house in order from within, such as fighting corruption, strengthening the rule of law, modernizing public administration and improving transparency in the public sector, and creating a business environment with clear rules of the game.
Only by addressing these internal issues will Albania be able to demonstrate that the country is ready to embrace European norms and contribute to successful European integration.
This is Albania's real chance. / Monitor
Lini një Përgjigje