European Union and Council of Europe intensify support for consolidating key reforms to ensure justice, fight corruption, promote diversity and protect freedom of speech in Albania

The joint European Union and Council of Europe programme “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2019-2022” has been a valuable support to Albania in implementing the standards of the Council of Europe and in advancing the European Union accession process, concluded the participants of the 2nd Beneficiary Steering Committee Meeting.

Taking stock of the Horizontal Facility II actions in advancing the country’s reform agenda, partner and beneficiary institutions praised its tailored and flexible approach to emerging challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana, Jutta Gützkow, underlined that “Despite the new challenges accompanying the confinement measures of COVID-19 pandemic, our activities continued, thanks to the great co-operation and flexibility shown by all partners and beneficiaries. We believe that the Albanian institutions are increasingly capable of meeting the reform targets, in compliance with European norms and standards. We are aware that as a lot remains to be done to make this progress tangible for the society”.

The deputy Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Agron Tare, reiterated the commitment of the Albanian Government to fulfilling national and international obligations, to raise standards within the country and to achieve the major objective, its integration into the joint European family.

In his address, the Head of Co-operation in the Delegation of the European Union to Albania, Mario Mariani, underlined that “important steps have been taken to bring Albania closer to the EU and move forward in the accession process, for the benefit of all Albanian citizens. This was made possible also thanks to the support provided by the EU and Council of Europe joint Horizontal Facility II programme which is helping Albania to introduce or strengthen best European standards. It is essential that Albania continues showing ownership and ensuring lasting results by integrating the results and practices from the European Union/Council of Europe Horizontal Facility II into the national policies and practices.”

On behalf the Council of Europe Office of the Directorate General of Programmes, Delphine Freymann, reiterated the commitment of the Council of Europe, together with the European Union, to keep supporting Albania in its reform processes. “This is a key period for Albania in its EU accession agenda”, she stressed, “...and the Albanian partners should continue to make the best use of the Horizontal Facility to accompany their reforms in full compliance with European standards, towards better protection of citizens' rights”.

With a dedicated budget of over €4 million, the Horizontal Facility II programme in Albania (2019-2022) includes six actions in support of priority reforms concerning judiciary, property rights, the penitentiary system, the fight against corruption and organised crime as well as countering discrimination and promoting freedom of expression and media freedom.

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The joint European Union and Council of Europe Horizontal Facility II programme, was created as a co-operation initiative to assist Beneficiaries in the Western Balkans and Turkey to comply with Council of Europe standards and, where relevant, the European Union acquis in the framework of the enlargement process.

Despite the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the implementation of the actions under the Horizontal Facility II in Albania, notable results were achieved during its second year of implementation.

In the field of ensuring justice the programme’s actions continued the assistance to relevant judiciary institutions, inter alia, to advance with the finalisation of the new judicial map, to establish a unified methodology for collection of judicial statistics, to enrich the School of Magistrate curricula on efficiency and equality and to pilot the dematerialisation process in the courts. Targeted assistance was provided towards the harmonisation of the judicial practice in relation to property rights and the enforcement of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgements, including the establishment of a Helpline to inform citizens on the registration of agricultural land and finalisation of transitory property titles. In the area of prisoners’ rights, the training capacities of the General Directorate of Prison were further enhanced as an awareness raising initiative targeting 24 prison facilities aimed at informing prisoners on their rights and the established mechanism of protection.

In the field of fighting corruption and economic crime substantial legal expertise contributed to aligning relevant legislation with the key recommendations of the Council of Europe monitoring bodies such as the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) and the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) related to party and electoral campaign finance, the draft law “On notary service”, the draft law “On the prevention of conflicts of interest in the exercise of public functions" as well as on the draft law "On Foreign Jurisdictional Relations", providing more clarity regarding requests for mutual legal assistance. Additional legal and capacity building assistance was extended to the Central Election Commission in operationalising its tools and oversight capacities for electoral campaign finances.

In the field of fighting discrimination and promoting diversity, follow up expertise was provided to minority legislation by-laws, the Law on Protection from Discrimination and the Census Law to bring them in compliance with the recommendations of Council of Europe Commission on Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and Framework Convention on Protection of National Minorities (FCNM). Expertise was provided in assessing the LGBTI National action plan 2016-2020 and in preparing the new one 2021-2027. Furthermore, awareness raising initiatives focused on promoting LGBTI rights and combating hate speech.

In the field of freedom of expression and freedom of the media, important interventions have been conducted in sustaining and supporting local actors in their efforts to ensure better protection for journalists. In September 2020, the Albanian Alliance for Ethical Media was founded with the support of the programme and established a Self-Regulation Mechanism which is actively engaging and helping media outlets, particularly those online, to abide by the journalistic Code of Ethics. Furthermore, the Albanian Parliament received legal assistance guiding their initiative to amend media legislation, in view of the Venice Commission opinion on the same matter.

Last but not least, as part of the Expertise Co-ordination Mechanism made possible through this joint programme, the Venice Commission provided important legislative expertise and policy advice in response to requests from the authorities in Albania, including on the adoption of the recent amendments to Albania’s Constitution and to the country’s Electoral Code, as well the on the draft amendments to the Media Law raising important issues concerning freedom of expression and media pluralism in Albania.