Lost in Implementation
Lost in Implementation

Albania’s alignment with the EU acquis

Author(s): Gjergji Vurmo, Elira Hroni
Subject(s): Government/Political systems
Published by: IDM – Instituti për Demokraci dhe Ndërmjetësim
Keywords: Legislation; SAA-Process; EU-Integration
Summary/Abstract: Albania has marked in the recent years a generally satisfactory progress in relation to SAA implementation, particularly in relation to the approximation of legislation with the EU acquis and framework policies. However, EC progress reports have repeatedly emphasized that the aligned legislation and also related strategic documents often lack adequate implementation in practice. The overall concerns arise at different stages of the policy and lawmaking cycle. Often, the government’s over-ambitious legislative agenda and limited parliamentary scrutiny result in numerous pieces of legislation being of low quality, with limited consultation with third parties and interest groups, a questionable level of expertise in the drafting phases and other factors all leading to a lack of understanding of the local context in which the legislation is to be adopted. This in turn leads to serious shortcomings in the implementation and espect for legislation which are further deepened in certain cases due to concerns over institutional and administrative capacities in enforcing legislation.

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