Albanie

Inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the six Western Balkan (WB6) economies depends on greater economic competitiveness. Although the gap is closing gradually, the standards of living in WB6 are well below those of the OECD and EU. Accelerating the rate of socio-economic convergence will require a holistic and growth oriented approach to policy making. This is the fourth study of the region (formerly under the title 'Competitiveness in South East Europe') and it comprehensively assesses policy reforms in the WB6 economies across 15 policy areas key to strengthening their competitiveness. It enables WB6 economies to compare economic performance against regional peers, as well as EU-OECD good practices and standards, and to design future policies based on rich evidence and actionable policy recommendations. The regional profile presents assessment findings across five policy clusters crucial to accelerating socio-economic convergence of the WB6 by fostering regional co-operation: business environment, skills, infrastructure and connectivity, digital transformation and greening. Economy-specific profiles complement the regional assessment, offering each WB6 economy an in-depth analysis of their policies supporting competitiveness. They also track the implementation of the previous 2021 study's recommendations and provide additional ones tailored to the economies’ evolving challenges. These recommendations aim to inform structural economic reforms and facilitate the region’s socio-economic convergence towards the standards of the EU and OECD.

Public sector remuneration systems are shaped by an intricate interaction of administrative culture, economic conditions, and political systems. This paper discusses critical considerations to bear in mind when designing, planning and implementing reforms of public service wage systems. It explores key concepts such as job evaluation, pay structures, performance-related pay, market analysis for competitive pay levels and wage bill planning. It provides guidance on the process of reforming public sector salary systems to enhance their competitiveness, equity, transparency and affordability. The paper offers insights drawn from the reform efforts of several EU Member States and SIGMA partners in the Western Balkans, Moldova and Ukraine, presenting real-life examples and updated guidelines for effective, sustainable salary system changes. The primary focus is on reforms of wage systems within central government administrations, acknowledging the complexity arising from diverse classifications of civil service and public employees, and the varying scope and structure of salary systems. This paper serves as a practical guide, presenting options along with their advantages and disadvantages to aid policymakers in aligning reforms with their national public administration context and strategies.

Supreme audit institutions (SAIs) are a critical part of public accountability systems. They ‘watch’ over governments’ use of public money and report about it publicly, helping to increase transparency. SAIs have an interest in strongly engaging with external stakeholders – including citizens – to make sure that their work is relevant, understood and used to hold governments to account. This paper provides a compilation of European SAIs’ practices on communication, co-operation and collaboration with external partners and is intended to provide inspiration to SAIs of EU candidate countries and potential candidates to further strengthen their engagement with their non-governmental stakeholders.

This roadmap aims to assist the Albanian government in establishing robust policy foundations for a successful circular economy transition. As an EU candidate country, Albania has committed to align with European climate objectives by endorsing the Sofia Declaration on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, with the circular economy transition being its key component. Recognising the prominent role of this transition in both national and regional development and proactively addressing the challenges posed by increasing climate change vulnerabilities, reliance on imported raw materials and increased waste, Albania is now poised for a strategic framework followed by concrete actions to embark on this transformative journey. Informed by a comprehensive diagnostic of Albania’s circular economy landscape, the roadmap strategically integrates existing policy initiatives, fostering synergies across sectors, measures and actors involved in this transformation. Highlighting three key areas where circular economy policies can have a significant impact in Albania – economic instruments, circular business models for SMEs and targeted solutions for plastics, with a focus on marine litter – the roadmap unveils 35 policy recommendations. These recommendations, supported by a monitoring framework, should serve as a cornerstone for propelling Albania towards a more sustainable and circular future.

Parliaments have a unique role in ensuring that adopted laws, regardless of who initiated them, are evidence-based and fit-for-purpose. For the executive branch, laws are vital instruments through which they deliver public policy. Governments therefore rely on parliaments to scrutinise and adopt legislation in a timely, well-planned and co-ordinated manner. Parliamentary scrutiny of government lawmaking and its role in ex post evaluation of law implementation helps the legislature hold the executive to account. Evidence-based lawmaking is especially critical to EU integration processes as they involve adoption of many new laws. This paper reviews how laws are planned, initiated, prepared, scrutinised and evaluated by the parliaments of six Western Balkan administrations. The report discusses the concept of lawmaking within a parliamentary system of government. It considers how parliaments and governments co-operate and co-ordinate their legislative activities throughout the lawmaking cycle, providing a comparative analysis of existing rules and procedures as well as lawmaking practices. A set of key findings and policy recommendations are provided to support the Western Balkan administrations to plan and implement future reforms.

This roadmap is designed to aid North Macedonia’s government in establishing a solid policy foundation for a successful transition to a circular economy. As an EU candidate country, North Macedonia has pledged to align with European climate objectives, endorsing the Sofia Declaration on the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans, with a particular focus on the circular economy transition. Acknowledging the pivotal role of this transition in national and regional development and actively addressing challenges posed by climate change, reliance on imported raw materials and increased waste, North Macedonia is ready for a strategic framework and concrete actions to initiate this transformative process. Derived from a comprehensive diagnostic of North Macedonia’s circular economy landscape, the roadmap strategically integrates existing policy initiatives, fostering synergies across sectors, measures and involved actors. It emphasises five key areas – circular business models for SMEs, construction, biomass and food, textile industry and mining and metallurgy – revealing over 40 policy recommendations. These recommendations, supported by a monitoring framework, are poised to be a cornerstone for propelling North Macedonia towards a more sustainable and circular future.

This publication presents the results of the Second Round Peer Review on the Exchange of Information on Request for Albania.