The Parliamentary Committee on Stabilization and Association between the EU and Albania called on the Albanian Parliament to increase parliamentary oversight through investigative committees and other means to strengthen accountability of institutions in the country.
The committee held its 17th meeting on the status of accession negotiations and relations between the EU and Albania in the European Parliament, where it issued a series of recommendations to the Stabilization and Association Council and institutions of Albania and the EU.
In these recommendations, the Committee urged the Albanian Parliament to make stronger efforts to encourage opposition engagement. The Committee emphasized the “need for investigative committees”, noting that the “new law on parliamentary investigative committees was approved without understanding”, encouraging “the use of various oversight tools such as investigative committees, interpellations, and motion debates to strengthen accountability and democratic governance in Albania”.
From Brussels, the Committee called for the timely implementation of reforms, praising Albania for successfully completing the evaluation process and its strategic commitment to EU membership, which is an aspiration enjoying the support of the overwhelming majority of Albanian citizens and sustainable understanding between political parties.
“The Committee expresses regret for the sharply polarized political climate, as well as for the fact that, despite the creation of the ad hoc committee for electoral reform in February 2022, no progress has been made in adopting any text and addressing unresolved recommendations from OSCE/ODIHR and the Venice Commission,” the recommendations approved on January 22 state.
It called for the inclusion of “all voices from the opposition in the electoral reform process to ensure a truly representative and inclusive approach”. The Committee “calls for a constructive and inclusive political dialogue from all parties to address this issue fully before the upcoming general elections, to enable a peaceful electoral process”.
The recommendations call for “sustainable efforts in the fight against corruption and organized crime, including drug production and trafficking”, as well as evaluating judicial reforms and the current results of SPAK regarding the culture of impunity, expecting progress in high-level investigative matters.
“Increasing the number of final convictions at a high level remains an important priority in the face of the culture of impunity,” the recommendations state.
The Committee encourages Albania to reduce the number of pending court cases and improve the efficiency of its courts, avoiding political interference in the justice system.
“We express concern that corruption is widespread in many areas of public and business life,” the recommendations state, assessing that preventive measures are insufficient.
In these recommendations, the Committee expresses concern about the situation of media freedom and freedom of expression, including market concentration and audience concentration and the lack of transparency in media funding.
“Digital media, in particular, continue to be strongly influenced by funding and content from political actors, businesses, and third parties”.
The Committee emphasizes that any review of media laws should be in line with the Venice Commission’s recommendations and should be done transparently and inclusively, in consultation with media organizations, aiming to improve media freedom and self-regulation.
The Committee called for the protection of journalists from legal and institutional obstacles and the guarantee of a safe environment for them, as part of efforts to strengthen democracy in Albania.
