EU4Municipalities Newsletter 

Editorial by Marie Augouy, Program Manager for Regional and Local Government, Delegation of the European Union in Albania

Over the last months, EU4M jointly with its partners and the EU Delegation had the pleasure to visit Municipalities of Albania and to participate with local authorities, local communities and youth groups in the inauguration of new infrastructures and public services responding to the needs and concerns of the citizens.

This is now the time to see first-hand the concrete achievements, to witness to what extent this achievements impact positively the quality of life of the communities and to reaffirm the crucial role of local authorities in fostering local socio-economic development.  It is worth recalling that thanks to the 23 local public buildings rehabilitated by EU4M, citizens can now count on 68 modernised and improved municipal services benefitting directly to 49.332 local community members, of which 32.787 are young people.

Considering that EU4M is the first EU initiative in Albania offering financial opportunities for investments to Municipalities exclusively, this is also the time to take stock of the lessons learned and to share experiences. This exercise is extremely important in order to improve the quality and sustainability of municipal investments and services during the whole project cycle and after, to increase the EU financial assistance absorption capacities of the Municipalities and to prepare local authorities to meet future EU membership obligations and benefit efficiently from the whole range of opportunities.

The implementation of 19 municipal projects engaging with 19 Municipalities (1/3 of Albanian municipalities) represents a good sample of experiences that contribute identifying legal and administrative challenges to be addressed as a priority at local and central government level.

While some progress are observed at central level, such as the amendment to the law for VAT ex-ante exoneration under IPA III, the experience demonstrates that the complexity of administrative processes and the lack of harmonisation vis-a-vis the interpretation and application of administrative provisions may lead to missed opportunities in terms of access to EU funds. This also oftenly results in putting the implementation of projects at risk by creating severe delays impacting the sound management of projects’ inputs. Opening projects bank accounts, timely transfer of funds, clarification of budgeting and procurement procedures are challenges that still needs to be tackled in order to reach a better cost/effectiveness ratio of the municipal projects and to benefit from the EU available funding opportunities offered to local authorities. To this end, a constructive dialogue between central and local governments conducive to efficient administrative process is essential.

At local level, progress have been made in creating an enabling environment to better engage in the EU accession process. The establishment of the EU integration units in the 61 Municipalities is considered as a step forward. However, another lesson learned from EU4M project is that the structures, such as municipal units and departments, needs to be sustained by appropriate technical and administrative capacities and by efficient coordination mechanisms aiming at improving service delivery standards but also planning, management, evaluation and control of EU funds and projects. In particular, Municipalities are encouraged to invest in developing and retaining appropriate capacities, in finding innovative solutions to build capacities such as establishing networking and cooperation among municipalities.  With clear prospects of accelerated integration, Municipalities will have to ensure in the upcoming years an adequate preparation of local civil servants with an appropriate level of stability and resilience for the public administration. The learning by doing approach developed by EU4M is in that sense very relevant.

It is worth noting that local public administrations “implement 70% of all EU legislation, 90% of climate adaptation policies, and 65% of the Sustainable Development Goals”[1]. This means that to assume effectively tasks and responsibilities of a future EU Member State, it is essential to have empowered local governments, capacitated local administrations and active citizens, social groups and business. The EU is here to support the preparation of the Municipalities in Albania to respond effectively to the challenges of the future EU membership. A new programme of EUR 10 million is currently under preparation jointly with the Government of Albania, combining grants for investments in infrastructure and services and technical assistance and building on the learning by doing approach. New calls for proposals will be launched in 2025. These opportunities simply cannot be missed!

As a conclusion, I would like to congratulate the project implementing team and the associations of local authorities for their efforts and commitment in supporting the municipalities of Albania to engage more and better in the EU accession process, to respond better to local needs and concerns and to strengthen local democracy. I also invite all the municipalities of Albania to actively enhance local capacities and start preparing projects through place-based solutions conducive to achieving fair societies. Europe is here, in every city and village where Albanians live.

[1] Enhancing the European Administrative Space – COM(2023) 667 final