The Forum underlined that with the support of the European Union (EU), the central and local governments in Albania have made significant progress in setting up the building blocks for local authorities to contribute to and benefit from the EU accession process and EU financial assistance. The EU is supporting key reforms in the area of local government and regional development, while at the same time increasing its support for the development of municipal infrastructure and services via grants to local governments. In this frame, Mr. Hubert Perr, Chief of Cooperation, EU Delegation in Tirana, stressed the fact that: \u201cEU will continue its support to municipalities and local communities in Albania, by allocating an amount of around 10 million EUR through successful programmes of the European Union, to support municipalities through direct grants and technical assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n
The role of local government remains closely related to the integration process, especially at this moment when the process of analytical assessment of the legislation \u2013 the screening process, is coming to an end, which will be followed by discussions of each chapter in the frame of EU-Albanian negotiation. Local government itself takes a specific weight on the negotiation chapters, as it relates to environment, food safety, social inclusion, and enhancement of administration, along with an array of other developmental priorities.<\/p>\n Minister of State for Local Government, Mr. Arbjan Mazniku, underlined that some 70% of EU legislation is implemented at the local level and that his Ministry, together with the Agency for the Support of Local Self-Government and the Association of Local Authorities of Albania, with the support of the EU, are playing a fundamental role in creating an enabling environment for Albanian municipalities to better contribute to the EU accession processes. Mr Mazniku stressed that: \u201cUntil some time ago, the EU Integration process was a dream, a vision, to which we couldn\u2019t see the end. Change has occurred in the last six months upon the clear statement of the European Union for a swift and technical process of integration of the entire Western Balkans into the EU, like that moment when sailors could see land from the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana Municipality, emphasized the extraordinary progress made by Albania, especially in recent years, on the acceleration of the EU integration process in Albania; he also invited the European Union to undertake more direct steps and facilitate procedures regarding absorption and management of EU funding. \u201cIf back in 1992, Albania was ranked last among Western Balkan countries on integration processes, today we may well say that it ranks first. Today we are the first in the region concerning this process\u201d, said Veliaj.<\/p>\n Projekti i financuar nga BE \u201cBashkit\u00eb p\u00ebr n\u00eb Evrop\u00eb\u201d ka qen\u00eb instrument i r\u00ebnd\u00ebsish\u00ebm n\u00eb zhvillimin e nj\u00ebsive t\u00eb integrimit, p\u00ebrgjegj\u00ebse p\u00ebr \u00e7\u00ebshtjet e BE-s\u00eb n\u00eb nivel vendor, si dhe n\u00eb kontributin n\u00eb zhvillimin e korniz\u00ebs s\u00eb politikave q\u00eb u mund\u00ebson bashkive t\u00eb kontribuojn\u00eb dhe p\u00ebrfitojn\u00eb nga procesi i integrimit n\u00eb BE. On the other hand, the \u2018EU4Municipalities\u2019 project, the first EU-funded grant scheme for Albanian municipalities, is supporting 19 municipalities in Albania with direct investment grants, contributing to improving the socio-economic conditions of local communities.<\/p>\n NALAS Executive Director Kelmend Zajazi, underlined the importance of local government and their association, in the process of European integration. \u201cMunicipalities have an important role in the implementation of EU acquis<\/em>\/legislation which creates the frame of service standards, but at the same time have a role to ply to implement them by modernizing public services. In this context, the role of national municipality associations, is extremely important in the European integration process\u201d, said Mr. Zajazi.<\/p>\n In the forum, Mrs. Adelina Farrici, Executive Director of the Association of Local Autonomy in Albania, mentioned that municipalities and their associations constitute an integral part of the EU integration of the country. \u201cThey are responsible for implementing EU standards at the local level, engaging with citizens, building capacities, provision of services and infrastructure and at the same time, promotion of local and regional development\u201d, said Mrs. Farrici.<\/p>\n Despite the clearly tangible progress, there are many domains on which municipalities from South-East Europe, may benefit from practices and experiences of neighboring countries, which have progressed in the process of integration or are already EU members. At the regional level, the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS), as mandated by South-East European local governments and their associations, continues to advocate for a more structured involvement of local authorities and their associations in the EU integration process and the creation of more opportunities for local authorities in the Western Balkans to benefit from EU financial assistance.<\/p>\n At the end of the first panel, Mr. Elton Stafa, Team Leader of the \u201cEU for Municipalities\u201d Project, underlined that: \u201cThis forum is important as a platform to exchange experiences and interact with partners from Southeast Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/eu4municipalities.al\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Hubert-Perr.png\")
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