Informative Forum: Unfolding the EU integration process- in Korca

On 3 February 2012, EMA organized at the University of Korca ‘Fan. S. Noli, the informative forum  “Understanding the process of European Integration”, where the distinguished guest speaker was Her Excellency Mrs. Fiona Mcllwham, United Kingdom Ambassador to Albania. The event was held in the framework of the project “Debunking the EU integration process”, supported by the British Embassy in Albania, aimed at stimulating a more informed debate without cliché on EU integration among stakeholders.

The event was opened by the welcoming speech of Mr. Gjergj Mero, Rector of the University of Korca. He appreciated the consolidated 5 – year cooperation with EMA and expressed his commitments to continue this cooperation even in the future. During his speech, Mr. Mero by underlining the importance of the European Integration process was focused in particular on the need to inform the young generations, in order to equip them with information, analyzes and reflections that go beyond political rhetoric.

Mrs. Fiona Mcllwham, United Kingdom Ambassador to Albania, during her speech paid special attention to the Albanian Justice System, noting that it is necessary to function as a whole with the contribution of all its components. Great Britain has assisted and continues to support some sectors of this system as the prosecution, judiciary, police, and school of magistrates etc. Furthermore, Mrs. Mcllwham stressed the important role that society and the media should have in exerting pressure through the denunciation of the corruption cases. In this context she mentioned the example of Britain, where due to constant media report of British MPs abusing with public funds, already 10 of them are now in jail. This example shows that even in developed democracies like the UK, the system has problems. But it can be improved through the pressure that different actors of the society can exercise. Spurred by the introduction on public administration reform in Albania, British Ambassador mentioned that officials in senior managerial positions are appointed by politics. Therefore it is incumbent upon the Albanian politics to elect people who enjoy high integrity and professionalism.

EMA’s Executive Director, Mr. Gledis Gjipali, spoke about the initiative taken in cooperation with the UK Embassy in Tirana. He pointed out he importance of the information on European Integration process and the need to make it simple and readable for specific social groups, among which students and academic staff and public in general as well.

During her presentation, Ms. Blerta Hoxha, researcher at EMA, focused on the public administration reform in Albania and the support provided by the European Union in this regard. Public administration reform is essential as long as it is part of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement as well as one of 12 key priorities in the EC Opinion on Albania’s Application for EU Membership. According to regular assessments conducted by the European Commission, the public administration in Albania is still far from meeting the expectations for a transparent, accountable, efficient and coherent administration. In both, central and local level the proper implementation of the legal framework remains a concern,. In addition other problems  are considered the constant change of staff often based on political motivation, excessive use of temporary contracts, and lack of meritocracy and transparency in appointments and promotions as well. Relied upon the current context, Mrs. Hoxha mentioned the EU assistance provided through the financial assistance instrument (Instrument for Pre-Accession, IPA), with the aim to modernize public administration by providing legal expertise and technical support to various ministries and other institutions.

In the end, the informative forum was followed up by an open discussion section, where students and academics of the University of Korca addressed a series of questions to the British Ambassador regarding the EU membership process and the current situation in Albania.

Media coverage of the event can be found in our website, in the section “EMA in the Media”.