ALB/ ALBANIA READY TO DIRECTLY MANAGE EU FUNDS

The European Commission decided this week on Albania's accreditation for decentralised
 management of EU assistance. The country's administration will be able to manage EU
 funds mobilized under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) directly rather
 than relying on the EU Delegation in Tirana.

 The new approach will be initially tested with a set of projects financed under the IPA 2013
 Programme and will gradually become the main modality to channel EU support. One of the
 these pilot projects is the construction of a modern building for the Court of Tirana, which
 represents an important physical investment in view of strengthening the judicial system.
 Other projects cover important areas such as road safety, vocational and educational training,
 rural development and consumer protection. The Albanian Government itself will now
 be responsible for the procurement procedures and ultimately for the successful
 implementation of these actions.  

The direct management of EU funds requires a professional, efficient and stable national administration, which has to comply with the EU procurement rules and perform like Member States under Structural Funds. The decision comes after Albania has met a number of key conditions, such as the set-up of specialized national offices in charge of EU administrative and financial procedures, and after a long training exercise with the concerned national services, primarily the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of European Integration. The accreditation is the results of the efforts of subsequent governments and is a clear token of the increased capacity of the national administration...(link)