The 12^thmeeting of the Public Administration Reform Special Group between the European Union and Albania took place on 27^th June 2024. The meeting was co-chaired by Ms Sigrid Brettel, Acting Head of Unit for Albania and North Macedonia in the Directorate General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission, and Ms Adea Pirdeni, Minister of State for Public Administration and Anticorruption.

Participants discussed the main developments and challenges related to the implementation of the public administration reform, including the strategic framework, public service and human resources management, public finance management, policy development and coordination, accountability, and service delivery.

The Commission highlighted the need to maintain steady progress in advancing EU reforms. It underlined that progress on the fundamentals cluster, including in the area of public administration reform (PAR), will determine the overall pace of accession negotiations, and emphasised the benefits of the reform for citizens and businesses. The Commission positively noted the appointment of a Minister for Public Administration and Anticorruption, mandated with the overall responsibility and coordination of the PAR agenda. The Commission reiterated the need for a strong political leadership for the successful implementation of PAR initiatives.

When it comes to the strategic framework, the Commission welcomed the recent adoption of the 2023-2030 public finance management strategy and encouraged the authorities to advance work on the preparation of the new public administration reform and anti-corruption strategies. It also stressed the need for additional steps to improve the monitoring and reporting processes.

Regarding public service and human resources management, the Commission reiterated the importance of ensuring that all recruitments, promotions and dismissals are merit-based and transparent and equally stressed the need for a simplified, transparent and merit-based remuneration system. It encouraged the authorities to further extend the automated payroll system and to improve professionalisation of the civil service.

In the area of public finance management, the Commission welcomed Albania's efforts to further strengthen fiscal governance and raised the issue of budget revisions done predominantly through normative acts. It called for additional steps to improve public investment management.

Concerning policy development and coordination, the Commission reiterated the need to strengthen administrative capacity for evidence-based policy-making and legislative development. It stressed the importance of increasing the use and improving the quality of regulatory impact assessments and public consultations and extending the application of these two processes to secondary legislation.

In the area of accountability, the Commission called on the authorities to properly regulate the criteria for the establishment of subordinated bodies and to clarify accountability lines. It further called for additional measures to increase transparency and improve access to information.

Finally, with respect to service delivery, the Commission welcomed the adoption of the law on electronic government and the continued implementation of the 2022-2026 digital agenda. It emphasised that despite efforts on digitalisation of public services, equal access to these services for all citizens and businesses is still not ensured. It called on the authorities to align with the latest European Interoperability Framework and the Interoperable Europe Act. The Commission welcomed efforts to reduce administrative burden, while referring to the special laws that still need to be harmonised with the Code of Administrative Procedures.

The Government of Albania reiterated its continuous commitment to follow the progress in all these key areas by continuously implementing and monitoring the PAR agenda and ensuring the necessary degree of political steering, as a very important milestone towards meeting the EU obligations of full membership.

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