Local and regional leaders debate Albania's progress towards EU integration
Local and regional leaders from the EU and Albania met on Tuesday in the framework of the Committee of the Regions' (CoR) Working Group on the Western Balkans. The meeting, which was held in the Mediterranean city of Durrës, focused on Albania's road towards European integration as well as the local and regional dimension of cross-border cooperation.
Albania was officially granted candidate status for EU accession in June 2014 though accession negotiations are yet to have been opened. Nevertheless, the country is already benefiting from European pre-accession funds and increasing cross-border cooperation.
During his welcome speech Alfred Mullaraj, Chairman of the Regional Council of Durrës, highlighted the added value of the Working Group for creating a climate of cooperation between EU and Albania. "Cross-border collaboration has the potential to transform restrictions into opportunities for development. That is particularly important for regions belonging to the countries beyond the borders of the European Union", he stressed.
Jean-Louis Destans (FR/PES), Acting Chair of the Working Group and President of Eure General Council in France, said, "We are happy to hold the 16th meeting of the Working Group on the Western Balkans in Durrës at a time of important developments for Albania: it was granted candidate status last June, a territorial and administrative reform is under way which should have a significant impact on local and regional authorities, and the European Commission's 2014 progress report was published last month. We hope that today's discussions will further contribute to the involvement of local and regional authorities in the EU integration process".
Participants were also welcomed by Romana Vlahutin i, Head of the Delegation of the EU to Albania, and Bledar Cuci, Albanian Minister of State for Local Government, who stated: "We can't have a sustainable and multidimensional development if we do not look forward to a wider perspective of cooperation between our country, our institutions and our people with all the countries and respective entities of the Western Balkans."
In the morning session, the debate focused on the annual progress report issued by the European Commission in October 2014 which assesses the achievements of Albania in fulfilling its obligations in view of eventual EU membership. The debate was led by Vangjush Dako, Mayor of Durrës, and Franz Schausberger (AT/EPP) who is preparing a CoR opinion on "Enlargement strategy and main challenges 2014-2015". He underlined the need to maintain the local identity and proximity to the citizens during the ongoing territorial and administrative reform in Albania. Representatives from Albanian ministries of European Integration and Foreign Affairs also expressed their views.
Later in the day participants discussed the design and implementation of cross-border cooperation projects with concrete examples presented. Particular emphasis was given to the role of the local and regional authorities in these projects. CoR member Pauliina Haijanen (FI/EPP) presented an opinion on "The added value of macro-regional strategies", which underlines the political and strategic significance of promoting cooperation in macro-regions both within the EU and with countries outside the EU.
The next meeting of the Working Group on the Western Balkans is expected to be held in Spring 2015.
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•See meeting agenda for more information
The CoRs' Working Group on Western Balkans
The Working Group on relations with the Western Balkans, which currently includes Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Serbia, meets twice a year. It is composed of 12 CoR members and takes a country-by-country approach, ensuring that each meeting is dedicated to a specific Western Balkan country. The Committee of the Regions is to establish a fully-fledged Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) with Serbian sub-national authorities in 2015.
Contact:
Lauri Ouvinen
Tel. +32 2282 2063