Thursday, February 13, 2014

“Decentralization in Albania: achievements and the way ahead” was the central topic of the first seminar with the participants of Albanian School of Political Studies, held on 8 February 2014, in Tirana. The guest speaker for this event was the minister of local issues, Mr. Bledi Çuçi and his adviser, Mr. Enea Hoti. The focus of the presentation and the discussion served and a further analysis on the Albanian administrative reform topic. Mr. Çuçi shared with the participants an overview of the current stage of decentralization (political, administrative and fiscal) and its impact on local governance. He stated that despite several positive steps and the existence of a sound legal framework for decentralization, comparable to that of many EU countries. The reform is far from being successfully completed especially when it comes to urban planning or shared functions between the local and central government. Mr. Çuçi mentioned the need of the territorial reform aiming at reducing the number of local government units as a pre-condition for a fast and successful decentralization.