Sunday, May 15, 2016

The third national course of ASPS on “Albania and the trends of European integration” was held in Durres from 13-15 May 2016. The objective of this course was to provide the participants with substantial knowledge on the EU and the European integration process, in order to help them better understand Albania’s challenges in its path towards the EU. The key speakers were lecturers and experts as the chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee for Integration, Ms. Majlinda Bregu; the  former deputy minister of Integration, Mr. Gentian Elezi; the president of the EUT, Mr. Adrian Civici,  as well as the associate professor at University of Strasbourg and political advisor to the Commander of French Air Defense, Mr. Alexis Vahlas.

The first module of the course was focused on the main threats and challenges of the European Union: Islamic radicalization and the waves of immigration from North Africa. The expertise of Mr. Vahlas, based on its long experience of education and military advisory, offered a clearer view of the internal problems of the EU as well as possible measures to cope with these new risks.

Ms. Bregu and Mr. Elezi addressed on their modules the so far Albania's path towards the EU and the pre-accession mechanism. The discussion offered more details regarding the next phases of the process, especially on the conditions to open negotiations with the European Union.

Mr. Civici, the president of the European University of Tirana, addressed the need for a new model of economic development that our country should follows in order to have a competitive economy with the economies of other countries in the union.