Progress 2023 EC Report for Albania, evaluations for the "Economic Criterion" and a series of chapters directed by the Ministry of Finance

On November 8, 2023, the European Commission published the 2023 Progress Report for Albania, which assesses the country's progress in terms of fulfilling the main criteria in the process of integration negotiations in the European Union, as well as the recommendations that must be followed in the future. The Ministry of Finance and Economy is in charge of 13 chapters and the "Economic Criterion" in the negotiations with the European Union, while it is a co-negotiator in two other chapters. The European Commission has evaluated the progress made in some of the chapters negotiated by the Ministry of Finance and Economy. According to the report, the most significant progress has been made regarding the "Economic Criterion", where the country has advanced from the previous assessment "moderately prepared" to the assessment "a moderate and good level of preparation". "The public debt ratio fell below the level before the 2019 crisis. Reforms have begun to improve the planning and execution of expenditures and investments, as well as the monitoring of fiscal risks has continued to improve," the report states. Also, progress was noted, with an increase in the assessment rate in Chapter 7 "Intellectual property right" and Chapter 19 "Social policy and employment", where the assessment advanced to "moderately prepared". Also, the European Commission assesses that progress has been achieved in the implementation of the recommendations of MONEYVAL and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), as a result of which Albania came out of the gray list in October 2023. As for the economic criteria, the EC assesses in the report that Albania has an average to good level of preparation in developing a functioning market economy and has made progress in addressing the recommendations of the last year. “The economy showed resilience and GDP growth remained strong through 2022, despite the economic fallout from Russia's war. "Albania has a level of preparation to face competitive pressure and market forces within the EU, and has made some progress in structural reforms in the energy market, transport, infrastructure, and digitalization of the economy," the report states. The Commission notes that Albania has achieved an average level of preparation in many areas related to competitiveness and inclusive growth, namely taxes, enterprise and industry policies, social policies and employment, education and culture, as well as customs.