Albania has achieved substantial decentralisation progress, but more efforts, particularly in clarifying responsibilities between central and local authorities, need to be made, concludes a report approved by the Council of Europe’s Congress of Local and Regional Authorities today.

The report and recommendation presented by the co-rapporteurs Xavier Cadoret (France, SOC/G/PD) and Carla Dejonghe (Belgium, ILDG) welcomed the successful implementation of the 2015-2020 comprehensive decentralisation and local governance strategy and the ensuing reforms of the legislation on local self-government.

Carla Dejonghe noted that there is considerable room for improvement, in particular in further clarifying the allocation of functions between central and local levels since the powers delegated to the local authorities are exercised under the close supervision of various ministries, limiting local authorities’ room for initiative. They also regretted that the regional tier of government has not benefited fully from territorial reforms of recent years.

Xavier Cadoret underlined that municipalities have insufficient financial resources to meet their needs and human resources continue to pose problems, particularly in rural areas

In its recommendation, the Congress invites the government to continue the decentralisation process and to further harmonise the legislation on the division of responsibilities between central and local authorities. The national authorities are recommended to revise the local government salary structure to allow more flexibility for recruiting and retaining qualified staff.

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