IPA funds.

Instrument for Pre-Accesion Assistance (IPA) is a program of European Union in order of

enlargement process to provide candidate countries or potential candidate countries financial and
technical help. The aim of IPA fund is to help candidate countries to make political and
economic reforms and preparing them for the rights and obligations that come with EU
membership. In the other side the pre-accession funds help the European Union to complete its
own objectives regarding a sustainable economic recovery, transport,energy surply, transport, the
environment and climate change etc. “The IPA I that was applied 2007-2013 and was made of
five different components that are:
a)assistance for transition and institution building managed by the European Commission’s
Directorate General for enlargement
b)cross-border cooperation with EU Member States and other countries eligible for IPA,
c)regional development the objective of that is providing support to transport, environment
infrastructure, economic development,, and enhancing competitiviness and reducing regional
disparities
d)human resources development aim to strength human capital and combating exclusion,
managed by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Employment and Social Affairs
and
e) rural development managed by the European Commission’s Directorate General for
Agriculture. While the countries that benefits from IPA countries are the countries that are EU
candidate countries like Turkey, Albania, Montenegro, Serbia and the Republic of North
Macedonia)”1 . This countries benefits support for the five above mentioned components. While
candidate countries in the Western Balkans like Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo benefits only for
two components. The IPA I budget was 11.5 billion euro, while the first program of IPA expired
in 2013, in 2014 the IPA II regulation came into force on 16 March 2014. “The aims of IPA II
2014-2020 are:

 to increase good governance and capacity building to align with EU laws and standards,
 to support socio-economic development in line with the EU 2020 targets for smart,
sustainable and inclusive growth,”2
The IPA II was prepared in partnership with the beneficiaries and the most novelty its
strategic focus. The IPA II regulation came into force on 16 March 2014, it is regulation is
completed by the Common Implementing Regulation and IPA II Implementing Regulation
adopted by the Commission on 2 May 2014. The beneficiaries are Albania, Bosnia and
Hezegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey.

Albania, financial assistance under IPA II

1
European Commision, ‘’ Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance( IPA)”,
https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/funding/ipa/
2
European Commision, ‘’ Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance( IPA)”,
https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/funding/ipa/

1
Democracy and the rule of law.
As the rule of law and the democracy standards are key elements of the enlargement process, it
have an important place in the process of accession of Albania. Among legislative system is
necessary the reforms of the juridiciary. “Concerning democracy and governance, Albanian must
strengthen the role of legislative institutions. Also is important the increasing of the competences
of the local governments. Another important key, is the public administration reform. According
to the Strategic Paper, in that direction is made progress, in improving the effecency and
transparency of public services delivery especially in training civil servants, establishing more
transparent and merit based recruitment procedures but are required further efforts to ensure a
depoliticized, professional and merit based civil service.”3
In the focus of Commision has been the public administration reform in order to improve the
effecency of administrative services for the implementation of the acquis comunitee. “The
reform in public administration has six key areas: strategic framework for public administration,
public services and human resources managemet, accountability, service delivery and public
financial manangment and policy development and coordination.” 4 Also an important focus is
given to e Governance and e services, in order to increase the access and quality of the services
given to the citiziens and the businesses. Also Commision is offering assistance in reforming the
public financial management system (PFM) is offered according to the high levels of the public
debt that was over 70% of GDP at the end of 2015. The improvement of the PFM system will be
an important element that will be the base of the economic governance programmes. The
assistance in this area will be coordinated with other international institutions such as
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Also the Economic Reform Programmes and
the policy guidance adopted by the EU and the Western Balkans and Turkey are the EU’s main
instruments for economic policy dialogue with Albania.
Civil Society. Another important field where IPA offers assistance is civil society by investing in
capacity building and encourange greater involvement in reforms. This program aim to empower
civil society to monitor the reform and govermanent actions, to contribute in improving human
rights, gender equality, local development, employment, social policies, environment,
competitiveness and innovation.
Environment. “Another important aspect that Albania will take assistance by IPA program is :
environment, climate action and energy. The aim of this program is to low the levels of carbon,
to increase resource efficiency and circular economy. To complete this objective is important the
development of capacities at both central and local level government in order to develop and
implement policies.”5 Is also required the building of an efficient climate legislation, the
monitoring and the verification of greenhouses gases emissions, fuel quality standards. IPA
3
European Commision, “Revised Indicative Strategy Paper for Albania 2014-2018”, p.15
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180817-revised-indicative-strategy-paper-
2014-2020-for-albania.pdf
4
European Commision, “Revised Indicative Strategy Paper for Albania 2014-2018”, p.15
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180817-revised-indicative-strategy-paper-
2014-2020-for-albania.pdf
5
European Commision, “Revised Indicative Strategy Paper for Albana 2014-2018”, p.32
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180817-revised-indicative-strategy-paper-
2014-2020-for-albania.pdf

2
funds will be used to invest in the water subsector, waste management, recycling process that
still remains a major challenge. “The investment in the sector of environment are made in
compliance with the Environmental Impact Assessment and the Strategic Environment
Assessment Directives. The aim of this policies is to build a circular economy from production
and consumption to waste management and the market for secondary raw materials. This will
help the country boost its global competitiveness, build a sustainable economic growth and
generate new jobs. In this way the process of recycle and re-use will bring benefits for both the
economy and the environment.”6 Water and air quality are two important sectors that require an
important attention because after the investments supported by IPA I, the results in this sectors
are not positive.
Transport
“In this sector IPA II has in focus the policy development, approximation of legislation and
investment in transport including regional and the EU integration of the road, aviation and ports.
In the sector of transport IPA I in cooperation with IFIs has invest over 91 million euro, on
small and medium scale road infrastructures.” 7 IPA I has invest in establish a unified road
network, that help peripheral communities to main regional or national roads such as Durres to
Pogradec and the north south axis from Shkodra to Tepelene – Gjirokastra. Albania has signed
the Transport Community Treaty. While the IPA II program has as priority the improvement of
governance of road transport and road maintance. It is important that Albania to improve the
safety elements of the transports and built sustainable transport project.

Competitiveness, innovation, agriculture and rural development

Competitiveness and innovation is another important issue in the IPA II programme. “IPA aim to
boost the competitiveness of the economy with a particular focus on SME development and the
promotion of tourism, because Albanian has many resources that can help for growth. Support
from the IPA I programme has focused on comperitiviness and assistance to develop the SME
policy also multi beneficiary programmes are adapted to increase investments. An important
focus is given in the development of the capacities of the rural civil service. Agriculture is
another field that is in the focus of the IPA in order to enhance the rural development.”8
The strategy of the IPA focus in the link between tourism and preservation of natural and cultural
heritage as an important source for economic growth and development. Albania needs to
improve the business environment by developing access to information and the rule of law. For
Albania is also important to needs todevelop research and innovation capacities in order to
strengthen competitiveness and growth. “Albania implements several different funds such as a
credit line and SME credit guarantee fund an 'export guarantee fund', a 'creative economy fund'
an 'innovation fund', a 'competitiveness fund'. The Albania Investment Development Agency
(AIDA) manages most of funds but a better coordination of these funds is needed for that reason
6
European Commision, “Revised Indicative Strategy Paper for Albania 2014-2018”, p.32
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180817-revised-indicative-strategy-paper-
2014-2020-for-albania.pdf
7
European Commision, “ Revised Indicative Strategy Paper for Albania 2014-2018”, p.36
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180817-revised-indicative-strategy-paper-
2014-2020-for-albania.pdf
8
European Commision, ‘ Revised Indicative Strategy Paper for Albania 2014-2018”, p.41
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180817-revised-indicative-strategy-paper-
2014-2020-for-albania.pdf

3
 empower the role and capacities of Regional Development Agencies could contribute to a better
balanced economic and social development. In the period 2014 – 2017, IPA II assistance
addressed employment and vocational education and training as priorities in the sector.
Education, employment and social policies are main priorities in the strategy of IPA
programme. The aim of IPA is to contribute in the improvement of the education, employment
system and the abilities for labour force. While in the focus of social policies is the enhancing
of the social inclusion of the vulnerable population and the development of the human resources.
“The scope of this sector includes education and employment systems which improve the skill
base of the labour force, enhance social inclusion of the vulnerable population and the
development of human resources that are necessary to support growth and development. This
policies are financed under the Civil Society Facility and in the frame of the European
Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights. Also labour market governance, youth and
women employability, social inclusion are also addressed by several international organisations
such as the World Bank and the UN family (UNDP, UNWOMEN).”9

IPA Cross Border Cooperation Programme.

Another important objective of IPA is to support the cross border between countries in order to
implement joint actions and strategy that will help in fulfilling the main priorities of IPA. Some
of the cross border cooperation programme between Albania and their neigbourhs country are:

IPA Cross Border Cooperation Greece - Albania

The main objectives of cross-border cooperation programme GREECE-ALBANIA 2014-2020

aim to support regional cooperation among Greek and Albanian region. “The EU contribution
for this programme is 45,965,222.00 euro.This border cooperation between Greece and Albania
aim to increase the standard of living of population by promoting sustainable local development
in the cross-border area. The main priorities of this cooperation are:

 "Promotion of the environment policies, the buiding of sustainable transport and public
infrastructure in order to strength the capacity of cross border infrastructure in transport, water
and waste management; increase the effectiveness of environmental protection and energy-
efficiency. Another important objective is the improvent of the cooperation in the management
of the disasters and the preventing of the risks. 
 An important priority is the cooperation on boosting of the local economy in order to
preserve cultural and natural resources that are important for tourism development of the cross
border area and to improve cross-border capacity to support the development of the business and
competitiveness.”10
The expected impacts of this cross border cooperation between Albania and Greece is the
improvement of the capacity for emergency intervations and the ability of menagment of the
natural disasters. Also an important expected impact is the increased of the tourist in the cross
border area.
9
European Commison, “ Revised Indicative Strategy Paper for Albania 2014-2018”, p.41
10
European Commision, “Albania finance assistance under IPA II” https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-
enlargement/instruments/funding-by-country/albania_en

4
IPA Cross Border Cooperation Albania- Kosovo

“The main priorities of this cross boarder cooperation are:

a)Protecting the environment and promoting climate change adaption and mitigation, risk
prevention and management.The aim of this programme is to promote sustainable use of
environmental resources, renewable energy, water management and supporting joint actions
related to strategies and action plans. Approximately 1/3 of the IPA funds will be devoted to
actions under this priority.

b) Promoting natural and cultural heritage. This priority aim to promote joint cross border
initiatives on tourism, cultural and ntural heritage as a strategy to stimulate economic
development of the area. Approximately 1/3 of the overall IPA 2,520,000 will finance this
priority

c) Investing in youth, education and employment. Education is one of the major priorities of the
IPA programme, because of that under this programme will be invested in the teaching training,
quality assurance measures, transparency, and practical learning experience. Also is important to
orient the education system towards market demands, as a result the competitiveness of the
market and the live of citizens will be improved. Also is important to promote the youth
empowerment through self employment initiatives, organizing youth exchange program and
supporting youth cultural activities. Approximately 1/3 of the funds of IPA for this programme
that consist in 2,520,000 will finance this priority.”11

Cross Border Cooperation Programme North Macedonia and Albania

The objective of this programme is to promote good neighbourly relations and promoting socio-
economic development. “The main objectives of this programme coorporation are:
a)Encouraging tourism, calture and natural heritage
b)Enhancing competitiviness, bussines, trade and investment
c) Protecting environment, promoting climate change adaptation and mitigation, risk prevention
and management.”12

IPA Cross Border Cooperation Italy-Albania-Montenegro

This programme is co-funded by the European Union through IPA II and has a budget of
92,.707.558.00 euro. “This programme ai to promote growth and to intensify cooperation in the
low Adriatic area, by adapting joint actions between national and regional institutions and non-
profit actors. The main priorities of this cooporation programme are:
 Enhance the framework conditions for the development of SME s cross market
 Boost attractiveness of natural and cultural assets to improve a smart and sustainable
economic development

11
Albania- Kosovo Cross Border Coorporation Programme http://albaniakosovo.org/
12
European Commision, “ Instrument for Pre- Accession Assistance 2014-2020”
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/pdf/albania/ipa/2015/2014_-
_2020_ipa_cbc_the_former_yugoslav_republic_of_macedonia_albania.pdf

5
  Increase cross boarder cooperation strategies on water landscapes and promote innovative
practices and policies to reduce carbon emission and to increase energy efficiency
 Increase coordination between tre countries in order to complete the priorities of the
programme.”13

The impact of IPA programme and the challenges.

IPA programme has improve the social and economic aspect in Albania, complying with
national priorities. IPA programme have assisted important projects in the field of transport,
environment, agriculture, the judicial system, rural roads, etc. Also, many IPA interventions are
giving positive impact on the training of the labor force, by promoting expectations and
increased competitiveness small and medium enterprises. IPA programme has financed the
construction of the new roads and the restoration of historic centers urban areas of Elbasan,
Shkodra, Berat and Korça, improving in this way the lives of citizens.

“The main challenges for implementation of IPA programme are the lack of well-trained human
resources in line ministries because the recruitment procedures of the new staff are long and the
dismissal of staff from work, lack of communication and coordination within the central
administration, especially in cases where a project involves more than one institution, limited
information by the senior management level of the beneficiary institutions regarding the
programming and implementation of IPA funds, government changes affect people already
trained on EU support.”14 Special attention should be paid to the maturity of the projects in order
to provide the effective use of IPA funds. Albania is still struggling with the implementation of
IPA projects, because of the centralized model, that fails to meet some of the above-mentioned
preconditions.

Conclusions

It is important that to use efficiency the IPA programme is important that Albania must improve
the state capacities: by creating the legal and institutional structure. Another important problem
is the lack of political dialogue and the the politicization of the civil service. Each goverment has
attempted to change the administration, but this is accompanied by loss of investment, and loss
of institutional memory Even in the recent progress report, this is highlighted as problematic. On
the other hand, it must be acknowledged that the new law has provided guarantees for mitigating
the phenomenon in scale, this is a good start to lay the foundations for a sustainable

13
Interreg- IPA CBC Italy- Albania-Montenegro https://www.italy-albania-montenegro.eu/programme/the-
programme-in-a-nutshell
14

EU Policy Hub, file:///C:/Users/user/Documents/Mesimet_e_nxjerra_nga_nderhyrja_e_fondev.pdf

6
administration.Another obstacleis that in Albania there is no regulatory framework dedicated to
structures that are a partnership between the public, private and civil society sectors. When they
do not have their own framework, they will create obstacles to fund creation and implementation
of projects. Also Albania should improve the justice system because of the phenomen of
corruption. Another important aspect is the lack of the human capabilities in order to implement
the projects of IPA with efficiency. The political actors, civil society and NGO in Albania should
enhance their capacities and coordinate with each other to benefits from the IPA financial and
technical assistance in order to make possible the integration of the country in EU.

Bibliography

1.European Commision, ‘’ Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance( IPA)”,

https://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/en/funding/ipa/
2.European Commision, “Revised Indicative Strategy Paper for Albana 2014-2018”,
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/sites/near/files/20180817-revised-indicative-
strategy-paper-2014-2020-for-albania.pdf

7
3.European Commision, “Albania finance assistance under IPA II”
https://ec.europa.eu/neighbourhood-enlargement/instruments/funding-by-country/albania_en
4.EU Policy Hub,
file:///C:/Users/user/Documents/Mesimet_e_nxjerra_nga_nderhyrja_e_fondev.pdf
5.Albania- Kosovo Cross Border Coorporation Programme http://albaniakosovo.org/