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viii Evaluation of EC Country Strategy: Mozambique Table of Evaluators’ Recommendations A) Strategy. EC strategy should focus on the objectives of public administration reform, the support of civil society and sustainable economic development. Strategy should specify clear key governance conditionalities. EC should de-emphasise formal requirements for EU harmonisation and integration. EC strategy preparation should include systematic and transparent consultations with other donors and civil society. Delegation should play a greater role in strategy preparation. B) Increasing the focus of EC aid. EC should reduce number of small-scale interventions, focus its interventions in a few sectors, develop a strategic sector wide approach, and consider gradual switch from project to budget support. EC funding of roads and water needs to take place within the context of well-developed sectoral strategies, agreed with the government and other donors, which currently do not exist. A joint donor strategy for public administration reform across all Ministries is required. EC support should only be provided within such a framework. The EC should cease funding individual infrastructure projects in the justice and home affairs sectors and focus on the implementation of institutional change in a sector wide context (with other donors). In the absence of a joint strategy, further EC support to agriculture is inappropriate. Approximation to EU standards requires a gradual approach that gives priority to wider issues. The EC should continue to channel its support to local community development via the Albanian Development Fund, but should work much more closely with other donors. The EC should increase its contacts with and analysis of civil society, with a view to integrating civil society both into the formulation and implementation (and monitoring) of the overall country strategy. Greater financial support to civil society organisations should be provided C) Donor coordination: The EC should support a joint approach to sector wide strategies and consider a greater use of budget support jointly with other donors. The EC should support the Medium Term Expenditure Framework process and the centralisation of budget planning in the Ministry of Finance EC should only provide institutional support to Government departments as part of joint pools for technical assistance. Donor-specific PIU and PMUs should be phased out. D) Improving EC resources and procedures: Headquarters and the Delegation should adopt a clear, written and binding statement of service standards. Reform of Phare implementation (possibly with a CFCU) should be carefully and transparently discussed with other donors and the Government. PAO role should be given to a senior civil servant. Delegation should make greater use of teamwork and cross-cutting working practices and strengthen its resources for strategic and economic analysis. Irregularities identified by the reviews commissioned by the Delegation should be formally and transparently investigated. Management should take action to improve cooperation between the Delegation and Headquarters. Independent evaluations and audits should be carried out systematically.
1 1 Relevance of the strategy The first part of this chapter reviews key aspects of the political, economic and social context in Albania, including the general role of all donors. The second part is an assessment of the relevance of (and constraints on) the EC’s strategy in this context before implementation. Key characteristics of Albania are reviewed to identify factors that should underlie the EC’s strategy choices. The analysis includes both factors that were present when the strategy papers were prepared, as well as more recent developments. A. Country Analysis Albania’s initial successful steps towards economic transition were undermined by political and social instability, revealed by the events of 1997. While economic growth has been restored. Albanian public administration and civil society remain extremely weak. While economic growth has been restored, its underpinnings – both economic and social – remain fragile, since growth is largely dependent on illegal and informal activities, as well as a level of migration that may not be sustainable or desirable. Sustainable growth requires wideranging improvements in governance, institutional capacity, and infrastructure; this in turn will require dealing with some difficult social issues. Political Situation and Governance Albanian Society After Communism Albania’s existence as a modern nation state began in 1912 with independence from the Ottoman Empire. The period between the World Wars was marked by political instability, culminating in the autocratic regime of the self-declared King Zog from 1928 to 1939. During WWII Albania was occupied first by Italy, and then by Germany. Resistance to occupation was led by the Communists, who assumed power under Enver Hoxha when the Germans withdrew. The Hoxha regime was one of the most repressive and centralised Communist regimes, comparable perhaps only to North Korea. Hoxha quarreled successively with other Communist regimes and eventually withdrew Albania into complete isolationism. The fall of the regime in 1991 was chaotic and violent, leading to a large exodus of refugees to Italy and Greece. Eventually, with international assistance, civil order was restored and multi-party elections in 1992 brought the Democratic Party to power under Sali Berisha. In order to better understand events since the fall of communism, and the current state of the country, it is necessary to understand some of the paradoxes of Albanian society. Some social ties, notably those of extended families or local communities, are extremely strong. These social groups can mobilise social capital. Sometimes this can have positive results, as when during the 1997 violence (see below) some local communities mobilised to protect local institutions such as schools.
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53 4 Recommendations These recommen
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strategy being developed by DGTREN
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- the Delegation appears over-centr
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EBRD Giulio Moreno MAPE Wolfgang Ma
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