Second Environmental Performance Review of Albania

9Chapter 1POLICYMAKING FRAMEWORK FORENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ANDSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT1.1 Developments since the first background but also the improved operation ofEnvironmental Performance Reviewresponsible institutions.In April 2009, Albania submitted its application forEU membership and became a potential candidatecountry for EU accession. It was obvious that inorder to reach this goal, important efforts wererequired in all fields of the national economy,including the environmental field. In recent years itwas the prospect of EU accession that determinedwork on legislation. The progress report on theperformance of Balkan countries aspiring to join theEU for the year 2011 found that Albania had made noprogress that year on its course to EU adhesion.Based on this report, on 12 October 2011 theEuropean Commission (EC) announced it hadrefused Albania the status of candidate country.Environmental issues were not among the factors thatcontributed to this refusal. As Albania will probablynot change its intention regarding EU membership,the approximation of Albanian laws to the AcquisCommunautaire (acquis), and the transposition andadaptation of directives and limit values will continueto be in focus for the Government in the comingyears.In the accession process the strategies, programmesand plans for the environment as a whole or selectedsectors of the environment play important roles, as doaction plans, which directly determine the course ofimplementation. In recent years, Albania hasprepared several policy documents on theenvironment and it continues to prepare newdocuments. In this regard, adequate harmonization ofnational documents and integration of environmentalaspects into sector policies and plans are of theutmost importance. To make successful progress,attention has to be given to cooperation among thedifferent relevant institutions in the course ofplanning and implementation. The relevance ofmonitoring progress, proper evaluation of data andindicators, and assessment of the efficiency ofpolicies is continuously increasing as these steps arerequired for decisions on timing and allocation oflimited financial resources. The challengenecessitates not only an improved institutional1.2 Strategies and policiesSustainable developmentAlbania prepared a National Assessment Report forthe Johannesburg World Summit on SustainableDevelopment (2002). The report provided severalrecommendations, e.g. establishing a nationalcommission of sustainable development, andpreparing a national strategy for sustainabledevelopment accompanied by a medium-term actionplan. Though the National Assessment Report gaverelevant analysis and provided importantrecommendations, it did not represent an importantmilestone in the process towards sustainabledevelopment.Before 2008, no development occurred in this field.The National Strategy for Development andIntegration for the period 2007-2013 (NSDI) wasadopted in 2008. Sector strategies and cross-cuttingstrategies, which required the coordinated activity ofdifferent stakeholders, provided the basis fordeveloping the NSDI itself, so the NSDI isconsidered to take the place of the sustainabledevelopment strategy and poverty reduction strategypaper. The Department of Strategy and DonorCoordination (DSDC), working under the Council ofMinisters, was responsible for coordinatingpreparation of the strategy. The NSDI establishednational priorities and goals in line with theGovernment Programme for the period 2005-2009,intended first and foremost to facilitate the country’sintegration into the EU and to effectively apply theforeign support available to Albania.The NSDI dealt with different policies: justice andhome affairs; modernisation of administration;infrastructure; market economy; social policy; andurban, rural and regional development, and paidspecial attention to EU integration and NATOmembership. In the long list of strategic priorities, theNSDI mentioned the “achievement of rapid, balanced