Action against economic crime in Albania

Back “Introduction to Corruption Prevention” – Council of Europe HELP course launched for Albanian stakeholders

Besnik BAKA

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“Introduction to Corruption Prevention” – Council of Europe HELP course launched for Albanian stakeholders

The HELP course on “Introduction to corruption prevention” adapted in Albanian for local stakeholders was launched in Tirana in a public event supported by EU and Council of Europe and organised in close co-operation with the Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption and the Albanian School of Public Administration.

This interactive online course builds awareness on the forms of corruption and prevention tools, focusing on ethics, conflicts of interest, post-employment restrictions, protection of whistleblowers, etc.. Through practical examples and scenarios, it puts on the spotlight ethical dilemmas and challenges in implementing anti-corruption measures. The course will be implemented for the political advisors of Albanian ministries as the primary target group.

In her opening remarks, the Minister of State for Public Administration and Anti-Corruption, Adea Pirdeni highlighted the importance of the course in contributing to the fulfilment of one of GRECO’s recommendation and aligning it with the Albanian Government’s priority for a professional public administration with high integrity. “Let us see this course as one element of the greater picture, being our joint initiative to ameliorate the standards and culture of work in the public administration,” said Minister Pirdeni.

Giulia Re - Head of the Council of Europe Office in Tirana commended Albanian authorities for all the efforts and the hard work done in these last years to improve fight corruption and to implement GRECO’s recommendations. She underlined that serving and protecting the public interest is the ultimate purpose of state institutions. “Cultivating a culture of public integrity by demonstrating commitment at the highest political level within the public sector to enhance public trust and reduce corruption constitutes one of the general principles of the Council of Europe regulations for the officeholders,” she added.

The course is hosted on the platform of the Council of Europe Programme on Human Rights Education for Legal Professionals (HELP). During the event, the Council of Europe experts and HELP representatives and tutors introduced main functionalities of the HELP platform and shared a thorough presentation of the course, adapted to the domestic context.

This activity was supported by the Action against Economic Crime in Albania, within the framework of the European Union/Council of Europe joint Programme Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye (Horizontal Facility III), co-funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe, and the Council of Europe HELP Programme in the Western Balkans.

Tirana 1 March 2024

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The “Action against economic crime in Albania” (AEC-AL) is implemented within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” running from January 2023 until December 2026. The action’s key priorities concern:

the harmonisation of the legal and operational framework in the fight against corruption in compliance with GRECO recommendations,
improved effectiveness of law enforcement and criminal justice sector in the fight against economic crime,
strengthened effectiveness of political finance’s oversight; enhanced legislation and institutional capacities of relevant authorities to tracing and confiscating criminal assets,
capacity and institutional building for anti-money laundering risk-based compliance and supervision concerning particularly the non-financial sector according to MONEYVAL recommendations.

What is the goal(s) and objective(s) of the action?

The Action aims to assist public institutions in preventing and combating economic crime, including corruption, money laundering and organized crime. It will continue to support the authorities in the effective implementation of recent key recommendations of the monitoring bodies of the Council of Europe such as the Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (MONEYVAL) and Group of States against Corruption (GRECO).

Who benefits from the action?

The action will work closely and assist various beneficiaries and counterparts in governmental bodies at all levels including, specialised agencies and supervisory bodies such as

Ministry of Justice as the National Anti-Corruption Coordinator; Ministry of Interior; Ministry of Finance,
General Directorate for Prevention of Money Laundering,
High Inspectorate for the Declaration Audit of Assets and Conflict of Interest,
General Prosecutor's Office; Special Prosecutor Office against Corruption and Organised Crime
Central Election Commission,
General Directorate of State Police,
School of Magistrates, Academy of Security, Albanian School of Public Administration.

The action will engage civil society organisations in the field and assist private sector in the efforts to fight economic crime and money laundry, which will positively impact the public trust and improve the lives of Albanian citizens.

How does the action work?

Assistance provided through the action will be delivered by dispatching a mix of advisory and capacity building interventions, tailored to the specific needs of beneficiaries, and building on the results achieved in the implementation of Horizontal Facility Phase I (2016-2019) and II (2019-2022). More concretely the Action will focus on supporting the authorities in several directions including:

strengthening of legislation and regulatory frameworks,
institutional capacity building,
enhanced inter-agency and international cooperation.

What do we expect to achieve?

The action is expected to achieve:

Improved legal and operational framework to effectively target corruption,
Enhanced capacities for prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and improved effectiveness of law enforcement and criminal justice sector in the fight against economic crime.

What is the budget of the action?

The total budget of the action is 895,000 Eur. The budget allocated to the overall Horizontal Facility programme amounts to ca. 41 million EUR (85% funded by the European Union, 15% by the Council of Europe).

How to get more information?

Economic Crime and Co-operation Division website and Action against Economic Crime specific website;
Horizontal Facility website
Zahra Ahmadova, Programme Manager, Economic Crime and Co-operation Division;
Ersida Sefa, Senior Local Project Officer, Economic Crime and Co-operation Division;
Marija Simić, Horizontal Facility Communication Officer;
Besnik Baka, Horizontal Facility Communication Officer;

About Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye?

The “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye” is a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe that enables the Western Balkans Beneficiaries and Türkiye to meet their reform agendas in the fields of human rights, rule of law and democracy and to comply with the European standards, which is also a priority for the EU enlargement process.