Action against economic crime in Albania

Back Strengthening regional response to environmental crime, corruption and money laundering in the Western Balkans

Jutbina HOXHA

Modified 8 Months ago.

Strengthening regional response to environmental crime, corruption and money laundering in the Western Balkans

Environmental crime poses a growing threat to natural resources, governance, and stability in the Western Balkans and beyond. These crimes often thrive on corruption, generating illicit profits that are laundered through cross-border schemes or professional networks. To discuss a co-ordinated approach in the fight against corruption and environmental crimes, an open discussion took place in Strasbourg about identifying vulnerable sectors, conducting effective risk assessments, and building partnerships with civil society and the private sector. These are all essential for prevention of such crimes and enforcing existing legal frameworks effectively.

Over 45 professionals from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo*, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia, including enforcement agencies, prosecutors, customs and border officials, anti-corruption and environmental authorities, and civil society representatives, participated in the two-days workshop in Strasbourg during 23-24 September to address the nexus between environmental crime, corruption, and money laundering.

The workshop presented key findings from a regional review on corruption and money laundering risks linked to environmental crime, and on the other hand explored how these risks can be incorporated into domestic or sector-specific risk assessments. Strengthening financial investigations, improving inter-agency co-operation, and engaging a broader range of stakeholders in tackling illicit financial flows linked to environmental crime, were some of the key recommendations highlighted during the discussions.

Experts from the Council of Europe, prosecutors from Italy, Croatia, and Romania, and environmental protection and enforcement units from France (CESAN) and Spain (SEPRONA) shared best practices for investigating and prosecuting such offences. EUROPOL representatives also highlighted recent initiatives, including the creation of the new taskforces targeting environmental crime, as well as case studies illustrating the sector’s vulnerability to money laundering.

This event is part of the Council of Europe’s ongoing efforts to strengthen anti-corruption and anti-money laundering responses to environmental crime in the Western Balkans. Moving forward, the EU and Council of Europe ant-corruption action will assist beneficiaries in the development of practical guidelines to prevent and disrupt money laundering linked to environmental crime.

This workshop was organised by the Action against Economic Crime in the Western Balkans within the joint programme of the European Union and the Council of Europe, "Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye”. The action is supporting public actors in the region in improving their anti-corruption and anti-money laundering policy and operational responses, in line with European standards and good practices.

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*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence.

Strasbourg, France 23-24 September 2025

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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.