The Administrative-Territorial Reform in Albania
| Author | Besim Halimi |
| Pages | 22-27 |
Vo
l.
5
N
o
. 1
M
arc
h,
201
9
A
cademic Journal o
f
Business,
A
dministration, Law and Social Science
s
II
PCCL Publishin
g
, Graz-
A
ustri
a
I
SSN 2410-391
8
A
cces online at www.ii
p
ccl.or
g
2
2
Th
e
A
dm
i
n
is
tr
a
t
i
v
e
-T
e
rr
i
t
o
r
ia
l R
e
f
o
rm
i
n
A
l
ba
n
ia
Dr. Sc. B
e
s
i
m H
ali
m
i
Ab
str
a
c
t
This paper aims to bring a short introduction to the new administrative-territorial reform in
A
lbania. This new reform was considered extremely relevant by the government, as it would
c
ontribute to the implementation of new reforms addressed by the
E
uropean
U
nion.
Decentralization is considered one of the main components of good governance.
I
t provides
b
e er services at the local level, more transparency in decision making, accountability,
e
ciency and also tends to produce policies in accordance with the needs o f communities, by
a
voiding a gap in representation.
Decentralization of functions and competences is considered to be very important also for the
management of projects and founds.Because of it, development projects are more e cient due
to the inclusion of local people on their designation, implementation and supervision
.
A
s cited in the
E
uropean Charter of Local Self-Government,
“
t
he principle o
f
local sel
f
-government
s
hall be reco
g
nized in domestic le
g
islation and, where
p
racticable, in the constitutio
n
”
1
.
The paper will focus on the changes that the reform brought, and on its negative and positive
a
spects, especially seen under the monitoring of
E
uropean
U
nion, as one of the recommendation
for the
E
uropean
I
ntegration.
K
e
y
word
s
: Territorial-administrative reform, decentralization, local governance, municipa-
lities,
A
lbania.
I
ntr
odu
ct
io
n
T
he
f
ormer territorial division consisted on 12 districts, 65 munici
p
alities and 308
co
mm
u
n
es
2
.
This division was mainl
y
re
f
erringto the 1992 re
f
orm, which divided the
t
erritor
y
b
ase
d
on t
h
e communist regime s
y
stem,
by
k
ee
p
ing t
h
e
d
istrict organization
a
nd trans
f
orming the agricultural coo
p
eratives in communes. This re
f
orm was
f
ocused
o
nl
y
on the decentralization o
f
f
unctions and com
p
etences, and did not consider the
size o
f
the units or their ca
p
acities on carr
y
ing out these
f
unction
s
3
.
S
tudies conducted a
er 2000 indicated that a considerable number o
f
local government
u
nits were s
p
arse
ly
p
o
p
u
l
ate
d
an
d
wit
h
l
ow resources an
d
ca
p
acitie
s
4
.
O
ver 75% o
f
th
e
p
revious
l
oca
l
government units
h
a
d
l
ess t
h
an 5000 in
h
a
b
itants w
h
ic
h
resu
l
te
d
o
n
q
uite high costs o
f
o
ered
p
ublic services. Human ca
p
acities in several units were
considered low and insu
cient, thus generating ga
p
s in the exercising o
f
f
unctions
.
Districts had an unclear role in coordinating and supporting these units in exercising
1
E
uro
p
ean Charter of Local Self-Government.
A
vailable on: h ps://www.coe.int/en/web/conven-
tions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/122
(
Last visited on 24.1.2019
).
2
A
rticle 1 of Law no 8653, dated 31.7.2000, “Përndarjenadministrativo-territorialetënjësivetë
q
ever-
isjesvendore në Re
p
ublikën e Sh
q
i
p
ërisë”.
3
h p://www.parlament.al/Files/ProjektLigje/relacion_projektligji_ndarja_administrativo_territori-
ale_23_7_2014_18487_1.pdf
pg. 4 (last revised on 22.1.2019).
f
4
h p://www.parlament.al/Files/ProjektLigje/relacion_projektligji_ndarja_administrativo_territori-
ale_23_7_2014_18487_1.pdf
pg. 4 (last revised on 22.1.2019).
f
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