Today the European Parliament (EP) adopted the European Commission 2016 Progress Report on Albania, drafted by MEP Knut Fleckenstein. According to the EP press release,
MEPs welcome Albania’s progress on EU-related reforms and further efforts to reform the judicial sector. While excluding criminal offenders from public office, whistle-blower protection and plans to re-evaluate judges, prosecutors and legal advisors are promising steps forward, MEPs remain concerned about selective justice, corruption, the overall length of judicial proceedings and political interference in investigations and court cases.
As Exit reported before when the report was adopted in the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), the Commission Report places a strong emphasis on fighting corruption and organized crime, besides the implementation of the judicial reform:
[The EP] [w]elcomes the Commission’s recommendation for opening accession negotiations with Albania; fully supports Albania’s accession to the EU, and calls for the accession negotiations to be opened as soon as there is credible and sustainable progress in the implementation of comprehensive judicial reform and the fight against organised crime and corruption, in order to keep the reform momentum;
The Albanian government has not yet released a statement on the adoption of the final report.
