In a letter sent to the Alliance for the Protection of the Theater (AMT) by Director of the Directorate Western Balkans from the DG NEAR (Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations) Genoveva Ruiz Calavera, the European Commission confirms that
The Commission has requested the Albanian authorities to provide additional information concerning the Special Law in order to assess its compliance with the requirements of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the EU and Albania as well as with the EU rules in the field of competition law as well as public procurement.
As Exit has explained before, the Special Law violates the free competition and non-discrimination principles laid down in art. 71 and 74 of the SAA, while also violating the decentralization of power principle from art. 13 of the Constitution.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Edi Rama has publicly played down that the “special law,” which he announced in March, denied that there had been a competition, and claimed – falsely – that all the land was private, whereas 90% is in fact public. In a TV interview with Lutfi Dervishi, the Prime Minister stated:
What competition, when there it’s private land that he [Fusha shpk] wants to use. There is an unusable area, a parking lot with old cars. The private company wants to build, while we get a new theater.
Extraordinary laws for big projects have become routine in other countries.
What is the problem with PPP [public–private partnerships]. Germany is using them and we no longer. They aren’t bugbears.
In the past, the IMF has regularly warned for the dire effects of PPP on the state budget, and their detrimental effects on competition.
