Annex to the 2007 annual report on Phare, Turkey pre-accession, Cards and transition facility. Country sections and additional information. Commission staff working document.

Abstract

In 2007, Albania made some progress on democracy and the rule of law, even though the political climate remained tense overall. Albania's parliament fulfilled its constitutional role and a new president was elected, but political parties' lack of will to co-operate continued to hold back reforms, particularly in the electoral and judicial fields. Albania made some progress in strengthening its government structures to implement its EU commitments and to address its development needs. There wasless turn-over in Albania's public administration, but there remained widespread weaknesses in human resources management. In the field of justice, the procedures for evaluating judges improved, the court system was rationalised and the execution of judgements somewhat accelerated. However, the performance of the judiciary remained poor overall. The government took a more strategic approach to the fight against corruption. Anti-corruption investigations led to the arrest of a number of high-level officials. However, corruption remained widespread.