European union – albania stabilisation and association committee 11 March 2015 table of contents political criteria 3

At the end of 2014, INSTAT had approximately 23 vacant positions. During the last months, the Department of Public Administration held separate competitions for filling vacancies with specialists in the field statistics. Based on legal procedures, under the law no. 152/2013 "On civil servants", as amended, as well as other bylaws, the process of testing the candidates and recruitment is relatively long and could not fill up so fast INSTAT requirements for human resources. In this context, the 13 vacancies advertised during November-December 2014, so far are recruited only 4 specialists in these positions:

1 law specialist;

1 finance specialist;

1 national accounts statistics specialist;

1 economic statistics specialist in statistical regional office in Korça.

2. 
   Albania will prepare an action plan for the transition to the European System of Accounts (ESA) 2010 and identify the support needed from the EU.
   

With Technical Assistance supported by EU and other donors (IMF), we have achieved important milestones in statistical enhancement for the national accounts. The IPA 2007 (National – NA component) assisted INSTAT in a number of important activities, targeted at statistical capacity building and reforms in national accounts statistics. Progress has been made across a number of specific topics areas, including incorporation of new data sources and methodologies into national accounts compilation, improving quarterly and annual GDP estimates, compiling experimental annual Supply Use Tables in current prices.

In the framework of IPA 2011MB NAM, a road map of 44 changes has been prepared for ESA 2010 implementation, which provides background on relevance and impact of changes on Albanian national accounts. During the project was made an assessment which changes are important to be developed in Albania, what are less relevant and what requires development of new data sources in order to be in compliance with ESA 2010.

Due to the complexity of those issues it is necessary to have TA on:

1. 
   Development of new data sources, in particular the need for individual annual financial statements (balance sheet) database, development of electronic data reporting, etc.
   
2. 
   Increase inter-institutional cooperation for data exchange,
   
3. 
   Creation of statistical infrastructure, IT warehouse
   
4. 
   Increase of Capacity building,
   

As much the assistance will be exhaustive to cover all the items included in ESA 2010, (44 main changes) the faster will be compliance with ESA 2010 implementation in Albanian national accounts.

3. 
   Albania will present results of investigations into the quality of the agricultural census results and simultaneously will publish the relevant post-enumeration survey.
   

As already expressed in previous discussions and reports, INSTAT in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural development and Water Administration (MARDWA), is realizing in depth analyzes for achieving concrete results.

One of the main problems in achieving faster results but in the same time as a matter of future updating is the lack of administrative register, which does not allow better identification or comparison with CAH data.

4. 
   Albania will formulate, if deemed necessary, a request for support to set up farm registers for both administrative and statistical purposes;
   

The lack of administrative registers is valued as one of the main problems in production and updating of agricultural information including statistics. In this framework INSTAT has proposed in different meetings the importance of creating these administrative registers, through MARDWA, which is the responsible institution for creating and updating the administrative registers for farms and livestock, which requires as a necessity the support of EU in the creation and implementation of these registers as soon as possible.

5. 
   The European Commission could examine the possibility of providing technical assistance for the implementation assessment of the MoUs for cooperation signed between INSTAT and the Bank of Albania, the Ministry of Finance, and the General Directorate of Taxation, if there is a relevant request by Albania;
   

There is not yet signed any agreement between these institutions. INSTAT has drafted a new agreement with General Directorate of Taxation. The document is not signed yet.

In the previous subcommittee ECOFIN meeting, INSTAT has requested the support of European Commission to ensure technical assistance in order to find the best possible approach for enhancing the inter institutional collaboration in the aspect of exchanging statistical data.

6. 
   Albania will enhance cooperation between state agencies and ministries to facilitate the efficient production of reliable statistics;
   

This year (2015) INSTAT starts the preparing activities for drafting the new 5-year Programme on Official Statistics, that includes the period 2017-2021. The Programme, which shall be in line with strategic documents in national and sector level, will predict new duties and responsibilities of public institutions, for improving administrative data, new approaches for exchanging statistical data and data base administration.

7. 
   Albania has to process the EDP notification table for the first time in 2014, even if providing full reply in line with the quality requirements will require further efforts;
   

In October of 2014, Albania transmitted for the first time the first results of the EDP notification. The information transmitted was the evaluation of the EDP notification on a best effort bases from Albania. To be able to respond to the new request of information from the EU, INSTAT formed an inter-institutional working group with representative from the Ministry of Finance, Bank of Albania and also other representative from other agencies like the Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Entrepreneurship, Social Security Institute, Compulsory Insurance Healthcare Found. With the support of the Working group INSTAT was able to compile the tables required by EDP notification for the years 2010-2013.

EDP indicators have been compiled under the current information available for Albania. Additional trainings in the field of EDP have been conducted in the previous months. These trainings helped the expert involved have a broader knowledge on the information required for the estimation of EDP indicators. Even though Albania is facing some difficulties toward implementing EDP indicators as follows:

1. 
   Memorandum of Understanding: not currently a specific MoU covering the EDP necessities between the main players involved in process of gathering, processing and implementation of EDP tables. The absence of such a memorandum added additional difficulty in the process of calculation of EDP tables and complicated the process of coverage of the main topic and the discussion process with all the relevant experts in the right time.
   
2. 
   Information on Sub-Sectors: absence of official information by subsectors of the General Government. As a standard, the value of the deficit approved by the parliament is used as a starting point for evaluating the EDP tables. This information should be provided divided by subsector of the general government, but in Albania the value is only available for the general Government. Without this information the process of evaluating EDP figures becomes more complicated. To overcome this problem some suppositions were raised to have an estimate of the Deficit by sub-sector closer to the reality. These suppositions were approved by the working group as a good method to proceed in this specific case.
   
3. 
   Coverage with information: Another open for discussion topic remains the coverage of information for the sector of public administration, not solely the part of the budgetary institutions part of the Government. In this classification are included semi-budgetary institutions that have a autonomy of decisions from the budget but that are linked, in a way or another, to the government. Information’s on these specific institutions are lacking, from administrative and from statistical data sources available to INSTAT. The working group is working on improving the coverage of the Government Institutional Sector.
   
4. 
   Finalized values for the Balance sheet of Government: absence of the balance sheet of the Government with information on the full sets of accounts. This information is present only in an aggregated level and not by sub-sectors. This information can help construct more reliable estimates for EDP. The Government debt is currently well defined for the Central Government but it needs additional work to integrate the other subsector of the economy.
   
5. 
   Technical Assistance: A project of the WB/SECO is currently working with the Ministry of Finance to implement in the future the International Standards of Public Accounting (IPSAS) and the European Standards of Public Accounting (EPSAS) in Albania;
   

8. 
   Albania needs to continue work on improving the quality of the LFS, which will be crucial for the reporting requirements under the SEE 2020 and the wider efforts in the field of economic governance
   

From October 2014 ongoing, INSTAT has undertaken the following action aimed to further improve the Labour Force Survey:

• 
  During the second week of November 2014, INSTAT was provided technical assistance to improve the labour force survey LFS instrument for data collection and analyses and to enhance the quality of labour market indicators.
  
• 
  The main result achieved by the international expert and the LFS responsible staff of INSTAT is a proposal for the revision of the sample design of the quarterly labour force survey to meet the new EU LFS requirements on precision of employment and unemployment estimates at national and regional levels.
  
• 
  The sampling errors and the design effect of the main LFS indicators were calculated and methods were developed to derive generalized variances for the survey estimates in future rounds of the survey.
  
• 
  In January 2015 INSTAT has lunched the LFS with the proposed new design to pilot the impact of it in the main LFS estimates. On the other hand, INSTAT has asked ILO support to redesign the LFS questionnaire in order to improve it and to move towards the new ILO labour statistics standard based on the resolution “Statistics of work, employment and labour under-utilization”, adopted in 19^th ICLS.
  

• 
  Categorization of buildings for residential use for auxiliary purposes, from those with economic and social purposes, distances to be respected by national roads and railway lines;
  
• 
  Obligations for the payment service and charges for the sale contracts for the building block will be pay off by the state;
  
• 
  Include in the legalisation process the illegal buildings erected until the date of entry into force of the amendments of Law No 10023 of 27.11.2008 “On some amendments to Law No 7895 of 27.01.1995 “The Criminal Code of the Republic of Albania” as amended, which introduced Article 199/a to the Criminal Code stipulating as a crime the construction of informal buildings, disregarding their function and the moment the self-declaration is carried out;
  
• 
  Determination and payment of the building block (restructuring of the way of payment) and facilities of immediate payment or instalment;
  
• 
  Adjust the procedures of two processes, (i) transfer of ownership on the building plot of the illegal construction and (ii) approval of financial compensation to former owners affected by the legalisation process;
  
• 
  Find an efficient and expeditious mechanism for legalisation of informal buildings that requires the transfer of ownership;
  
• 
  Foresee a reduction in the financial burden of legalisation to builders of illegal constructions used for housing purposes, excluding them from the payment of fees for the legalisation procedures, such as notarisation of documents, issue of measurement and planning certificates. These services will be carried free of charge;
  
• 
  Foresee the amendment of the Law No 9482 of 3.04.2006 to allow the registration of property used for housing purposes even if the builder has not paid or has paid partially for the building plot within the defined period;
  
• 
  Foresee that 30% of the revenues from the legalisation process should be allocated to ALUIZNI, to cover its field activities cost (such as in-site verifications, updating, etc);
  
• 
  Define clearly the categories of illegal buildings that will remain subject to the payment of legalisation fees and the use of revenues generated from penalties imposed on illegal builders;
  
• 
  Provide a legal solution to technical problems related to the legalisation of floors added to existing buildings in order to include all the inhabitants of the building.
  
• 
  Lay down that the illegal buildings erected in the areas destined for tourism, for which a feasibility study is carried out will be treated according to the legislation on illegal buildings;
  
• 
  Define the categories of illegal constructions, which due to their location in an area considered of national importance or their impact on key public infrastructure, will be excluded from the legalisation process;
  
• 
  Review the amount of fine imposed on builders/ investors that have erected lateral extensions in height, in order to encourage them to include these in the legalisation process.
  

Besides the 245,787 applications during 2005-2006 for legalization of informal buildings, changes on May 2013 (No 141/2013 Law), of Law no. 9482, dated 03.04.2006, "On the legalization, urbanization and integration of illegal constructions", included in the process of legalization of illegal constructions, a number of 24,054 objects established on land owned by possessor, after the entry into force of the law above.

ALUIZNI is still working to full fill the necessary documentation of other buildings which need the approval of the transfer of ownership right and the reward of the owners whose property is occupied by illegal constructions.

• 
  Promoting decent job opportunities through effective policies of the labour market
  

• 
  Providing qualitative education and vocational training for youth and adults
  
• 
  Promote social inclusion and territorial cohesion
  
• 
  Strengthening labour market governance and qualifications systems
  

Reorganization of employment offices, through modernization of infrastructure, re-conceptualization and computerization of services offered. Eleven new employment offices have been set up at regional and central level according to the new model of service. For the first time employment offices offer services similar to European counterpart institutions. We already have a unique model of delivery service with three levels, information, employment services and individual counselling. 323 employees of our system at all levels are trained to implement it.

• 
  For the population aged 15-64, the unemployment rate is 17.4%.
  
• 
  For young people aged 15-29, the unemployment rate is 32.4%.
  
• 
  63,4% of the population aged 15-64 is active in the labour market, employed or looking for a job.
  
• 
  The employment rate for the population aged 15-64 was 52.3%.
  
• 
  Compared with the third quarter of 2013 the employment rate is increased by 3.7 percentage points, the participation rate in the labour force is increased by 4.8 percentage points, and the unemployment rate is slightly increased by 0.2 percentage points (age 15-64).
  
• 
  Compared with the second quarter of 2014, the employment rate is increased by 1.8 percentage points, the participation rate in the labour force increased by 2.1 percentage points, and the unemployment rate has slightly decreased by 0.2 percentage points (age 15-64)
  

During the third quarter of 2014 in Albania:

• 
  During the third quarter of 2014, the participation rate in the labour force for people aged 15-64, is 63.4%.
  
• 
  For women, the participation rate in the labour force is 53% and for males 74.2%.
  
• 
  Compared with the preceding quarter, the participation rate in the labour force has increased by 2.1 percentage point. This indicator has been increased for both women and men respectively by 2.9 percentage points and 1 percentage point.
  
• 
  During the third quarter of 2014, the participation rate in the labour force for young people aged 15-29 was 45.1%. The employment rate of young people is 30.5%.
  

• 
  CoMD no. 873, dated 27.12.2006 "On determining the amount of funding, the criteria and procedures for implementation of professional practice programs for unemployed job-seekers, who have attended university degree, at home or abroad"(as amended)
  
• 
  CoMD no. 47, dated 16.01.2008 "On the employment promotion program, through job training" (as amended);
  
• 
  CoMD no. 48, dated 16.01.2008 "On the employment promotion program of unemployed job-seekers, under difficulty" (as amended)
  
• 
  CoMD no. 27, dated 11.01.1012 "On the employment promotion program for women from special groups” (as amended)
  
• 
  CoMD no. 199, dated 11.01.2012 " On determining the amount of funding, the criteria and procedures for implementation of the employment promotion program of unemployed job seekers, young "(as amended)
  
• 
  CoMD 248, dated 30.04.2014 "On the employment promotion program of persons with disabilities"(as amended).
  

Regarding the measures taken against informal economy, the State Labour Inspectorate (SLI), in 2014 identified 1 757 undeclared workers and 2 886 unregistered subjects with 4 638 undeclared workers.

• 
  Inspections in the evenings, during weekends and public holidays: 93 % of undeclared workers identified during the entire 2014.
  
• 
  Identification of unregistered business entities
  
• 
  Inspection of business entities that carry out activities that have high risk to occupational safety and health of workers and/or high risk to employ unregistered workers, or fail to implement Albanian law concerning work hours or minimum wage. Therefore, the number of thematic inspections in 2014 increased by 56% compared to the same period in 2013 (1717 inspections for 2014 compared to 483 for 2013).
  
• 
  Inspection in the services sector especially during the tourist season carrying out inspections at hotels, bars and restaurants aiming to eliminate all forms of employment breaching labour legislation, the elimination of employment without work contracts, and/or disrespecting the legal form required by labour legislation.