EPP president criticises commission's report on Albania

The European Commission came under fire on Tuesday (16 November) over its latest progress report on Albania during a meeting hosted by the European People's Party (EPP).

Joseph Daul, president of the EPP, the biggest political group in the European Parliament, said he had not seen the problems referred to in the commission's report on his own visit to Albania. The commission published its opinion on Albania's submission to become an official candidate for EU membership on 9 November. The Brussels-based EU executive refrained from recommending Albania's candidacy and instead asked the country to continue reform efforts that could eventually lead to candidate status.

For now, the commission considers Albania to fall short of the political criteria needed to begin membership talks. The greatest problem identified by experts was the lack of dialogue between the government and opposition in Tirana. The country has been in a political crisis since the summer of 2009 when, following general elections, Prime Minister Sali Berisha's conservative party held onto power and the socialist opposition started boycotting parliamentary work.

Mr Daul announced that he would convey his criticism of the report to commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. When challenged by a journalist, who noted that Mr Daul had only visited Albania once, the EPP president replied that he had been briefed by German MEP Doris Pack who knows Albania very well. The remarks were made at a high-level conference on "Balkans in the heart of Europe," to which the EPP had invited the leaders of conservative governments in the region. Mr Daul's attack on the Albanian report came as a surprise but the EPP, which is always ready to help sister parties and diplomats, said the president was eager to silence Mr Berisha's critics after the commission's negative report.

Mr Daul was also blasted by the Albanian Socialist Party opposition. Together with Martin Schultz, head of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) group in the European Parliament, he started an initiative to prod the two Albanian rivals into a compromise earlier this year, but the effort failed.

News source: waz.euobserver.com link: article