EU auditors 'blacken' Albania: Transport projects, slow and unattended

Albania, along with other Western Balkan countries, risks not completing its connection to the main European transport network by 2030, due to long delays in project implementation, shortcomings in their selection, and problems with supervision.

The concern is highlighted in a new report by the European Court of Auditors, ECA, which assessed that transport projects in the region are progressing at a much slower pace than required to meet this decade's objectives.

Albania is one of the six beneficiaries of the Western Balkans Investment Framework, WBIF, along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Through this platform, the European Union supports the preparation and financing of strategic projects in transport, energy and other sectors.

From 2015 to mid-2025, the European Commission disbursed €527 million for transport projects in the region, being the main contributor to the WBIF. The funding aims to reduce the Western Balkans’ infrastructure gap and connect countries in the region, including Albania, to the main European transport network.

However, according to the auditors, weaknesses in project selection and lack of readiness for their implementation have led to significant delays. The audited projects started on average 17 months later than expected, while many of them faced implementation delays exceeding two years.

A project is considered ready for implementation when the preparatory work has been completed, the documentation is up to date and the technical, financial and administrative issues have been resolved. According to the ECA, in many cases funding has been approved before projects have reached this stage.

“In terms of EU enlargement, well-developed infrastructure is a step towards meeting the accession criteria. Western Balkans transport projects are progressing too slowly to connect the region to the EU during this decade,” said Laima Andrikienė, the ECA member responsible for the report.

She urged the European Commission to improve project selection and monitoring, guarantee the sustainability of investments, and increase the visibility of EU funding in the region.

The report highlights that the European Commission has had limited ability to enforce timely project implementation. According to the auditors, effective procedures for monitoring delays are lacking, while complete information has not been collected on the level of completion of transport corridors or on their compliance with European standards.

The Commission has relied mainly on financial institutions to oversee projects, but in some cases their control has been insufficient. As a result, payments have been made that were not fully justified by the actual progress of the works.

The auditors also found that some WBIF grants were not crucial for the implementation of the investments. In certain cases, loan agreements were signed before the grant application, indicating that the project would have continued even without EU financial support.

For Albania, these issues are particularly important, as improving road and rail connections with countries in the region and with the European Union is part of the integration process and efforts to increase trade, the movement of citizens, and the competitiveness of the economy.

However, the current pace of work shows that Albania and the rest of the region are not on track to meet all the required standards of the main European transport network by 2030./ Monitor