Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku, a member and Vice-Chair of the EU–Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee, raised concerns over the weakening of Parliament’s role in the legislative process and Albania’s path towards European integration.
During the latest meeting of the SAPC, held in Tirana, Tabaku reaffirmed the opposition’s and the Democratic Party’s full support for Albania’s membership in the European Union. She stressed that the opposition would continue to support this process while also denouncing deviations from European standards.
“We have been and remain supporters of the European integration process, but at the same time we have been critical whenever this process has gone off track,” Tabaku said.
According to her, although integration should be inclusive, in practice there is a growing gap between the laws adopted on paper and their implementation.
Tabaku focused particularly on what she described as the deterioration of the legislative process. She said that Parliament, after initially becoming a “notary of the government,” is now also being used to promote tailor-made initiatives formally introduced by MPs in order to circumvent public consultation, parliamentary debate and standard legislative procedures.
“We are seeing initiatives being introduced by majority MPs under tight deadlines, without hearing from interest groups and without holding a healthy debate. In this way, the government avoids accountability and parliamentary scrutiny,” she said.
The Democratic Party MP stressed that this practice has excluded citizens, trade unions and interest groups from decision-making. According to her, the institution that should protect the public interest has become a promoter of minority interests, undermining the law and the spirit of the Constitution.
Tabaku also referred to the European Commission’s 2026 Rule of Law Report, stressing that European partners have highlighted ineffective consultations and the last-minute introduction of initiatives by MPs, practices that weaken transparency and parliamentary scrutiny.
The DP MP also said that the opposition has raised concerns over at least 17 initiatives that it considers “tailor-made laws.” Among them, she listed the law on strategic investments, amendments to the law on protected areas and the so-called “Mountain Package.”
In conclusion, Tabaku focused on restrictions on the opposition’s rights and the lack of bipartisan reforms. She mentioned the rejection of the opposition’s request to establish a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the KAYO case, as well as what she described as the unilateral conduct of electoral and territorial reforms.
“European integration cannot be merely a technical process of the government. It requires a functioning parliament, genuine scrutiny of the executive, respect for the opposition and consensus-based reforms,” Tabaku stressed.
She expressed hope that practices excluding the opposition would become a thing of the past and that Parliament would create the necessary space for constitutional and consensus-based reforms in support of European integration and the interests of Albanian citizens.
Tabaku’s Full Speech:
As I am the first speaker from the opposition and the Democratic Party, I would like to welcome this meeting and, above all, express the full support that the opposition and the Democratic Party have given to the European integration process.
We have supported and continue to support this process. We will continue to support it, but at the same time we will be critical whenever it does not proceed along the right path.
As the European Union Ambassador also stressed in her remarks, the process must be inclusive. However, our concern relates to several developments that demonstrate the lack of practical implementation of laws that are adopted on paper.
Parliament’s role in the integration process is closely linked to the role that parliament should play in a functioning democracy. Over these years, we have seen the legislative process deteriorate.
Initially, we saw a parliament adopting laws without debate, through accelerated procedures and deadlines, often in violation of the law. Today, we have entered another phase, in which majority MPs are being used to introduce legislative initiatives under tight deadlines and without hearing from interest groups.
In this way, the majority and the government circumvent healthy parliamentary debate, public consultation and the procedures that a draft law should normally follow.
Parliament’s role should be precisely to guarantee citizens’ involvement in the European integration process. However, this approach has resulted in a lack of discussion and dialogue with trade unions and interest groups, bypassing democratic processes and even the most basic requirements for public consultation.
Unfortunately, parliament, which should be the defender of the public interest, has become a promoter of minority interests and a violator of the law and the spirit of the Constitution.
This conduct, which is unfair to Albanian citizens and not at all in line with the integration process, has also been noted by the European Commission. The 2026 Rule of Law Report once again raises concerns about ineffective consultations and initiatives introduced at the last minute by MPs, undermining transparency and parliamentary scrutiny.
Therefore, this is no longer merely a concern of the opposition. The problem has also been documented by our European partners.
Secondly, this way of operating within Parliament has produced a number of agencies and companies that run counter to the principles of the integration process and the rule of law. These structures lack transparency and accountability, turning our democracy into a democracy with institutional deficits.
The creation of these agencies has established a mechanism in which competition in public procurement is lacking. At the same time, Parliament does not exercise the parliamentary scrutiny and oversight that it is supposed to. There is a lack of comprehensive financial analysis and of the necessary space for other institutions, starting with the Supreme State Audit and internal audit bodies, to perform their functions in accordance with European best practices in management.
We have become familiar with the case of the KAYO company and with problems related to tenders in the information technology sector. These are examples of what risks happening with another agency that is being planned under the government and which is linked to the healthcare sector.
If you believe these are isolated cases, we should bear in mind that they are a continuation of the same model being applied to the Albanian Development Bank and the Investment Corporation: the creation of institutional “islands” designed to avoid accountability and transparency, contrary to the rules and laws in force.
Unfortunately, these agencies undermine the obligations arising from the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and from the chapters that Albania is negotiating.
Allow me to return to the KAYO case, which is a very recent example of what is happening. This model is also creating problems in sensitive sectors, such as the defence sector.
I do not believe there is another parliament that voluntarily agrees to relinquish its own functions while simultaneously creating obstacles to the integration process.
There are at least 17 initiatives over which we, as the opposition, have raised concerns that they are tailor-made laws. We can mention the law on strategic investments, which our colleagues in the European Parliament addressed in their latest resolution; the amendments to the law on protected areas, adopted as a result of the weakening of Parliament’s role; as well as the law on the so-called “Mountain Package.”
These and many other initiatives have also been mentioned in resolutions adopted by European parliaments. These resolutions are not merely political statements, but should form part of the work and reflection of the Albanian Parliament.
Another area in which the integration process must involve Parliament concerns parliamentary scrutiny, the space afforded to the opposition and the implementation of important reforms.
The most recent case was the rejection of the request to establish a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the KAYO case. This is not the first time that the opposition has been denied a parliamentary right.
Added to this is the fact that two important reforms — electoral reform, which should be based on OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, and territorial reform — are being carried out unilaterally.
A reform without consultation and to the detriment of the public interest does not bring decentralisation. It serves to further concentrate power.
These are key issues that we will also take into consideration in our discussions with our partners and counterparts in the European Parliament.
I hope that the lack of space afforded to the opposition, which has been observed in recent years, will become a thing of the past. The opposition must have the opportunity to exercise its constitutional functions and contribute to the consensus-based reforms required by the European integration process and which serve the interests of Albanian citizens.
The post Jorida Tabaku at EU–Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee Meeting: Parliament Is Weakening Its Role in the European Integration Process appeared first on Euronews Albania.
