The Transition and Integration of the Albanian Economy in the EU

• Author: Leontiev Cuci
• Position: Professor, PhD, Rector of Private Institution of Higher Education 'Kristal'' University of Tirana, Albania
• Pages: 181-186

Performance and Risks in the European Economy

181

The Transition and Integration

of the Albanian Economy in the EU

Leontiev Çuçi

1

Abstract: The transition and integration of the Albanian economy in the EU constitutes a special valuable

experience that would be relevant for the present and future development processes of economic market in

general. Albania's e xperience in this regard carries two s alient features in the path of Euro-Atlantic

integration. First of all, the transition and economic integration in the EU began from scratch without

inheriting any element or experience of the market economy and democratic culture; secondly, it began as a

radical process conceived as “shock therapy”, which excludes a graduated process; thirdly, it started o ut as a

political process driven by upward and will continue as such until its completion. The created elements of

market economy and democratic culture are going on in parallel with the process of EU integration But the

lack of democratic culture has created more conflictual than consensual phenomenon that hinders and delays

the time of wider economic integration. Not surprisingly, Albania as the most fanatical and dictatorial

communist country in the past is the worst in the performance of th e integration process. Despite the time and

the problems we have “skipped” many stages of historical development of a democratic Western society and

with optimism, we are having more and more realistic difficulties and efforts still need to be done to reach the

standards of civilized Europe. Throughout this period precisely to achieve these standards we consider as a

transition, which will end as an economic process but also as a socio-cultural one, when we become a

member with full rights in the EU.

Keywords: Economic transition; Integration process; State property; Private property; The plann ed economy;

Market economy; Privatization p rocess; Administrative privatization; Privatization according to market

strategy; “Shock therapy”; Gradualism; Goods and services market; Capital market; Labour market

1. Instead of Introduction

The Albanian economy of socialist-communist period was an absolutely centralized and planned

economy. The core of this economy system was constituted by state properties, which represented all

the people‟s property or the highest level of its association. In the context of this property existed even

the cooperative property as the property of a certain group of agricultural workers in village, who

formally had the right to use a certain area of land from the state and were the only owners of the

product produced, but the tools of agricultural production were owned by the state.

At the core of this structure property relations, each element of private property was extremely

inconsistent and even hostile to it2. The absolute denial of privatization of property went up in

denatured and denial of certain elements of property and of individual labor in all economic activities.

The previous system prohibited and condemned not just any kind of small private property, but also

any kind of individual labor activity for personal or family profit. This represents an extreme and

1 Professor, PhD, Rector of Private Institution of Higher Education “Kristal'” University of Tirana, Albania, Address:

Freeway Tiranë – Durrës, Km 3, Tirana, Albania, Tel.: + +692085542, Corresponding author: leontievc@gmail.com.

2 Annual Report of the IMF, since 1992.