EUROPEAN UNION - BASHKIMI EVROPIAN DELEGATION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO ALBANIA DELEGACIONI I KOMISIONIT EVROPIAN NE SHQIPERI Tirana, 9 November 2009 PRESS RELEASE Deputy Director General of the Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security of the European Commission visits Albania De Brouwer: Timing of Commission proposal on visa liberalisation depends on Albania's speed of meeting benchmarks Deputy Director General of the Directorate General Justice, Freedom and Security of the European Commission, Mr Jean Louis De Brouwer, met today with Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Ilir Meta, Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr Gazmend Turdiu, Minister of Interior Mr Lulzim Basha and Minister of Justice of Albania Mr Bujar Nishani. Deputy Director General De Brouwer provided preliminary reactions to the progress made by Albania since the last assessment of the European Commission in June 2009. He welcomed the continued efforts made by Albania to meet the remaining requirements of the visa roadmap, including the adoption of action plans required by the visa roadmap. Determined implementation needs to follow and efforts need to be intensified to make progress on outstanding issues. The continued issuance of biometric passports since May 2009 was also noted as a very positive step. Other important outstanding requirements, to be tackled as soon as possible, are the adoption and implementation of the strategy and action plan on fighting financial crime, the new draft law reviewing the 2004 law on the confiscation of criminal assets and the new draft law on international mutual legal assistance. Strengthening capacities in the area of border and migration management is also crucial. In order to effectively fight organised crime and trafficking, cooperation between law enforcement agencies, the judiciary and the prosecution needs to be enhanced. In this regard, it is important that direct access to the MEMEX criminal intelligence information system is ensured in all regional police units and other law enforcement authorities. The improvement of investigative capacity of the police and prosecution is also crucial. Mr De Brouwer called on the Albanian authorities to proceed with the implementation of the outstanding issues without further delay, to ensure that necessary progress is reported to the European Commission by mid-November. He underlined that the timing of a possible Commission proposal on visa liberalisation for Albanian citizens will depend on Albania's speed of meeting the remaining requirements of the roadmap. Good progress requires strong political will. As soon as the Commission considers that Albania has fulfilled the outstanding benchmarks, it will promptly take action and present a proposal for visa liberalisation for Albanian citizens. For further information, please contact: Artes BUTKA Press & Information Officer Address: ABA Business Center, Rr.Papa Gjon Pali II, 17th floor, Tirana Tel: + 355 4 228 320, + 355 4 228 479Fax: + 355 4 230 752 E-mail: [email protected] Delegation's website: www.delalb.ec.europa.eu .