The new Territorial Reform should be accompanied by a complete administrative, financial and electoral reorganization of local government, suggests the Institute for Municipalities of Albania in the report "Local Governance in Albania 2025".
The study estimates that the current structure of local government in Albania is relatively concentrated. With 61 municipalities, the country has an average of about 39 thousand inhabitants per local unit, more than the average of about 34 thousand inhabitants in the Western Balkans and about 22,455 inhabitants per municipality in the European Union.
According to the Institute, one of the problems that the new reform must address is the internal organization of municipalities. Although the former communes no longer exist as local government units, 312 administrative units with the previous borders continue to function in the territory.
Municipalities have been consolidated at the political and financial level, while territorial administration still remains fragmented.
For this reason, the Institute recommends the functional reorganization of administrative units, along with the digitalization of services and the strengthening of local democracy mechanisms. The aim is to ensure that the consolidation of municipalities is not accompanied by the removal of citizens from services and decision-making, especially in rural areas.
Another important change that is suggested is the move towards asymmetric decentralization.
According to the Institute for Municipalities, it is not efficient for all municipalities to have the same model of competencies, as they differ significantly in terms of population, financial resources, and economic potential.
Large municipalities like Tirana, Durrës or Fier have much greater opportunities than small rural municipalities or those facing demographic contraction.
The institute also argues that the powers given to municipalities should be accompanied by full funding.
The transfer of functions after the 2015 reform, according to the report, has not always been supported by sufficient financial, human and technical resources. For this reason, the transferred functions should be treated as full municipal functions and their financing should be integrated into local budgets.
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