On 24 March, the Council of Ministers of the Government of Albania approved Financing Agreements between the European Commission and the Republic of Albania on the Annual Action Plans (AAP) for 2022 and 2023 under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) III.

The 2022 programme (IPA22) includes an EU contribution of €82.6 million and covers actions in the areas of environmental protection, developing perspectives for youth, strengthening democracy, EU acquis alignment, continuing the fight against organised crime, strengthening thejudiciary as well as supporting reforms to fulfil EU standards and norms.  The 2023 programme (IPA23) will provide a further €80 million to support Albanians with the socio-economic consequences of the energy crisis.  Funds from both programmes are grants that do not need to be repaid by Albania.

The IPA23 programme will support Albanians with the socio-economic consequences of the energy crisis by funding the Government of Albania’s response to the energy crisis, which foresees:

-Energy bill subsidies for over 1 million Albanian households;

-Support to 168,000 small and medium enterprises in Albania to offset high energy prices.

This support is part of the EU 1 billion Western Balkans energy support package announced at the Western Balkans Summit in Tirana in 2022.