PS’s Territorial Reform 2.0, the municipalities at risk of being merged! From Pustec to Rrogozhina

Opposition MPs blocked the parliamentary podium on Thursday to prevent the presentation of a report drafted unilaterally by the socialist majority at the conclusion of the work of the Special Commission on Territorial Reform.

Although the commission operated as a bipartisan body, the Socialist Party decided to submit as the final product to Parliament a report prepared by its own experts, while the Democratic Party opposed the move, unsuccessfully requesting that Parliament vote on extending the commission’s work.

The Socialist Party’s report is titled “Administrative-Territorial Reform 2.0” and lays the foundations for a new territorial division aimed at merging several small municipalities through assessment indicators such as economic performance, functionality, and population size.

The Democratic co-chair of the commission, Luçiano Boçi, accused the Socialist Party of acting unilaterally and claimed that the plan to merge several municipalities was a project aimed at depopulating the country.

“They have a project to reduce and merge municipalities, to continue depopulation, and to prevent people from being represented in local government. All of this is only to achieve a political goal,” Boçi said to the media.

The Socialist report has also sparked reactions from residents of small local government units that risk being merged with larger municipalities in their regions. In the center of Prrenjas, dozens of residents gathered on Tuesday to oppose what they claim is a plan by the socialist majority to merge their municipality with the municipality of Librazhd.

Citizens signed a petition against the merger, arguing that it would move public services further away from residents and weaken the institutional identity of the area.

The analytical indexes included in the Socialist Party’s report have also raised concerns about several municipalities in the south, such as Delvina and Konispol, which the Democratic Party believes could be part of a government plan to merge them with the municipality of Saranda. Democratic Party MP for the area, Ina Zhupa, opposed this approach, calling it harmful to the representation and development of the region.

Polarization among municipalities

A decade after the 2014 administrative-territorial reform, the socialist majority argues that the current map no longer reflects the country’s demographic and economic reality.

To assess the need for a new map, the analysis is based on a methodology built around five indicators: municipal functionality, economic performance, urban and demographic size, distance from the nearest administrative center, and social and cultural cohesion.

The report finds that the problem is not only related to the number of municipalities, but also to the significant inequality between them.

Tirana concentrates around one-quarter of the country’s population and nearly 40% of local revenues, while 47 municipalities each generate less than 1% of total local revenues. Nearly half of municipalities are below the average level of functionality, while many small units spend the vast majority of their budgets on administration and salaries, leaving little room for investment and development.

The Socialist Party does not recommend a mechanical reduction in the number of municipalities, but rather a differentiated approach, where territorial mergers would be applied only in cases supported by evidence. For other areas, the report suggests forms of inter-municipal cooperation, the creation of a functional regional level above the existing 12 counties, and a reform of local government financing.

According to the report, the new map should be approved within 2026 so that it can take effect for the 2027 local elections and prepare local government for the absorption of European Union funds.

The report “Administrative-Territorial Reform 2.0” does not contain an official list of municipalities that will be affected by a territorial reorganization, but the experts’ analysis identifies a group of local units showing repeated weaknesses in functionality, economy, demographics, and finances. These municipalities are considered potential cases where territorial reconfiguration or other forms of consolidation could be justified.

The majority’s analysis is accompanied by additional index documents showing a deeply polarized picture rather than balanced development across the entire territory.

On one side is the Tirana-Durrës axis, along with municipalities such as Vorë and Shijak and a few coastal points such as Vlora, Himara, and Saranda. These areas concentrate the majority of the population, generate their own fiscal revenues, and, according to the report, have a dynamic economy.

On the other side is the periphery, especially the northeastern, southeastern, and mountainous areas, which face a vicious cycle: population decline and aging, survival economies with few formal jobs, and municipal budgets that depend almost entirely on central government funding, using resources almost exclusively to pay local administration salaries.

## Municipalities at risk of being merged

The Municipal Functionality Index in the Socialist Party’s report identifies the small municipality of Pustec, with its minority character, as well as Rrogozhina, as the municipalities with the weakest performance nationwide.

The group with low functionality also includes Konispol, Këlcyrë, Poliçan, Roskovec, Has, Delvinë, Kuçovë, Maliq, and Fushë-Arrëz.

“Around 40% of small and medium-sized municipalities fail to fully finance nearly half of the budget programs related to their legal functions,” the report states.

These municipalities do not fully perform some of the responsibilities transferred to them during the 2014 reform, such as forest administration, irrigation and drainage, preschool education, and fire protection.

The economic performance analysis places 13 municipalities at the bottom of the index, including Konispol, Fushë-Arrëz, Delvinë, Maliq, Kuçovë, Devoll, Has, Roskovec, Poliçan, Këlcyrë, Pustec, and Prrenjas, due to the low number of businesses, limited formal employment, weak productivity, and lack of economic diversification.

Another structural problem is related to demographic size. Municipalities such as Pustec, Këlcyrë, Konispol, Delvinë, Fushë-Arrëz, Has, Poliçan, Rrogozhinë, Kolonjë, and Libohovë have small populations and fail to benefit from economies of scale, making public service delivery more expensive and limiting their administrative and financial capacity.

The report also highlights that several municipalities spend almost their entire budget on salaries and operational expenses. Kavajë, Rrogozhinë, Fushë-Arrëz, Kolonjë, and Tepelenë have the highest levels of “budget rigidity”, above 90%, making their budgets “functionally payroll lists”, with very limited space for investment and development.

These data are presented in the report as a technical basis for assessing whether a municipality should merge with another, strengthen inter-municipal cooperation, or be addressed through other institutional measures.

For decision-making on the reform, the data support a differentiated approach rather than a horizontal one. “For the lower segment of the ranking, especially for units below the demographic critical mass that show weaknesses in all five dimensions, there are two real options: territorial reconfiguration through merger with more functional neighboring units, or the joint and mandatory exercise of functions through inter-municipal cooperation mechanisms, as allowed by Law No. 139/2015,” the report suggests.

“Maintaining the status quo for cases such as Pustec or Rrogozhina means accepting a lower standard of services for citizens in these territories,” the report emphasizes.

The overall picture based on the analyzed indicators produces what the report considers “a clear and politically significant economic map”. Out of 60 normalized municipalities, only 10 are classified with high economic performance, 12 with medium performance, and 38, or 63% of municipalities, with low performance.

The average remains below the medium-level threshold, meaning that the typical Albanian municipality operates on a weak economic foundation.

Despite the low levels that some small municipalities may show in the financial, economic, and demographic indicators analyzed by experts, they suggest that municipalities with a significant concentration of national minorities, such as Dropull, Finiq, and Pustec, as well as municipalities with a strong identity profile, such as Has or Konispol, should be assessed carefully, ensuring a balance between the obligation to protect diversity, cultural identity, and minority rights.

Based on this analysis, the majority proposes four scenarios for reorganizing local government: maintaining the current map but with asymmetric decentralization, where municipalities with higher capacities would receive more powers, while weaker ones would be limited to basic functions or exercise them through inter-municipal cooperation.

The other scenarios include broad territorial mergers to create larger and more functional units; the merger only of municipalities with limited capacities; and the final scenario proposes a deeper restructuring of responsibilities, focusing municipalities mainly on basic functions.

At the same time, the report suggests creating a functional regional level above the existing 12 counties, which would manage functions that go beyond municipal boundaries, such as inter-county transport, waste management, flood protection, and coordination of European Union funds.

“KORÇA BOOM”