Assist relevant institutions in preparation of laws, by-laws, Table of Concordances (TOCs), regulations, strategies, action plans, roadmaps, etc.

1.1 Preparing an updated gap analysis on the EU approximation of the existing legislative framework in selected areas as basis for further advice the competent authorities. Key actors of the activity are Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and line ministries, as they oversee NSDEI short– and medium–term priorities;

1.2 Preparing institutional and administrative gap assessments of the administrative structure responsible for implementing the acquis / European standards in selected areas in order to analyse their level of preparedness;

1.3 Provide support to national administration in drafting the acquis-compliant legislation including the timely elaboration of necessary by-laws, tables of concordance, instructions, manuals, guidance and other interpretative materials, action and training plans and other instruments for the smooth implementation of adopted legislation in selected areas;

1.4 Assist relevant institutions in developing the necessary implementation follow-up measures and in monitoring and reporting on the implementation of harmonised legislation in selected areas.

2. Training and knowledge creation

2.1 Assist competent institutions in the transposition and implementation of the EU acquis in selected areas and its proper enforcing in the upcoming period;

2.2 Prepare national administration for the legal and practical aspect and challenges in the implementation of harmonised regulations and support establishing of functional coordination mechanisms to facilitate implementation;

2.3 Increase in-house training capacities through organization of Training of Trainers (ToT) programmes in order to increase the number and quality of domestic trainers.

3. Expertise, exchanges and partnerships

3.1 Advise as necessary on the competences and appropriateness of the institutions (line ministries, independent agencies etc.) in charge for specific pieces of the EU acquis as well as their restructuring;

3.3 Assist EI Secretariat institutions as well as line ministries, independent agencies etc. in fulfilling obligations from the SAA and accession negotiations;

3.4 Provide technical advice in selected areas on the elaboration of national legislation transposing the EU acquis;

These activities will be carried out in close cooperation with on–going projects in the same areas, and will be building up from results of previous relevant project;

4. Knowledge transfer and training

4.1 Continue support for national administration to elaborate and/or fine tune negotiating positions as well as to address opening, interim and closing benchmarks;

4.2 Support negotiating structure in preparation for bilateral screenings;

4.3 In the course of negotiations, ensure assistance to relevant institutions in particular to prepare grounds to overcome and fulfil opening, interim and closing benchmarks, negotiating positions, to elaborate required analyses and reports etc. (depending on the situation per chapter based on EU common position);

4.4 Provide technical support and advice to PMO, negotiating structure and other involved in the process of accession negotiations;

4.5 Support PMO and negotiating structure in facilitation and coordination of horizontal and vertical negotiating structure and in obtaining targeted capacity building and transfer of know-how from recent accession experiences (seminars, workshops, etc.);

4.6 Transfer of knowledge to cover the training needs to improve the awareness and knowledge of the Albanian civil servants on EU policies and on the negotiation process and furthermore develop Trainers’ skills (ToT);

4.7 Provide a series of trainings on soft skills (such as for example organisational/management, planning, negotiating, writing skills, communication, training techniques etc.). In implementing these trainings, the Contractor shall closely collaborate with Albanian School of Public Administration;

4.8 Strengthen the work of the Partnership Platform for European Integration and shall include the strengthening capacities of non-state sectors in designing, monitoring and evaluating public policies, which are relevant to the accession process. SEI will provide support in organising regular partnership events, forums, round-tables, seminars with the aim to discuss different aspects of the EU integration processes.