The European Union and the Council of Europe's joint Action against Economic Crime in Albania, in close cooperation with the Central Elections Commission (CEC), continued the series of capacity building activities for all key users of the CEC’s Electronic Platform on Financial Reporting. This platform was developed with the support of the Action during the previous phase of the Horizontal Facility programme, with the purpose of strengthening the Central Election Commission's oversight capacities and increasing transparency and accountability of political parties financing and misuse of state resources during the election campaigns.

During the activities conducted in the period February–June 2023, 120 CEC monitors, 23 financial officers of political parties, 58 candidates for mayor in the local elections of May 2023, and 10 licenced accounting experts enhanced their technical knowledge and skills on the use and functioning of the online platform. The Council of Europe’s experts tailored the sessions to the specific needs of each key user of the platform. During the trainings, the participants had the opportunity to get acquainted with the online platform, its main modules and functions, and were provided with technical information in order to ensure the effective functioning of the platform. These training sessions also served to re-emphasise the legal obligations and deadlines for reporting on the platform by each key user according to the legal provisions of the Electoral Code.

These activities were organised within the framework of the  Action against Economic Crime in Albania, part of the European Union and the Council of Europe's Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye – phase III.