The Action against Economic Crime in Albania, in close cooperation with the Central Elections Commission (CEC), continued  organising training sessions for all key users of the CEC’s Electronic Platform on Financial Reporting. This platform was developed with the support of the Action during Phase II of the Horizontal Facility, 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 period February – June 2023, 120 CEC’s monitors, 23 financial officers of political parties, 58 candidates for mayors for the local elections of May 2023, and 10 licensed 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 users 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 effective functioning of the platform. These training sessions served also to re-emphasize the legal obligations and deadlines for reporting in the platform from each key user according to the legal provisions of the Electoral Code. 

These activities were organised within the framework of the European Union and Council of Europe “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Türkiye – Phase III: Action against Economic Crime in Albania”.