Can the EU Make Albania a More Accessible Country?

Katerina Jaupaj understood from a young age that she could not take steps without thinking about the consequences. She was only a year and a half old and had just started walking when she broke her leg for the first time.

Later, doctors diagnosed her with osteogenesis imperfecta, a rare genetic disorder that affects collagen production and makes bones especially fragile. Often known as “glass children,” people with this condition face a high risk of fractures even from bumps or movements that would be ordinary for others.

Fear of injury followed Katerina throughout her childhood. Her peers, instructed by her parents to be careful, treated her “like a princess,” she recalls.

Around fourth grade, Katerina began using a wheelchair. But the tool that was supposed to give her more freedom of movement quickly became another source of anxiety. In Patos, the small town where she grew up, it was hard to find tires or spare parts for the chair, while ramps in schools, institutions and public spaces were almost nonexistent. For accessibility, Katerina recalls, “there was almost no talk at all.”

Despite the obstacles, Katerina continued school, moved to Tirana and went to university. Today, at 23, she works at a public agency promoting youth policies and is pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work. The capital offered her more opportunities than the town where she grew up, but not necessarily more independence.

Many of the barriers remain the same.

In an effort to guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities and their full participation in society, and to align Albanian legislation with that of the European Union, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare published on September 1 for public consultation the draft law “On the inclusion and accessibility of persons with disabilities.”

The draft transposes the European Accessibility Act into Albanian legislation and sets new standards for a wide range of products and services, especially digital ones. It also expands the obligations of state institutions and private businesses to make their products and services accessible.

Activists consider the draft an important step toward European standards. But the gap between its ambition and the reality on the ground makes them skeptical: can Albania move to digital accessibility standards when it has yet to guarantee physical access to public and private buildings?

“It is a positive step, but very difficult to implement,” said Suela Lala, head of the “Së Bashku” (Together) Foundation, noting that in Albania there are still hospitals, health centers, schools and roads that are inaccessible, or ramps that do not meet basic standards.

“Moving from these shortcomings to the digital accessibility of banks, ATMs, shops and other services, public and private, is a very big leap,” she added.

Physical and institutional barriers

According to the 2023 Census, 6.5 percent of Albania’s population over five years old lives with at least one disability, defined by INSTAT as complete inability in at least one of six basic functions: seeing, hearing, walking, concentrating, self-care and communication.

Disability is strongly linked to age. Nearly 60 percent of the people identified by the Census are over 65, while prevalence is higher among women, 7.2 percent, compared to 5.9 percent among men.

Although persons with disabilities make up a considerable part of the population, for many of them equal participation in public life continues to be hindered by physical and institutional barriers. Legislation has required the elimination of these obstacles for years, but public buildings, schools, health centers, roads and transport often remain inaccessible. Even where ramps have been built, they do not always meet basic standards.

For Katerina Jaupaj, an ordinary outing can quickly turn into a chain of obstacles. The challenge can start at the door of her apartment building, if it has no ramp or elevator, continue on narrow, blocked sidewalks and end in front of the steps of a bank, shop or café she cannot enter without someone else’s help.

“It can start with the building you live in. There may be no ramp and you may not be able to leave the house alone. Then it continues with the road, the bank, the shop and so on,” said the 23-year-old, who is studying for a master’s in Social Work. “Even to have a coffee, you often cannot go alone. You always need a companion.”

In Tirana, sidewalks occupied by construction or other obstacles often force Jaupaj to move in her wheelchair in the same space as cars.

“And there, normally, you risk,” she said.

Jaupaj has also experienced another reality during a period she lived in Germany, where adapted infrastructure, she says, enabled her to be far less dependent on others’ help. The difference was especially visible in public transport.

“In Germany, buses and metros are adapted. Even if a person is alone, they can move around,” she said. “The difference is huge,” Jaupaj added.

Suela Lala, head of the “Së Bashku” Foundation, sees the same gap. According to her, the main problem is not the lack of legislation, but the failure to implement it, while noting that even the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare itself admits that some institutions under its authority continue to be inaccessible to persons with disabilities.

She calls the existing law a “total failure,” since more than a decade after its adoption, changes on the ground remain scarce.

“When we talk about accessibility, most people and institutions understand only that ramp at the entrance,” she said. “They don’t understand the elements for people who cannot see, how the environment is furnished and organized, accessible toilets or lighting.”

To bridge this gap between law and reality, disability organizations have called for a national agency to monitor the implementation of standards, impose sanctions, and inform state institutions and private entities of their obligations. According to her, the shortcomings often show not only lack of implementation, but misunderstanding of the very concept of accessibility.

A step forward

The new draft aims to replace law no. 93/2014 “On the inclusion and accessibility of persons with disabilities,” significantly expanding obligations, especially for businesses and service providers.

The main change is the shift from a framework focused mainly on supporting persons with disabilities, toward setting mandatory standards for products and services, in line with the European Accessibility Act.

In practice, the new requirements will affect a wide range of technological products — from computers, smartphones and electronic devices to ATMs, payment terminals, ticket machines and electronic kiosks. Similar obligations are set for banking services, transport, electronic communications, audiovisual media, e-books, online commerce and other digital services.

The novelty is that responsibility does not remain only with public institutions. Manufacturers, importers, distributors and private service providers must ensure accessibility throughout the entire product or service cycle — from design and production to market placement and use by the consumer. The draft also provides new rules for accessibility in public procurement and the possibility of withdrawing from the market goods that do not meet the requirements.

“The draft is an important step forward,” says Blerta Cani, head of the Albanian Foundation for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ADRF), adding that unlike the current law it sets concrete obligations for the accessibility of goods and services and more clearly extends this responsibility to the private sector, from banks and ATMs to e-commerce, transport and communications. “The main challenge remains moving from principles to implementation,” she added.

Another change concerns control and sanctions. Oversight is divided among several ministries and regulatory institutions, including the Bank of Albania, AKEP and AMA. The draft also expands the concept of independent living, providing for personal assistance, supported decision-making and funding for assistive devices. The person with disabilities is recognized a greater role in choosing and managing the support they receive, including choosing and instructing the personal assistant.

The new system provides for complaint review, periodic checks and corrective measures, while fines can reach up to 5 million lek or 0.1 percent of annual turnover for commercial companies.

“This approach leverages the expertise of sectoral institutions, but requires strong coordination, technical capacities and a simple and accessible mechanism for filing complaints,” Cani said.

She added that the concrete fine measures, the deadlines operators will be given to correct violations, and public reporting on controls must be clearly defined, so that the law is applied equally by different institutions.

The assessment system for persons with disabilities also changes toward a multidisciplinary approach, where not only the individual’s health condition is considered, but also the social and environmental barriers that limit their participation. Central and local institutions are tasked with gradually planning funds to eliminate obstacles in public services, while persons with disabilities and their organizations are given a strengthened role in consulting and monitoring policies.

“The specific standards and part of the procedures will be defined by bylaws within 18 months,” Cani explained. “That is why it is important that these acts are drafted on time and with the direct participation of persons with disabilities and their organizations,” she added.

Unclear costs

The accessibility draft comes at a time when Albania has accelerated the approximation of domestic legislation with European Union directives and standards, as part of the membership negotiations. The new pace is bringing higher standards into legislation, but at the same time raising questions about the country’s costs and capacities to implement them in practice.

Gledis Gjipali, executive director of the European Movement in Albania (EMA), estimates that the pressure to meet negotiation deadlines has not been matched by the same intensity of debate on the financial bill that approximation will bring for the state, businesses and citizens.

“The process is developing mainly under the pressure of deadlines for the formal approximation of legislation, while public debate and consolidated assessments of the costs of this process for institutions, business and citizens remain very limited,” Gjipali said.

According to him, impact analyses and financial calculations accompanying new laws are often missing or fail to fully reflect the investments that will be required in infrastructure, human resources and business adaptation.

“The risk is that the speed of adopting laws will prevail over the capacity for their real implementation,” Gjipali added. “Meeting EU standards requires not only harmonized legislation, but also financial means, functioning institutions and sufficient time for adaptation,” he stressed.

The new draft on accessibility for persons with disabilities puts this dilemma in concrete terms. It aims to bring into Albanian legislation the requirements of the European Accessibility Act, setting new obligations for public institutions and a wide range of private operators. But while the standards to be achieved are defined, the implementation bill remains unclear.

One of the sectors expected to be directly affected is banking, where the new requirements extend from ATMs to digital services and channels. But while the draft is still in consultation, banks do not have a calculation of the adaptation cost.

Spiro Brumbulli, secretary general of the Albanian Association of Banks, told BIRN that the sector is still reviewing the draft’s requirements.

“We are in the phase of review and discussion with banks,” he stressed.

Blerta Cani notes that the report accompanying the draft acknowledges the need for funding, but does not show how much implementation will cost. “The draft acknowledges that implementation will require funding and provides for support from the State Budget and planning in medium-term budget programs, but the published report does not present the total cost figure,” she said, adding that the document says costs were calculated in the Impact Assessment Report. “In the end the success of the law will depend on the bylaws, the budget and continuous monitoring,” Cani concluded.