ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the steps that Albania has taken in developing an anti-corruption policy field from 1990 until 2016. It discusses sevearl different phases during which Albania has tried to establish an anti-corruption policy, after the downfall of the Communist regime in the early 1990s. The chapter describes the European Union's (EU) support for Albania in the country’s anti-corruption efforts and whether the interaction between the EU and Albania reveals forms of reflexive governance. Corruption made its first appearance in Albanian legislation in 1991, characterised as a phenomenon that could undermine the freedom and independence of the country. Public officials had to adapt to the post-Communist political ethos—Western-style good governance, wherein personal favours from governmental and private sources were no longer acceptable. Post-Communist Albania has proven to be one of the most challenging cases for fighting corruption and organised crime, reforming the public administration and the judiciary.
