A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) is a key regulatory management tool. RIAs assess any policy, law, regulation or any other type of law that will be introduced, providing a systematic evaluation of the impact of such legal and regulatory measures. In particular, they assess whether the measure will achieve its anticipated public policy goal. They also analyze the costs and benefits and collect data and information on the potential consequences and risks of proposed measures. As such, RIAs contribute to every stage in the process of drafting, implementing and monitoring different measures.
In Albania, the elements of RIAs are present in the law-making process. For all draft laws, an explanatory memorandum and budgetary assessment are to be developed, and there are also public information and consultation requirements in the drafting process. However, the third EPR of Albania noted how the current system is criticized as it focuses too strongly on financial implications, without paying much attention to the social, environmental and other economic issues. Moreover, although Albania is moving towards applying the fully-fledged RIA tool for measures, they also do not include monitoring or evaluation as part of the cycle. A recommendation in the third EPR of Albania noted that these aspects should be strengthened, as well providing training for legal and technical staff dealing with the RIA process.
To bolster the RIA process in Albania, the UNECE has supported the development of a programme for training the relevant staff on how to apply a fully-fledged RIA. This will aid the country in producing RIAs that attend to all social, environmental and economic issues, thus eventually producing more holistic and effective policies, laws and regulations.