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Zhupa files draft law on Protected Areas/ Requests repeal of amendments t♪7 2024

2026-05-20 12:16:00, Politikë CNA

Zhupa files draft law on Protected Areas/ Requests repeal of amendments t?7

Democratic Party MP Ina Zhupa has filed a draft law on protected areas, calling for the repeal of the current law.

In a statement from the Presidency of the Assembly, Zhupa said that for the first time, the European Parliament's report has called for the repeal of the amendments approved in 2024.

Zhupa stated that the current law strips protected areas and turns them into strategic investments.

The Democrat said the law conflicts with constitutional obligations.

 

 

Zhupa's statement

 

I have filed a draft law for the immediate repeal of Law No. 21/2024 and the restoration of the standards for the protection of protected areas in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, the Stabilization and Association Agreement, international conventions and European standards for the protection of the environment and natural heritage, as well as the implementation of the request of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.

For the first time, the report of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee has also explicitly called for the repeal of the 2024 amendments to the Law "On Protected Areas".

Point 46 of the report notes that these changes "allow the development of large-scale tourism infrastructure within protected areas and transfer key governance and decision-making powers to the National Territorial Council, thus weakening environmental oversight."

Law 21/2024 “On Protected Areas” constitutes one of the most problematic legal interventions towards environmental protection, natural heritage and public interest in the Republic of Albania. This law has seriously violated the constitutional principles of environmental protection and has paved the way for intensive construction and tourist developments within protected areas, weakening the mechanisms of environmental control and supervision.

This stance of the European institutions clearly proves that the law conflicts not only with the public interest and the protection of national natural resources, but also with the standards and obligations that Albania has within the framework of European integration. While the European Union strengthens policies for the protection of biodiversity and sustainable development, the Albanian government has chosen to liberalize construction and favor clientelistic interests to the detriment of the environment.

This law practically strips protected areas of real protection and turns them into spaces for strategic investments according to private interests. The precedent of the Butrint National Park clearly showed the government's orientation to delegate and privatize the management of national public assets. The 2024 amendments deepen this model by allowing massive interventions in territories that should enjoy maximum protection.

The law conflicted with the constitutional obligations of the Republic of Albania, specifically:

* with Article 56 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right of citizens to a healthy environment and the obligation of the state to protect it;

* with Article 59, points 1/d and 1/g of the Constitution, which require the preservation of the environment and natural heritage for future generations;

* with Article 82 of the Constitution, as the draft law was not accompanied by a full report of the financial effects;

* with the constitutional principle of inter-ethnic solidarity, which imposes the obligation not to damage natural resources and national heritage.

Consequently, Law No. 21/2024 seriously violates the public interest, contradicts the Constitution and Albania's international obligations for the protection of biodiversity and natural heritage. It creates conditions for the gradual destruction of protected areas in favor of narrow private and oligarchic interests, weakening institutional control and environmental protection.

Considering that the majority also approved a resolution that will implement the obligations issued by the European Parliament, I invite you to vote in favor of my bill.





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