Climate change has pushed governments around the world to adopt aggressive policies towards energy efficiency. Many governments, in addition to removing taxes on energy-saving devices, are also subsidizing families directly with cash to purchase them.
But in Albania, the opposite phenomenon is occurring. While Albania aspires to become part of the European family, its fiscal policies are moving in the opposite direction to Brussels' demands.
Highly energy-efficient equipment, such as inverter air conditioners, are taxed in Albania with a 10% customs duty, while in EU countries this tariff is almost zero (0 to 2.2%).
This discrepancy is not simply a financial burden on citizens' pockets, but according to experts, it constitutes a real obstacle in the membership process.
Against the spirit of negotiations with the EU
Energy efficiency is one of the main pillars of the chapters that Albania must negotiate to join the EU. Business chambers in the country have raised the alarm that maintaining customs tariffs above the European level for energy-saving equipment is in open contradiction with the integration process itself.
According to business representatives, Albania cannot claim alignment with the EU's "Green Agenda" standards while fiscally penalizing citizens who purchase energy-saving technologies.
Paradox table: Albania the "extreme" of the region
Comparison of tariffs shows how Albania burdens the final consumer more than its neighbors:
• Inverter devices:
Albania 10%
Montenegro 0%
EU 0-2.2%.
• Televisions (Efficiency A+):
Albania 10%
Montenegro 3%
Greece 4%.
A double burden for the citizen
If the government were to follow the European model, reducing this fee to 2%, the effect would be immediate: citizens would buy equipment that consumes less energy and the electricity bill at the end of the month would be lower.
For business chambers, this three-year silence of institutions towards requests for tariff revision shows a lack of vision.
"Instead of encouraging efficiency to facilitate the national energy system, the state chooses to collect high taxes at customs, leaving the citizen alone facing high living costs," business representatives say.
It seems that the path to the EU is being hindered by the Government's own "Made in Albania" tariffs, which are holding back the modernization of Albanian homes and burdening the final consumer.
Editorial
