Albania implements e-learning to train its employees

The project on competition in Albania is adapting to the COVID19 pandemic and continuing to train staff using e-learning methods.

This Twinning project organised an on-line seminar given by three specialists from the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC), who discussed the subject of anti-competitive behaviour, including abusive practices by companies holding a dominant position.

In particular, the training focused on markets that are defined by the existence of exclusive rights, such as the pharmaceutical sector or Intellectual Property rights.

In general terms, the abuse of a dominant position is a conduct contrary to free competition, characterised as being unilateral behaviour undertaken by an economic agent who holds a dominant position in a certain market.

The Moodle e-learning platform was offered by the FIIAPP for this activity. The students, inspection staff with the Albanian Competition Authority (ACA), were provided with learning materials on the platform in the form of explanatory videos, power point presentations, documents and articles of interest, as well as a forum, among other things.

This innovative interactive platform ensures the project can continue to provide the same levels of quality as those offered by a face-to-face class. The training sessions are thus aimed at improving Competition Agency staff training in this Balkan country in the best practices and recent methodologies used by the European Union’s Competition Authorities.

Information about the Project

The project, which is financed by the European Union and managed by the FIIAPP, started in July of last year and aims to further strengthen the administrative and institutional capacities of the ACA. The project advocates the protection of free and effective competition in the Albanian market and for this it has specialists from the CNMC. Under the motto “Developing sound cooperation for free and effective competition!”, it tries to ensure the ACA’s functions in protecting free competition in the markets in this country, based on the current legal framework and the acquis communitaire.