ENVIRONMENTAL HARM, GOVERNANCE FAILURE, AND EU CONDITIONALITY IN ALBANIA

Abstract

Environmental crime is increasingly recognised as a major form of transnational harm with substantial ecological, economic, social, and governance consequences. This paper examines environmental crime through the theoretical lens of green criminology, with particular attention to global developments and the Albanian context. Drawing on a qualitative, literature-based, and policy-analysis approach, the study synthesises academic scholarship, international institutional reports, and national legal documents to identify the principal drivers, impacts, and enforcement challenges associated with environmental crime. The analysis suggests that environmental crime in Albania is shaped by the interaction of economic development pressures, institutional fragmentation, weak enforcement capacity, and limited inter-agency coordination. In this context, illegal logging, pollution, unauthorised construction, riverbed extraction, and pressure on protected areas emerge as key manifestations of environmental harm. These practices not only degrade natural ecosystems but also generate broader social and economic costs, including loss of biodiversity, damage to local livelihoods, and increased institutional distrust. The case of Vjosa–Narta further highlights the importance of EU environmental conditionality and reveals the tension between development priorities and ecological protection in a country undergoing accession-related transformation. The paper argues that environmental crime in Albania should not be understood solely as a matter of legal violation. Rather, it represents a broader governance challenge involving state capacity, transparency, environmental justice, and sustainable development. By situating Albania within wider debates on environmental harm, transitional governance, and EU accession, the paper contributes to the growing green criminology literature and offers a framework for understanding the persistence of environmental crime in contexts marked by institutional vulnerability and reform pressure.