Mr. Florian Xhafa obtained his BA in Law awarded with distinctions in 1999, and his Master of Arts Degree in European Studies in 2008 from Tirana University.

Mr. Xhafa is a senior lawyer and policy expert with over 16 years of intensive experience in policy and legal analysis, policy and legal drafting of several important areas of law and development issues. During his long professional experience, Mr. Xhafa has gained a combined experience in the public and private sector which provides him with insight in both aspects of law and policy making. Mr. Xhafa also possesses a thorough knowledge of European law having covered important positions during the different stages of the European Integration process of Albania. From 2001 to 2004 he was engaged in the European Integration Department of the Prime Minister’s office. In this occasion he extensively dealt with policy and legal analysis relevant to the Internal Market areas during the phase of preparation for the adoption of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) between European Union and Albania. He was entitled with essential responsibilities in the negotiation and monitoring process of the implementation of the SAA provisions on Internal Market.

From 2004 to 2007, Mr Xhafa covered the position of Head of Coordination Unit for the Approximation of Legislation, at the Ministry of European Integration. In this occasion, he, among other tasks, coordinated the transposition within the Albanian legislation of the European Union legislation related to the Energy, Environment, Agriculture & amp; Rural Development, Customs, Maritime and Railway Transport, Company Law, etc. as well as managed and coordinated the training program of the European Commission (TAIEX Program for Albania).

In addition, he has personally covered the areas of energy, economy, agriculture, environment, and transport, as well as their relation both to rural and regional development with a specific attention to legislative aspects of proper organization and functioning of Local Government and the crosscutting functions with Central Government.

Since leaving civil service, Mr. Xhafa worked in many projects financed by international organizations such as EU Commission, WB, UNDP, OSCE, as a policy and legal consultant. Mr. Xhafa is also a Lecturer at Tirana Business University on Consumer Protection and author and co-author of several publications.

Publications: 

• F.Xhafa, “Common Agriculture Policy, a policy in continuous evolution”, Journal of Parliamentarian and Legal Studies, 2005, (27).
• F. Xhafa, “SAA and Albanian Agriculture, Obligation or needs”, Bulletin of Parliamentarian and Legal Studies, 2006 (3).
• F. Xhafa, “Mapping Decision Makers in the Process of Stabilization and Association”, EU Funded Project 2007.
• F.Xhafa, “Agriculture in the perspective of European Integration – Myths and Legends”, OSFA, 2007.
• F. Xhafa, “European Community Freedoms in Stabilization and Association Agreement and the Obligations of Albanian Institutions”, EU Funded Project, 2008.
• F. Xhafa, “SAA obligations by addressing Institutional Responsibilities”, EU Funded Project, 2008.
• F. Xhafa, “Common Policies of EU and Albania”, EU Funded Project, 2008.
• F. Xhafa, “Manual for farmers and Agro processing industry”, OXFAM, December 2008.
• F. Xhafa, “Guideline for farmers and Agro processing industry”, OXFAM, December 2008.
• F. Xhafa, “Monitoring Report – Albania in the Stabilization and Association Process”, OSFA, December 2008.
• F. Xhafa, “Informative guide for the application in EU aid programs”, EU Funded Project, January 2009.
• F. Xhafa, “Informative Guide for the EU Assistance Programs”, EU Funded Project, February 2009.
• F. Xhafa, “Monitoring Report – Albania in the Stabilization and Association Process”, OSFA, December 2009.
• F. Xhafa, Co-Author, “Agricultural Markets in a Transitioning Economy”, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2012.  
• F. Xhafa and H. Ymeri, Co-Author, Policy Paper on “Third actors in the Western Balkans and energy security”, Albanian Center of Excellence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2015.