EU formally kicks off accession negotiations with Albania

Brussels – As the first boat carrying 16 migrants from Italy arrived in Albania on Tuesday morning (Oct. 15), representatives of the Balkan state were participating in Luxembourg in the second intergovernmental conference with EU partners. It was the official green light for the start of negotiations on Tirana’s accession to the European club, with the opening of the cluster containing the so-called “fundamental” chapters.

Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama, attended the meeting in person in the Grand Duchy. “It is a mountain to climb,” he told the press, adding that his country is “already walking with very clear ideas, a very strong will and without any doubt” to achieve the goal of bringing ”Albania into the European Union by 2030.” Rama said he was ready to “finally start with the most difficult part of the work,” referring to the opening of the “fundamental” clusters that include “the five most coherent chapters, plus the three criteria that will make us go further and conclude by our very ambitious deadline” the accession process.

There is also satisfaction on the European side. The outgoing Commissioner for Enlargement, Hungary’s Olivér Várhelyi, congratulated Albanian authorities for the “major milestone” that was possible to achieve “because Albania has completed the required reforms” with “determination” and “commitment.” He was echoed by his compatriot foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, also from Luxembourg, who said that “one of the most important priorities of the Hungarian presidency (of the Council, ed.) put at the top of the agenda was the acceleration of enlargement” of the EU in the Western Balkans.

The formally opened chapters today are 5 (public procurement), 18 (statistics), 23 and 24 (the so-called rule of law chapters: judiciary and fundamental rights on the one hand and justice, freedom, and security on the other), and 32 (financial control), plus negotiations on the functioning of democratic institutions, public administration reform, and economic criteria for accession to the Union. Only upon achievement of the intermediate parameters set by Chapters 23 and 24 and those on other horizontal elements of the cluster can negotiations on the rest of the chapters continue.

Following the reform of the accession process dating back to 2020, there are six negotiation clusters in total, and the first one, on fundamentals, is to be opened first and closed last, determining the overall “pace” of the negotiations. The other five cover the internal market, competitiveness and inclusive growth, the green agenda and sustainable connectivity, resources, agriculture and cohesion, and finally, external relations.

The first Albania-EU intergovernmental conference dates back to July 2022. However, no negotiating chapters were opened on that occasion, as it was only the start of the accession process. Tirana’s path, paired with that of Skopje, was complicated due to the rekindling of old nationalist scars between Northern Macedonia and Greece but, more importantly, due to new friction with Bulgaria. The EU Council broke the deadlock last month with the “unbundling” of the two countries’ membership.

The goal announced by Prime Minister Rama is ambitious: joining the Union is a complex path that has no predetermined duration. Much will depend on how quickly Tirana can implement the reforms, enabling it to “catch up” with the rest of its European partners. Even once the Commission has positively assessed Albanian efforts, the final decision on entry rests with the Member States.

Last June, the EU opened its accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova. Georgia‘s path to rapprochement was, de facto, suspended in recent months following controversial steps taken by the Caucasian country’s pro-Russian government.