On Tuesday 18 October, Albania's Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati said the EU enlargement process had become bureaucratic and soulless.
The enlargement process has lost its political soul, Bushati stated at an EFC conference, saying that it cannot be denied that the enlargement process is not what it was 10 or 15 years ago and it is now difficult to get reforms approved if one talks about enlargement.
He hoped Europe would tackle the question and that the founding member states and other countries would arrive with ideas about how to work together in the lead-up to 60 years after the Treaty of Rome.
The minister revealed that the narrative of reports between the EU and Western Balkans was solely about crisis management rather than accession. He said that over the past two years, the talks in the Gymnich-style Council meetings between member states and candidate countries were all about the migration crisis, security challenges and terrorism. He said they had not discussed economic and social development, inclusivity or tools for bringing these policies about between the EU and the Western Balkans. The foreign minister added that while there had been a stability and connectivity pact with the Berlin process between the EU and Western Balkans nations, there was not a pact for development and democracy, which is what is really lacking.
Returning to the process of Albania’s accession – which has been a candidate country since June 2014 – the minister hoped the European Commission would, in its progress report to be published in November, recommend opening accession talks. He believed everything would fall into place for this to be possible by the end of the year so that Albania can sit around the negotiating table and see a clear timeline for opening the various chapters. Meanwhile, he said, it was important to ensure implementation of reform of justice and the other priorities (reform of public administration, tackling organised crime and corruption, protection of human rights and anti-discrimination policies, and implementing property rights). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)