Albania officially opened negotiations on ‘Cluster 1’ of the European Union acquis, the so-called “fundamentals”, at the second Intergovernmental Conference in Luxembourg on Tuesday 15 October.
The European Union delegation was led by Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, on behalf of the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council, with the participation of Olivér Várhelyi, Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement. The Albanian delegation was led by Prime Minister Edi Rama.
In negotiations with the EU since 2022, Albania recently saw its accession process decoupled from that of North Macedonia, to enable it to take full advantage of its progress.
‘Cluster 1’ - which, according to the current enlargement methodology, is opened first and closed last - comprises five chapters: Chapter 5 - Public Procurement; Chapter 18 - Statistics; Chapter 23 - Judiciary and Fundamental Rights; Chapter 24 - Justice, Freedom and Security; and Chapter 32 - Financial Control.
Progress in these areas will determine the overall pace of negotiations.
The EU has also set provisional benchmarks for Albania, particularly on Chapters 23 and 24, relating to the rule of law, which will have to be met before the next stages of the negotiation process can be completed.
“Albania is achieving good results in the accession process and (...) the country has taken another important step forward in its enlargement efforts”, declared Péter Szijjártó at the end of the meeting.
The Albanian Prime Minister, Edi Rama, believes that it is Vladimir Putin’s war that has revived the momentum for enlargement: “The aggression in Ukraine has been a wake-up call for the EU and shows that it needs the Western Balkans as much as the Balkans need it”, he said, adding that his country intended to complete the process by the end of the decade.
“We’ve come a long way from where we started in 2019. What I inherited from the Juncker Commission was more like a car accident than a portfolio”, said Oliver Várhelyi.
“We have made three attempts to open accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia. We had to get enlargement back on track, and then deal with real integration, i.e. how we are going to build similar economies and societies in the Western Balkans even before accession takes place so that, by the end of the next Commission’s term, Prime Minister Rama can also appoint his first Commissioner”.
Asked about the reforms of the European Union as a precondition for enlargement, he said that the Commission had been very clear that the current institutional structure was capable of welcoming new members and that the two processes - enlargement and internal reform - had to run in parallel. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)