On Thursday 22 May, Albania officially opened its fourth set of chapters in the fundamental acquis of the EU: ‘Cluster’ 3: ‘Competitiveness and inclusive growth’ (see EUROPE 13644/29).
This package includes chapters 10 (digital transformation and media), 16 (taxation), 17 (economic and monetary policy), 19 (social policy and employment), 20 (enterprise and industrial policy), 25 (science and research), 26 (education and culture) and 29 (customs union), bringing to 24 the number of chapters opened by Albania since autumn 2024.
Tirana opened its first two ‘clusters’ in a record time of less than three months between October and December last year (see EUROPE 13504/11, 13547/12).
The new European momentum around enlargement has benefited the small Western Balkan country, which saw its bid decoupled from that of North Macedonia in September 2024, in order to speed up the process.
“Albania is the success story of enlargement”, said the Commissioner for Enlargement, Marta Kos, at the last Intergovernmental Conference in April.
According to her, Tirana’s aim is to open all the remaining ‘clusters’ by the end of the year, so that it can “begin closing chapters starting in 2026”.
“If [Albania] continues at this pace [of reform], it is quite possible that it will join the Union before the end of the decade”, said the President of the European Council, António Costa, during his visit to the country on 15 May (see EUROPE 13641/4), echoing the ambitions of the Albanian President, Edi Rama, who wants his country to join the EU by 2030. (Original version in French by Isalia Stieffatre)