In the early 90s, while Albania, like the rest of the Eastern Europe, was swept by a strong wind of change led by its youth, the country made the strategic choice of breaking its five decades long self-imposed isolation and reunite with the continent. Integration to the European Union was declared as the top national priority and it has remained so since. In turn, the European Union and its member states responded quickly and over years and decades, a strong and ever strengthening relationship has developed. In June 2003, during the Thessaloniki European Council, Albania was identified as a potential candidate for EU membership.
In 2009, Albania submitted its formal application for EU membership. In 2010, in its Opinion on Albania’s application, the European Commission identified 12 key priorities to be achieved before accession negotiations could formally begin.
In October 2012, the Commission recommended that Albania be granted EU candidate status, subject to completion of key measures in the areas of judicial and public administration reform and revision of the parliamentary rules of procedures. In June 2014, Albania was awarded candidate status by the EU.
In April 2018, the Commission issued an unconditional recommendation to open accession negotiations. In its June 2018 Conclusions, the Council set out the path towards opening accession negotiations in June 2019, asking for more progress in key areas related to the judiciary, fight against corruption and organized crime, intelligence services and public administration.
The Commission reiterated the recommendation to open accession talks in the Enlargement Package adopted in May 2019. In its June 2019 Conclusions, the Council took good note of the Commission’s recommendation. In March 2020 the members of the European Council endorsed the General Affairs Council’s decision to open accession negotiations with Albania and in July 2020 the draft negotiating framework were presented to the Member States.
In July 2022, the first Intergovernmental Conference on accession negotiations was held. In July 2022, the Commission started the screening process, which has been concluded in 2023.
In July 2023, the European Commission submitted to the Council the screening report on Cluster 1 – Fundamentals, including benchmarks for opening accession negotiations on this cluster.
The enlargement process has produced tangible results, concerning political and economic criteria and the EU acquis, strengthening at the same time stability and peace, bringing the region closer to the EU. Nevertheless, throughout these years, the accession process faced considerable challenges and in certain periods moved ahead in a slow pace, creating ‘enlargement fatigue’ both in the Member States and in the region.
The organization of the 2nd Intergovernmental Conference and the opening of negotiations for the first cluster – the fundamentals – is expected to happen in the course of 2024.