Background information about Albania-EU relations

 

The efforts of Albania to achieve membership in the European Union have increased following the March 2020 political decision to open negotiations. All the countries of the region that aspire EU membership need to fulfil their commitments in the Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) and the Copenhagen Criteria of 1993. Albania became part of the Stabilisation and Association Process in the Zagreb Summit of 2000, while as the SAA was ratified in 2006 and entered into force in 2009. Article 70 of the SAA sets out the approximation of national legislation with that of the European Union. In June 2011, the Albanian Government adopted the Action Plan addressing the 12 key priorities of the EC Opinion regarding the proper functioning of Parliament, strengthening the rule of law, accomplishment of the public administration reforms, fighting corruption and against organized crime, strengthening property rights, reinforcing the protection of human rights and improving the treatment of the detainees. In June 2014, the European Council granted Albania the status of candidate country for membership in the European Union. Launching of the 2018 Report for Albania by European Commission, and EC recommended the opening of the accession negotiations with Albania. Moreover, the Commission presented the new enlargement methodology in February 2020 and in March 2020 the European Council approved the opening of negotiations with Albania and Northern Macedonia. The Commission published the report on Albania and the enlargement strategy for the Western Balkans on October 6, 2020. The latest EC report 2021, stated that Albania performed slightly better than it did a year ago (2020) in some chapters but there is still a lot of work to be done.