ALBANIA OPENED NEGOTIATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU

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EU – ALBANIA
ALBANIA OPENED NEGOTIATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU

Today is considered historic for Albania in terms of the European integration process.
Albania After 16 years passed after the signing of the Stabilization-Association Agreement, Albania opened negotiations with the European Union.

Albania opened the first chapter of negotiations for membership with the European Union on October 15.

First chapter group

-The functioning of democratic institutions

- Public administration reform

-Chapter 23 – Judiciary and fundamental rights

-Chapter 24 – Justice, freedom and security

-Economic criteria

-Chapter 5 – Public procurement

-Chapter 18 – Statistics

-Chapter 32 – Financial control

This chapter group is opened first and closed at the end of the integration process. Progress in this group will determine the overall pace of negotiations.

The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, at the joint conference in Luxembourg, cited this moment as historic: "The opening of the chapters is a great achievement and marks a historical cornerstone in the joint journey. Any success that Albania has in the EU process should be seen as a step for the entire region. There is no other future for Albania".

History of Albania-EU Relations

Albania's relations with the European Union, based on the national objective of EU integration, are strategic and a priority of our foreign policy. Albania's primary interest in relation to the EU is EU membership in the future.

In 1991, Albania established diplomatic relations with the European Community;
In 2000, Albania was officially recognized by the European Union as a potential candidate country;
In 2003, the Thessaloniki Summit of EU heads of state approved the Stabilization-Association process, thus confirming the perspective of EU membership of the Western Balkan countries, including Albania.

In the same year, the negotiations for the EU-Albania Stabilization-Association Agreement (SAA) began;

On June 12, 2006, the negotiation process regarding the Stabilization-Association Agreement with Albania was concluded, which was signed in the General Affairs Council (GAC), in Luxembourg;
On April 1, 2009, the SAA entered into force. In the same month, Albania officially applied to join the EU;
In November 2009, based on the questionnaire that the European Commission submitted to Albania regarding the country's preparation for membership, the negotiations for obtaining the status of a candidate country began;
On June 27, 2014, Albania received the status of a candidate country.

The Council defined five main priorities (public administration, rule of law, fight against corruption, organized crime, fundamental rights) that Albania had to fulfill before the start of membership negotiations;

On November 9, 2016, based on the achievements in these key priorities, the Commission proposed for the first time to the Council the start of membership negotiations with Albania, subject to a concrete progress in the implementation of the reform in justice, in particular the "vetting" of judges and prosecutors;
On 17 April 2018, in its annual Enlargement Package, the European Commission recommended that the Council decide to open accession negotiations with Albania in light of the marked progress, maintenance and deepening of reforms by Albania.;
On June 26, 2018, the EU General Affairs Council agreed to respond positively to the progress made by Albania and to set the path towards the opening of accession negotiations in June 2019;
On May 29, 2019, the European Commission presented the annual Enlargement Package, again recommending the immediate opening of accession negotiations for Albania;
On June 18, 2018, the General Affairs Council reaffirmed its conclusions of June 26, 2018, recognized the Commission's positive recommendation for the opening of negotiations and decided to take a clear and substantial decision on this no later than October 2019;
On October 18, 2019, the European Council considered the opening of membership negotiations with Albania. The council decided to return to this matter before May 2020.
On March 25, 2020, the General Affairs Council of the EU decided to open membership negotiations with the Republic of Albania, taking into account the progress achieved in the reforms and the fulfillment of the conditions determined unanimously by the Council of June 2018.
On March 26, 2020, the European Council approved the decision of the EU General Affairs Council to open negotiations with Albania.

Visa-free regime

On November 9, 2006, the European Commission decided to start negotiations for visa facilitation with Albania.

The visa facilitation agreement was signed by the parties on April 13, 2007, in Zagreb. It paved the way to achieve the complete abolition of visas and free movement for Albanian citizens to EU countries.

After the entry into force of the agreement, on January 1, 2008, on March 7, 2008, in Tirana, negotiations began between the European Commission and the Albanian Government to reach a consensus on visa liberalization between the parties.

At the end of the talks, in May 2010, the Commission proposed to enable Albanian citizens to travel to the Schengen countries without the need for a short-term visa.

On 8 November 2010, the Council approved the Commission's proposal and the visa-free regime entered into force on 15 December 2010.

The European Commission is authorized and obliged to evaluate the implementation of the agreement every year. In its last report in December 2018, the European Commission stated that Albania has fulfilled its obligations, proposing to maintain this regime with Albania. BesaTime
ALBANIA OPENED NEGOTIATIONS FOR MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU

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