TIRANA, July 14 /ATA/ – Albania is set to close the first three chapters of its European Union accession negotiations at the ninth Albania-EU Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels on Tuesday, marking another milestone in the country’s membership bid.
Prime Minister Edi Rama said Albania was preparing for an important new stage in the accession process, stressing that the country’s path toward EU membership continues to advance.
The move follows a July 10 decision by the Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU Member States (COREPER), which approved the European Union’s common position on the provisional closure of negotiations on Chapter 25 (Science and Research), Chapter 26 (Education and Culture) and Chapter 30 (External Relations).
The decision reflects the EU member states’ and the European Commission’s assessment of Albania’s sustained progress in implementing reforms and advancing its accession process, while reaffirming confidence in the country’s ability to meet the obligations of EU membership.
COREPER’s endorsement also recognizes the results of reforms implemented over recent years, Albania’s advanced alignment with the EU acquis, and the commitment of the country’s institutions to pursuing the Albania 2030 European agenda.
Albania formally opened accession negotiations with the European Union at the first intergovernmental conference on July 19, 2022, following the European Council’s March 2020 decision to launch membership talks and the subsequent approval of the negotiating framework under the EU’s revised enlargement methodology.
Since then, the two sides have opened negotiations across all six thematic clusters of the accession process.
Talks on the Fundamentals cluster were launched at the second intergovernmental conference on Oct. 15, 2024, covering the functioning of democratic institutions, public administration reform, the judiciary and fundamental rights, justice, freedom and security, as well as public procurement, statistics and financial control.
The External Relations cluster followed on Dec. 17, 2024, opening negotiations on Chapters 30 and 31, covering external relations and the common foreign, security and defence policy.
Negotiations on the Internal Market cluster were launched on April 14, 2025, encompassing the free movement of goods, workers, services and capital, company law, intellectual property, competition policy, financial services, and consumer and health protection.
The Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth cluster was opened on May 22, 2025, covering digital transformation and media, taxation, economic and monetary policy, social policy and employment, enterprise and industrial policy, science and research, education and culture, and the customs union.
The Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity cluster followed on Sept. 16, 2025, with negotiations on transport, energy, trans-European networks, and environment and climate policy.
At the seventh intergovernmental conference on Nov. 17, 2025, Albania opened the Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion cluster, completing the opening of negotiations across all six accession clusters.
The eighth intergovernmental conference, held on May 26, 2026, marked the transition to the next phase of the accession process after COREPER confirmed that Albania had met the interim benchmarks under the Fundamentals cluster, paving the way for the provisional closure of negotiating chapters.
Tuesday’s ninth intergovernmental conference is expected to deliver the first provisional closure of accession chapters, with negotiations on Chapters 25, 26 and 30 set to be concluded provisionally.
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