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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In a statement, the DP said the ruling Socialists rejected more than 30 amendments submitted by opposition lawmakers, which it said had received the backing of members of the European Parliament participating in the committee.

According to the DP, the proposed amendments focused on strengthening the fight against corruption, ending political protection for officials accused of corruption, enforcing court rulings – particularly those of the Constitutional Court – and improving transparency, accountability and institutional oversight.

The party said the proposals reflected core European Union standards for strengthening the rule of law and advancing Albania’s accession process, adding that although the amendments were supported by members of the European Parliament, they were voted down by Socialist representatives.

The Democratic Party reiterated its support for Albania’s EU membership, saying accession could only be achieved through concrete reforms, including stronger action against corruption and organised crime, respect for the rule of law, enforcement of judicial decisions and improvements in living standards.

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The head of state said the step confirms the country’s steady progress and opens a new phase of deeper reforms in agriculture, food safety, regional development and resource management.

Albania and the European Union held their 7th Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels earlier today, launching talks on Cluster 5, “Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion.”

The cluster includes Chapter 11 (agriculture and rural development), 12 (food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy), 13 (fisheries and aquaculture), 22 (regional policy and coordination of structural instruments) and 33 (financial and budgetary provisions).

This is the final negotiation cluster Albania is opening with the EU on its path toward accession to the bloc.

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The Deputy Minister of Economy, Culture and Innovation Olta Manjani told lawmakers that the programme aims at helping young people enter and succeed in the labor market, specifically focusing on the NEET youth, young people typically aged 15-29 who are not in education, employment, or training, and other disadvantaged groups.

In her remarks, Manjani underlined that the agreement is not only a political document, but also one of the most important accords the Albanian state would ever approve regarding the youth employment programme.

“The EU-funded multiannual operational focuses on youth employment through Youth Guarantee programme,” she said.

The 63.48 million euro programme, 50 million euros provided by the European Union, and 13.48 million euros by the Albanian government will support young employment, improvement of vocational education and training, and strengthening institutional capacities for programme’s effective implementation.

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Asked at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana whether completing the EU accession negotiations by 2027 and joining the EU by 2030 was a realistic ambition, Costa said Albania will definitely become a EU member and it may join the bloc even at an earlier date if the country maintains momentum of this high rate of progress.

“We are witnessing what Albania is delivering on daily basis. So we are witnessing Albania’s progress and as soon as the accession negotiations process wraps up, Albania will become an EU member state. Why not, even before 2030? That means that if Albania maintains delivering such results, it is entirely possible for Albania to become an EU member state before 2030,” he stated.

Costa underlined that this will depend on Albania.

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The first dialogue session was launched during a meeting between Albania’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Igli Hasani and the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, also Vice President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas, on an official visit to Tirana.

The meeting between Foreign Minister and the EU’s foreign policy chief focused on Albania’s EU integration, shared commitment to progress of the Western Balkans on the path towards the Euro-Atlantic future, commitment to maintaining peace and democratic values in Europe and throughout the world.

Foreign Minister Hasani said meeting with Kallas represents a very good opportunity to exchange views and to highlight the successful and efficient EU- Albania cooperation in areas of foreign policy, security and defense, affirming Albania’s unwavering commitment and readiness to opening the EU accession clusters by 2025 and wrap up accession negotiations by the end of 2027.

Foreign Minister underlined that the EU-Albania Security and Defence Partnership document has cleared the way to closer cooperation and dialogue on security and defense matters.

Hasani affirmed Albania’s support for any initiative aimed at boosting Europe’s capabolities to act independently in facing global challenges, always in close coordination with the trans-Atlantic partners.

Today’s Security and Defense Dialogue is the first of a series of future dialogue sessions that will define EU-Albania cooperation to tackle collective security and defense issues.

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The meeting is set to begin at 08:00 a.m. and will be chaired by Prime Minister Edi Rama and Hungary’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, whose country holds current EU presidency. After the meeting, a joint press conference expected around 9:25 a.m. between PM Rama and the Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó .

Prime Minister Edi Rama, Chief Negotiator Majlinda Dhuka, and Foreign Minister Igli Hasani will represent Albania at the second meeting of the Accession Conference. All the deputy ministers representing the sectors included in the accession negotiations on Cluster 1: Fundamentals will also attend the Conference.

The meeting will serve to open negotiations with Albania on Cluster 1: Fundamentals, including the following areas and negotiating chapters:

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

Following the introduction of the revised methodology for the accession negotiations in 2020, negotiating chapters are divided in six thematic clusters: Fundamentals; Internal market; Competitiveness and inclusive growth; Green agenda and sustainable connectivity; Resources, agriculture and cohesion; and External relations.

Negotiations on the Fundamentals cluster are opened first and closed last. Progress under this cluster will determine the overall pace of negotiations.

The Committee of Permanent Representatives (Coreper II) has adopted an EU Common Position opening the first negotiation cluster with Albania, thus allowing an intergovernmental conference to be held with Albania on 15 October 2024 in Luxembourg.

Albania will be the first among candidate countries to open accession negotiations under the revised enlargement methodology, which will be a key moment for the Western Balkan country.

The first set of chapters covers the fundamental reforms, paving the way to starting negotiations on other clusters. Progress on these reforms will also determine the overall pace of the negotiations.

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The State Minister for the Public Administration and Anti-Corruption, Adea Pirdeni, the main Albania-EU platform on the Public Administration Reform focused on all the Albanian government’s concrete measures to deliver on good governance.

Participants discussed the main developments and challenges related to the implementation of the public administration reform, including the strategic framework, public service and human resources management, public finance management, policy development and coordination, accountability and service delivery.

Pirdeni expressed appreciation to the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) and other EU institutions for “their commitment and assistance to Albania’s efforts to tackle the public administration reform challenges as a key precondition for the country’s progress towards integration into the European family.”

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In a statement after the informal Ministerial meeting of the General Affairs Council in Brussels on the 20^th anniversary of the EU enlargement in 2004, Foreign Minister said that the meeting discussed important pressing issues of the rule of law under the Berlin Process.

“The path of continued reforms, particularly in the area of the rule of law, which Albania has spearheaded through a sweeping and transformative justice reform, remains crucial for strengthening democratic values and ensuring economic progress,” Hasani said.

“The rule of law, which lies in the very foundation of the EU, is critical for the EU candidate countries, including Albania, both in the context of their consolidation as a functioning democracy and EU-based market economy, as well as in the European aspirations of each from our countries to join the bloc,” Hasani stated.

Foreign Minister also said that Albania looks forward to the speedy and timely implementation of the Growth Plan.

“We look forward to the speedy and timely implementation of the Growth Plan, as part of accelerated integration and we are ready to start negotiations on the fundamentals cluster,” he stated.

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According to the latest Foreign Trade Report by INSTAT, Albania’s exports to the EU member states accounted for 73.4 % of the total of exports during the period from January through December 2022, whereas imports from the EU countries represent 51.6 % of the total imports.

Italy, Türkiye, Greece and Germany are the main trading partners, respectively accounting for 29%, 8.4 %, 6.9 % and 6.3% of the total trade exchanges.

In 2022, Albanian exports significantly grew with Italy by 35.1 %, Kosovo by 0.2 % and Germany by 58.6 %), whereas exports to Spain fell by 0.9 %.

Compared to a year ago, imports from Italy, Türkiye and China rose 5.9 %, 33.1 % and 18.8 % respectively, whereas imports from the United States of America, Russia and Austria fell by 10.3 %, 27.3 % and 1.1% respectively.

Albanian exports were valued over 487 billion lek in 2022, up by 32 % year-on-year, whereas imports totalled 950 billion lek, registering a growth by 18.7 %.

The country’s trade deficit is expanded 7.3% year-on-year to 464 billion lek compared to the same period of 2021.

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