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Acquisition of Albania Towards European Union

The diplomat of European Union has confirmed EU membership to Albania. But then, the decision is yet to be agreed by the government or the heads of the states. While Albania is on the way to success, BiH couldn’t acquire the status. It is because they failed to remain persistent in resolving two major problems and conditions. Firstly, they couldn’t implement the Sejdic-Finci verdict proposed by the European Court of Human Rights and secondly, they failed to establish mechanisms for coordinating relations with the EU.

However, Albania’s path of acquisition was not easy. Nevertheless, the country had made good progress in consolidating its democracy efficiently. They had to face a lot of political issues and had to deal with the slow process of enforcing the reforms. Deep polarization between the Democratic Party and the Socialist Party is one of the major obstacles they had to face. Officially, it is in 2000 when Albania was recognized as a candidate country by EU, although negotiations on SAA began in 2003. On signing this agreement on 12th June 2006, Albania took their first step toward full membership. Since then Albania has been engaged with the EU institutions and became a part of NATO in 2009.

European Union Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele (L) attends a news conference with Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama in Tirana June 4, 2014.

Albanian minister of foreign affairs: ‘Albania is ready to move closer to EU’

Albania’s minister of foreign affairs, Ditmir Bushati, underscores his country’s readiness to move closer to the European Union and its efforts to fight corruption amid a wave of anti-government protests. He also talks about the deep divisions that exist in Albanian society.

On 16th November 2009, the Council of the European Union requested assessment of Albania’s readiness to begin accession negotiations. It is on 16th November the European Commission put forward the questionnaire to the Albanian government for accession preparation. On return of the questionnaire, an MEP meeting was held on 5th December 2013, in order to grant Albania the status.

However, states like Denmark and Netherlands opposed granting candidate status to Albania and demanded demonstration assuring sustenance of the recent progress. This is why the Council of the European Union decided to postpone the grant till June 2014. It is on 24th June 2014, the Council of the EU reasserted Albania’s status as a candidate that was further endorsed by the Council.

In March 2015, Johannes Hahn, the EU Commissioner for enlargement, held the 5th high hevel dialogue meeting, where Albania was notified the date for negotiation. The Commissioner also mentioned two conditions that need to be met by Albania for accession. First, the government must reopen political dialogue and second, Albania must provide quality reforms for areas, including rule of law, organized crime, fundamental rights and public administration.

The official stance was completely supported by the Parliament, agreeing with the conclusions drawn on the Progress Report of 2014 on Albania. Soon, the country outlined the next step ad submitted a progress report on execution of five key reforms, expecting that the accession negotiation would start shortly. Upon approval of the constitutional amendments, the Commission decided beginning of negations in 2016, while Germany proclaimed the same until 2018.

Prior to the commencement of the negotiations, the European Parliament said that the elections must be fair. Similarly, the MEPs expressed their concern regarding the selective justice, political interference and the overall judicial proceedings. They mentioned that it is crucial for Albania to preserve reform momentum.

Johannes Hahn - EU Commissioner

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