Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...

is on the current agenda for future enlargement of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

(EU). It applied for EU membership on 28 April 2009, and has since June 2014 been an official candidate for accession. The

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

decided in March 2020 to open accession negotiations with Albania. However, the country did not start accession negotiations because its candidacy was linked to that of

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

, which was vetoed by

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. On 24 June 2022, Bulgaria's parliament approved lifting the country's veto on opening EU accession talks with North Macedonia. On 16 July 2022, the

Assembly of North Macedonia The Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia ( mk, Собрание на Република Северна Македонија, sq, Kuvendi i Republikës së Maqedonisë së Veriut), or the Sobranie ( mk, Собрание, "Assembly"), is t ...

also approved the revised French proposal, allowing accession negotiations to begin. The start of negotiations was officially launched on 19 July 2022.

Chronology of relations with the European Union

Officially recognised by the EU as a "potential candidate country" in 2000,

started negotiations on a

Stabilisation and Association Agreement In talks with countries that have expressed a wish to join the European Union, the EU typically concludes Association Agreements in exchange for commitments to political, economic, trade, or human rights reform in that country. In exchange, th ...

(SAA) in 2003. This was successfully agreed and signed on 12 June 2006, thus completing the first major step toward Albania's full membership in the EU. Albania applied for

membership on 28 April 2009. After Albania's application for EU membership, the

asked the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

on 16 November 2009 to prepare an assessment on the readiness of Albania to start accession negotiations. On 16 December 2009, the European Commission submitted the Questionnaire on accession preparation to the Albanian government. Albania returned answers to the Commission on 14 April 2010. On 5 December 2013, an MEP meeting recommended to the council to grant Albania candidate status. On 23 June 2014, under the Greek EU Presidency, the Council of the European Union agreed to grant Albania candidate status, which was endorsed by the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body that defines the overall political direction and priorities of the European Union. It is composed of the heads of state or government of the EU member states, the President of the ...

a few days later. Following in the steps of countries joining the EU in 2004, Albania has been extensively engaged with EU institutions, and joined

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

as a full member in 2009. The European Commission recommended that the EU open membership talks with Albania in its November 2016 assessment. In June 2018 the European Council agreed on a pathway to starting accession talks with Albania by the end of 2019. Albania's EU accession is bundled with North Macedonia's EU accession. Albania is given certain pre-conditions for starting the accession negotiations, such as passing reforms in the justice system, a new electoral law, opening trials for corrupt judges and the respect of human rights for its Greek minority. In May 2019, European Commissioner Johannes Hahn reiterated this recommendation. However, in June the EU General Affairs Council decided to postpone their decision on opening negotiations to October, due to objections from a number of countries including the Netherlands and France. The decision was vetoed again in October. On 25 March 2020, the Council of the European Union decided to open accession negotiations, which was endorsed by the European Council the following day.

Visa liberalisation process

On 1 January 2008 the visa facilitation and readmission agreements between Albania and the EU entered into force. Albania received a road map from the EU for further visa liberalisation with

Schengen The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

countries in June 2008. Albania started issuing

biometric passport A biometric passport (also known as an e-passport or a digital passport) is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip which contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of the pa ...

s on 24 May 2009, which were designed to comply with EU guidelines. On 8 November 2010 the

approved visa-free travel to the EU for citizens of Albania. The decision entered into force on 15 December 2010.

EU financial aid

In 2011, the EU paid €6 million to construct or refurbish border crossing points and border police stations to help Albania fight organised crime and illegal trafficking. Until 2020, Albania had been receiving €1.2bn of developmental aid from the

Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance The Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance, or simply IPA, is a funding mechanism of the European Union. As of 2007, it replaced previous programmes such as the PHARE, ISPA, SAPARD SAPARD (Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural ...

, a funding mechanism for EU candidate countries.

Negotiation progress

The screening process is underway and no chapters have been opened thus far.

Public opinion

A 2021 poll found that as many as 97% of Albanians are in favour of EU accession.

Chronology of relations with the European Union

Visa liberalisation process

EU financial aid

Negotiation progress

Public opinion

See also

References

Further reading