The European Union today with Albania she opened the first negotiating chapters of the accession talks, it happened at the intergovernmental conference of the EU and Albania in Luxembourg.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, whose country now holds the EU presidency, called it another important milestone on Albania’s path to the European bloc. It is not yet clear when this Balkan state could become part of the EU. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama already expressed doubts last year that this will happen by 2030.
Albania, which received candidate status in 2014, has been formally conducting accession talks since last year, but opened the first negotiation chapters only now. These chapters, which the EU places in the set of foundations, concern, among other things, the reform of public administration, the functionality of democratic institutions, justice, security and economic standards.
This set of chapters is the first to be opened by the EU during the accession process, and at the same time the last to be closed. There are a total of six sets of chapters, so-called clusters. They cover areas such as the internal market, competitiveness, the green agenda, agriculture and external relations.
“Albania is doing well in the accession process and has reached another important milestone in its integration efforts by opening the first and foundational chapters,” Szijjártó said. He noted that one of the priorities of the Hungarian EU presidency is progress in the enlargement of the Union.
Albania is now at a crucial stage. After the chapters have been negotiated, the European Commission will issue an assessment as to whether the country is ready to join the Union. Based on this assessment, the member states will then unanimously decide whether to conclude the accession talks. The European Parliament must also give its consent. The final step is the signing and ratification of the accession agreement, which will allow the country to become a member of the bloc.
Source: zpravy.tiscali.cz
