A meeting of the Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the European Union (COELA) is taking place in Brussels today, focusing on Albania’s negotiating position on Chapter 20, “Enterprise and Industrial Policy”.
According to official documentation from the Council of the European Union, Chapter 20 is part of Cluster 3, “Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth”, while Albania’s negotiating position on this chapter is under review as part of COELA’s work. The Council of the EU has included the matter in the working party’s meeting documents.
Discussions within COELA are aimed at consolidating the position of EU member states regarding the provisional closure of Chapter 20 in Albania’s accession negotiations.
Chapter 20 covers European Union policies in the fields of enterprise and industry, including improving the business environment, competitiveness and support for small and medium-sized enterprises.
In its latest report on Albania, the European Commission assesses that the country has between a moderate and a good level of preparation in the area of enterprise and industrial policy and notes progress, particularly through the revision of the Business and Investment Development Strategy.
Council documents also show that the Presidency of the Council has presented a compromise proposal for the draft EU Common Position on Chapter 20 as part of Albania’s accession negotiations.
The review within COELA is a step in the decision-making process among EU member states before the matter moves on to the subsequent stages of the accession procedure.
At the previous COELA meeting, the necessary agreement for the provisional closure of Chapter 20 had not yet been reached, while the Council of the EU had announced that the issue would return to the agenda on 6 October.
If consensus is reached within COELA, the procedure provides for the matter to be submitted to COREPER for consideration before being further formalised at an EU-Albania Intergovernmental Conference.
Albania has opened all negotiating chapters in its EU accession process. So far, the country has provisionally closed three chapters: Chapter 25, “Science and Research”; Chapter 26, “Education and Culture”; and Chapter 30, “External Relations”.
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