TIRANA, May 26 – Albania and the European Union hold the eighth Intergovernmental Conference today in Brussels. The agenda focuses on accession negotiations and Cluster 1, “Fundamentals.” At this stage, the conference reviews Albania’s progress on interim benchmarks and sets final benchmarks covering rule of law, justice, and democratic institutions. The process began on 19 July 2022 in Brussels, when the European Union launched accession negotiations with Albania. Following that step, the European Union confirmed Albania’s reform commitment and alignment with EU foreign and security policy, and the screening process for the EU acquis started. A key milestone followed on 15 October 2024 in Luxembourg, when the European Union opened Cluster 1, “Fundamentals,” which includes Chapters 23, 24, 5, 18, and 32, while interim benchmarks for Chapters 23 and 24 now guide the negotiation pace.
Subsequently, the European Union opened the remaining clusters through a series of conferences. On 17 December 2024, it opened Cluster 6, “External Relations,” followed by Cluster 2 on 14 April 2025, Cluster 3 on 22 May 2025, Cluster 4 on 16 September 2025, and Cluster 5 on 17 November 2025, covering all major policy areas from the internal market to agriculture and cohesion. With all six clusters now open, Albania enters a deeper phase of accession negotiations. Against this background, today’s conference confirms progress on interim benchmarks for Cluster 1 and sets the final benchmarks for the next stage, while the revised EU enlargement methodology places the “Fundamentals” cluster at the centre of Albania’s accession path.
/a.p./
The post From opening negotiations to the 8th Intergovernmental Conference, Albania’s path towards the EU appeared first on RTSH English.
