The EU has clearly decided against opening accession negotiations with Albania. However, in order to avoid discouraging the country, it has presented it with a new future roadmap and calendar, that include the preemptive approval of the decision by Member States whose decision is determined by their parliaments (Germany and the Netherlands) and, afterwards, the European Council’s approval in its June 2019 meeting.
Practically, the beginning of the negotiations will take place in lat 2019, with Albania’s first meeting with European Council representatives.
It is obvious that everything will undergo assessment all over again and decision-making will begin anew.
According to the European Council’s draft conclusions, set to be ratified at the end of the 28-29 June Summit:
The Council underlines the critical need for Albania to further consolidate progress made on judicial reform in particular through the vetting, and to deliver further tangible results in the fight against corruption at all levels and in the fight against organised crime, in particular on the cultivation and trafficking of drugs, maintaining and deepening the current reform momentum. This includes:
– further advancing the process of re-evaluating judges and prosecutors, in particular completing all priority dossiers, and finalising the establishment of the independent judicial structures as foreseen by the Constitutional reform;
– finalising the establishment of specialised bodies, namely the Special Anti-Corruption and Organised Crime Structure (SPAK) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Court;
– strengthening the track record of proactive investigations, prosecutions and final convictions in the fight against corruption and organised crime, including at high level.
The Council recalls that the decision to open accession negotiations with Albania will be subject to completion of national parliamentary procedures and endorsement by the European Council and will swiftly thereafter be followed by the first Intergovernmental Conference by the end of 2019, depending on progress made. The Council underlines that this assessment of progress should include further tangible and sustained results focusing in particular on the rule of law. On elections, the Council attaches particular importance to Albania addressing the outstanding recommendations of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. The Council also attaches particular importance to Albania’s continued efforts in reducing the number of manifestly unfounded asylum applications and also asks the Commission to ensure that this is taken into account.
