European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi has applauded the appointment of the sixth Constitutional Court member by President Ilir Meta on Wednesday.
He said that with the court now functional, Albanian has met the last item in the list of conditions set by the European leaders before it sits in EU talks.
#Albania: Excellent news! With nomination of 6th member by President @ilirmetazyrtar the Constitutional Court becomes functional. Important achievement for institutions & people as part of justice reform. This completes the list of conditions for 1st IGC.
— Oliver Varhelyi (@OliverVarhelyi) December 23, 2020
Albania’s Constitutional Court has not been functional since 2018. Now it has six of its nine members, and is able to form the necessary quorum for decision making.
The country’s next step in the EU accession process, namely the start of EU talks, depends on the assessment of achievements by all EU member states. A unanimous vote is needed for Albania to start talks.
Despite the European Commission’s positive reports on Albania during recent years, the European leaders have not agreed to allow the country to sit in talks.
EU and US representatives in Albania were quick to congratulate its leaders for “urgently” filling two seats of the Constitutional Court this week, but they did not address concerns that the process may have been in violation of the Constitution and law. The same concerns have not been addressed by Albanian leaders either.
