On June 24, 2014, the EU Council has formally approved granting to Albania the candidate coun-try status. Final approval by the 28 member states arrived on June 27, 2014, after a wait of nearly ten years.
Recognized by the European Commission as a “potential candidate” state, in 2003, Albania started the process of negotiations aimed at reaching the conclusion of a Stabilization Agreement (SAA), even-tually signed on June 2006 and the first real step towards the European Union.
Later, already on April 28, 2009, the Republic of Albania presented the first official application for accession to the EU.
On November 16, 2009, the Council, following that request, asked the Euro-pean Commission to pre-pare an assessment regar-ding Albania’s preparedness to undertake the accession negotiations. On December 16, the Commission itself submitted a questionnaire to the Albanian Government on the degree of compatibility of the Albanian legislation with EU regulations, the answers to which were delivered on April 14, 2010.
The stormy internal relations that poured into violent clashes in the streets of the two main cities of Albania, Tirana and Durres, caused to the nation, in 2010, the loss of the great opportunity to access to the candidacy. Since 2010, the Commission began to present comments on the progress of Albania in the European integration process. In the last 2012 report, the Council declared itself in favor of attributing the status of candidate country to Albania as soon as some important reforms to align the country with the European standards were made. Following the political elections of 2013, the Euro-pean Commission, having noted the significant steps forward to democracy, proposed to grant Albania the official status of candidate country for the accession to the European Union.
However, such proposal was followed by a further rejection. While on one hand, the institutions had consciously recognized to the nation the progress achieved up to that point, on the other hand, the vetoes of historic opponents of a European Albania, namely Germany and France, persisted.
Today, the awaited final decision made on the past June by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs gathered in Luxembourg, is a symptom of “recognition”, in the words of EU Commissioner for Enlargement Štefan Füle, “for the efforts made by the Republic of Albania for the fulfillment of reforms and for the encouragment to achieve further reforms”. Now the wait for the European green light, scheduled in the upcoming months’ agenda, at the beginning of the nego-tiations for the accession of Tirana, is eager.
(Bologna Office – Linda Tontodonati – 051 2750020)
