Ambition meets bottlenecks<\/strong><\/p>\nPrime Minister Edi Rama has placed EU membership at the centre of his political project. The brief notes that Rama has \u201cinvested virtually all his political capital\u201d in advancing accession, leveraging personal ties with EU leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.<\/p>\n
According to the policy brief, Albania is aiming to secure a positive assessment this year on the Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR) to start closing negotiating chapters. The European Commission has said Tirana\u2019s goal of wrapping up negotiations by 2027 is ambitious but \u201con track\u201d if the government \u201cmaintains its reform momentum\u201d and encourages \u201cinclusive political dialogue\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, the paper warns the domestic system underpinning the reforms remains fragile. Albania\u2019s political landscape, the report argues, \u201ccan hardly be described as competitive\u201d. Rama\u2019s Socialist Party dominates the executive, parliament and almost all municipalities, while the main opposition has become \u201cdivided, inward-looking and lacking credibility\u201d.<\/p>\n
The brief cites OSCE\/ODIHR findings that the May 2025 elections were marred by \u201can insufficient level playing field, voter pressure, and cases of misuse of public resources\u201d. Researchers say that merging Albania\u2019s parliamentary committees on EU and foreign affairs has in practice \u201ctransferred leadership of the EU integration process from the opposition to the ruling SP\u201d, turning accession into \u201can almost entirely government-driven endeavour\u201d.<\/p>\n
Reforms lag in key sectors<\/strong><\/p>\nAlbania faces an enormous administrative burden as it attempts to transpose more than 500 laws and decrees before the end of 2027. Central ministries are described as highly motivated but overstretched, while local governments report limited involvement in accession planning. The brief cites the European Commission\u2019s assessment that Albania must \u201cstrengthen the capacity of local governments\u201d and address \u201ca pressing need to increase local governments\u2019 own revenues\u201d, arguing that ownership of reforms outside Tirana remains weak.<\/p>\n
Civil society, too, is only partially engaged. NGOs complain of limited government consultation and the frequent use of fast-track procedures, raising questions about the quality of legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The brief also identifies several reform areas where progress is lagging. Media remains the most vulnerable sector. According to the authors, Albania\u2019s media landscape is \u201ca largely unregulated space, vulnerable to political influence and economic pressures\u201d, with concentrated ownership leading to \u201cself-censorship among journalists\u201d. SLAPP lawsuits \u201cremain a persistent challenge\u201d, and the report stresses that \u201cthe decriminalisation of defamation\u2026 remains a key prerequisite\u201d.<\/p>\n
Judicial reform is described as advancing yet incomplete. The vetting of judges and prosecutors has reduced corruption but created serious case backlogs, while the Special Anti-Corruption Structure, SPAK, has won public trust by prosecuting officials on both sides of the political divide. However, the brief warns its independence is \u201cnot yet firmly secured\u201d and that NGOs have raised concerns about \u201cjudicial excesses and the organisation\u2019s methods for making arrests\u201d.<\/p>\n
Environmental and procurement standards also remain areas of concern. Clingendael says compliance is \u201cuneven\u201d and that existing loopholes are frequently exploited. It highlights the construction of the Vlora Airport next to a protected nature reserve and the decision to bypass procurement rules in granting strategic investor status to a company linked to Jared Kushner, describing the latter as an attempt \u201cto boost relations with US President [Donald] Trump.\u201d A controversial UAE-backed port development in Durr\u00ebs has similarly drawn EU criticism.<\/p>\n
Geopolitical support<\/strong><\/p>\nDespite these challenges, Albania retains strong geopolitical support in Brussels. It fully aligns with EU sanctions on Russia and has hosted major EU and Nato summits, reinforcing its image as a reliable partner. Tourism and popular culture have brought Albania more firmly into Europe\u2019s public imagination, but support across EU member states remains uneven.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Citing Eurobarometer data, the brief reports that 45% of EU citizens back Albania\u2019s accession once criteria are met, compared with 44% who oppose it, warning that \u201csustained public and political support from the EU cannot be taken for granted\u201d as far-right parties gain ground.<\/p>\n
The brief argues that while EU institutions are well aware of Albania\u2019s shortcomings, their public messaging favours praise over pressure. \u201cThe EU\u2019s desire for a success story appears to hinder a more realistic public appraisal of the pitfalls,\u201d it says, warning that this weakens Brussels\u2019 ability to hold Tirana accountable.<\/p>\n
The paper concludes that Albania\u2019s accession will be \u201ca key test for the EU\u2019s ability to act on enlargement in line with its self-proclaimed enlargement momentum\u201d. With IBAR decisions approaching this winter, researchers say Brussels should use the current window \u201cto maintain sufficient due diligence on the country\u2019s accession reforms\u201d. They add that while the EU should acknowledge Albania\u2019s achievements, it must be \u201cequally clear that the challenging phase of implementing changes and closing chapters still lies ahead\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Albania is racing ahead in its bid to join the European Union, propelled by what experts from four…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[10541,2000,10247,299,5187,43579],"class_list":{"0":"post-618121","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-albania","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-eu-enlargement","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-reforms"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115678886334604375","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}