Brussels – Another small step that confirms the willingness of both Albania and the European Union to advance Tirana’s path towards EU accession. This positive momentum comes amid another ‘Super Tuesday’ for EU enlargement on 13 October, with Ukraine and Moldova set to follow suit, while Montenegro was fast-tracked on Monday.
At the tenth Accession Conference with Albania on 14 October, Chapter 20 (Enterprise and Industrial Policy) was provisionally closed, bringing the total number of provisionally closed chapters to four, all of them in the second half of 2026. “This is about helping Albanian businesses grow, compete and create more jobs,” said Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos, stressing that “reforms bring real benefits” for small and medium-sized businesses and that the national industrial policy is getting “closer to the EU, particularly on new technologies, clean energy and critical raw materials.”
Speaking on behalf of the rotating Presidency of the Council, Irish Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne confirmed that “we want to close additional chapters before the end of the Presidency” on 31 December. Drawing on these words, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama revealed that “we want at least to double” the number of provisionally closed chapters over the next two and a half months. However, “we are aware that progress is measured not only by the number of chapters closed” – he added – “but above all by the reforms delivered, institutions strengthened and tangible results achieved.”
In this sense, at the end of the month, the Commission is set to unveil an accession roadmap for Albania – alongside Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine – providing a clearer framework for where, and potentially when, the reforms and conditions expected of each candidate could take them in their respective accession negotiations. The roadmaps are expected to include indicative timelines for closing the negotiating chapters.
Commissioner Kos confirmed that the EU’s executive “supports” Tirana’s ambition to complete all the negotiations by the end of 2027, noting that Albania is “among those candidates leading this impressive progress that we are achieving this year” in the accession negotiations. Yet, it must not be forgotten that the country “must keep delivering, especially on the fundamentals,” she added, stressing that “this work must involve everyone – government, opposition, civil society and citizens.”
The government in Tirana is still under pressure due to citizens’ protests against the redevelopment project in Zvërnec, in the district of Vlorë, involving both the uninhabited island of Sazan in the Adriatic and hundreds of hectares of the Vjosa-Narta protected area.
The project by Affinity Partners – the company owned by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump – is another example of so-called “corrosive capital” and clashes with the scope of Chapter 27 (Environment and Climate Change), one of the most challenging chapters for candidate countries.
The state of EU–Albania relations
Albania’s application for EU membership was submitted in April 2009. EU candidate status was granted in June 2014. In April 2018, the European Commission issued a recommendation to open accession negotiations with Tirana, as Albania and North Macedonia were grouped together under the so-called ‘package approach’.
Due to deteriorating relations between North Macedonia and Bulgaria, Tirana’s path towards EU accession negotiations also stalled until 19 July 2022, when the accession conferences took place in Brussels. On 25 September 2024, the Council positively assessed Tirana’s alignment with the opening benchmarks for the first cluster of chapters.
On 26 May 2026, Albania received a positive Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR), indicating that it has met the interim benchmarks in Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) – a prerequisite for closing chapters deemed ready for provisional closure.
To date, all 33 screened negotiating chapters have been opened, and four have been provisionally closed. In Tirana, the goal is to conclude negotiations by 2027, with full membership in sight by 2030.
