Accession of Albania to the European Union

Albanian EU accession bid EU member state average Albania PPP GDP ($M) 552,780 21,160 Area (km2) 165,048 28,748 Population 18,583,598 3,195,000 Status Stabilisation and Association Website http://www.mie.gov.al/

Albania
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Albania applied for European Union membership on 28 April 2009. Officially recognised by the EU as a "potential candidate country", Albania started negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) in 2003. This was successfully agreed and signed on 12 June 2006, thus completing the first major step toward Albania's full membership in the EU.

Following the steps of the recently admitted Eastern European countries in 2004, Albania has been extensively engaged with EU institutions, and joined NATO as a full member in 2009. It has also maintained its position as a stability factor and a strong ally of Western Europe in the troubled and divided region of the Balkans.

Following its application for EU membership, the Council of the European Union asked the European Commission on 16 November 2009 to prepare an assessment on the readiness of Albania to start accession negotiations, a step in the accession process that usually takes about a year. On 16 December 2009, the European Commission submitted the Questionnaire on accession preparation to the Albanian government. Albania returned answers to them on 14 April 2010. Candidacy status was not recognised by the EU in December 2010 due to the long-lasting political row in the country. The parliament in August 2012 rejected a proposal to abolish immunity for parliament members, ministers and people in some other official positions. The EU required this to be abolished along with 11 other main issues, so candidacy was delayed. However, in September 2012 a constitutional amendment was unanimously passed which limited the immunity or parliamentarians. In October 2012 the European Commission evaluated the progress of Albania to comply with 12 key priorities, being conditional to achieve official candidate status and start accession negotiations. Four key priorities were found to be met, while two were well in progress and the remaining six were in moderate progress. The report concluded that if Albania manages to hold a fair and democratic parliamentary election in June 2013, and implements the remaining changes also to comply with the eight key priorities still not fully met, then the Council of the European Union would be recommended to grant Albania official candidate status.

Chronology of the relations with the European Union

Date	Event
1992	Trade and Co-operation Agreement between the EU and Albania. Albania becomes eligible for funding under the EU Phare programme.
1997	Regional Approach. The EU Council of Ministers establishes political and economic conditionality for the development of bilateral relations.
1999	The EU proposes the new Stabilisation and Association Process (SAP) for five countries of South-Eastern Europe, including Albania.
1999	Albania benefits from Autonomous Trade Preferences with the EU.
2000	Extension of duty-free access to EU market for products from Albania.
June 2000	Feira European Council (June 2000) states that all the SAP countries are "potential candidates" for EU membership.
November 2000	at Zagreb Summit (November), the SAP is officially endorsed by the EU and the Western Balkan countries (including Albania).
2001	First year of the new CARDS programme specifically designed for the SAP countries
June 2001	The Commission recommends the undertaking of negotiations on a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with Albania. The Göteborg European Council (June 2001) invites the Commission to present draft negotiating directives for the negotiation of a SAA.
2002	Negotiating Directives for the negotiation of a SAA with Albania are adopted in October.
31 January 2003	On 31 January, Commission President Prodi officially launches the negotiations for a SAA between the EU and Albania.
June 2003	at Thessaloniki Summit (June), the SAP is confirmed as the EU policy for the Western Balkans. The EU perspective for these countries is confirmed (countries participating in the SAP are eligible for EU accession and may join the EU once they are ready).
December 2005	Council decision on the principles of a revised European Partnership for Albania.
12 June 2006	The SAA was signed at the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Luxembourg.
9 November 2006	The European Commission decided to start visa facilitation negotiations with Albania.
13 April 2007	The visa facilitation agreement was signed in Zagreb. The signing EU Commissioner Franco Frattini was quoted saying that this is the first step toward a full abolishment of the visa requirements and the free movement of the Albanian citizens in the EU.
1 January 2008	The visa facilitation agreement entered into force.
7 March 2008	EU Commissioner Franco Frattini opened in Tirana the dialogue toward the liberalisation of the visa regime between Albania and EU.
14 January 2009	The SAA ratification process by all the member states was completed.
1 April 2009	The SAA entered into force.
28 April 2009	Albania formally applied for membership in the European Union.
16 November 2009	The Council of the EU asked the European Commission to prepare an assessment on Albania's readiness to start accession negotiations.
16 December 2009	The European Commission submitted the Questionnaire on accession preparation to the Albanian government.
14 April 2010	Albania submitted answers to the European Commission's Questionnaire.
27 May 2010	The European Commission proposed visa free travel for Albania. The adopted proposal will enable citizens of Albania to travel to Schengen countries without needing a short term visa.
8 November 2010	Council of the European Union approved visa-free travel to Schengen Area for Albanian citizens.
15 December 2010	Visa-free access to the Schengen area enters into force.
10 October 2012	European Commission recommends that Albania be granted EU candidate status, subject to the completion of key measures in certain areas.

State of Stabilisation and Association Agreement ratification

Event	Republic of Macedonia	Croatia	Albania	Montenegro1	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Serbia2	Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244)3
SAA negotiations start	2000-04-05	2000-11-24	2003-01-31	2005-10-10	2005-11-25	2005-10-10	(?)
SAA initialled	2000-11-24	2001-05-14	2006-02-28	2007-03-15	2007-12-04	2007-11-07	(?)
SAA/IA signature	2001-04-09	2001-10-29	2006-06-12	2007-10-15	2008-06-16	2008-04-29	(?)
Interim Agreement:
EC ratification	2001-04-27	2002-01-30	2006-06-12	2007-10-15	2008-06-16	2009-12-08	(?)
SAP state ratification	2001-04-27	2002-01-30	2006-10-09	2007-11-14	2008-06-20	2008-09-22	(?)
entry into force	2001-06-01	2002-03-01	2006-12-01	2008-01-01	2008-07-01	2010-02-01	(?)
Notification of the EC of SAA ratification by:
SAP state	2001-04-27	2002-01-30	2006-11-09	2007-11-13	2009-02-26	2008-09-22	(?)
Austria	2002-09-06	2002-03-15	2008-05-21	2008-07-04	2009-09-04	2011-01-13	(?)
Belgium	2003-12-29	2003-12-17	2008-10-22	2010-03-29	2010-03-29	2012-03-20	(?)
Bulgaria	entered the EU later			2008-05-30	2009-03-13	2010-08-12	(?)
Cyprus	entered the EU later		2008-05-30	2008-11-20	2009-07-02	2010-11-26	(?)
Czech Republic	entered the EU later		2008-05-07	2009-02-19	2009-07-23	2011-01-28	(?)
Denmark	2002-04-10	2002-05-08	2008-04-24	2008-06-25	2009-05-26	2011-03-04	(?)
Estonia	entered the EU later		2007-10-17	2007-11-22	2008-09-11	2010-08-19	(?)
Finland	2004-01-06	2004-01-06	2007-11-29	2009-03-18	2009-04-07	2011-10-21	(?)
France	2003-06-04	2003-06-04	2009-02-12	2009-07-30	2011-02-10	2012-01-16	(?)
Germany	2002-06-20	2002-10-18	2009-02-19	2009-11-16	2009-08-14	2012-02-24	(?)
Greece	2003-08-27	2003-08-27	2009-02-26	2010-03-04	2010-09-20	2011-03-10	(?)
Hungary	entered the EU later		2007-04-23	2008-05-14	2008-10-22	2010-11-16	(?)
Ireland	2002-05-06	2002-05-06	2007-06-11	2009-06-04	2009-06-04	2011-09-29	(?)
Italy	2003-10-30	2004-10-06	2008-01-07	2009-10-13	2010-09-08	2011-01-06	(?)
Latvia	entered the EU later		2006-12-19	2008-10-17	2009-11-12	2011-05-30	(?)
Lithuania	entered the EU later		2007-05-17	2009-03-04	2009-05-04	(2013)	(?)
Luxembourg	2003-07-28	2003-08-01	2007-07-04	2009-06-11	2010-12-22	2011-01-21	(?)
Malta	entered the EU later		2008-04-21	2008-12-11	2010-01-07	2010-07-06	(?)
Netherlands	2002-09-09	2004-04-30	2007-12-10	2009-01-29	2009-09-30	2012-02-27	(?)
Poland	entered the EU later		2007-04-14	2009-02-06	2010-04-07	2012-01-13	(?)
Portugal	2003-07-14	2003-07-14	2008-07-11	2008-09-23	2009-06-29	2011-03-04	(?)
Romania	entered the EU later			2009-01-15	2010-01-08	2012-05-22	(?)
Slovakia	entered the EU later		2007-07-20	2008-07-29	2009-03-17	2010-11-11	(?)
Slovenia	entered the EU later		2007-01-18	2008-02-07	2009-03-10	2010-12-07	(?)
Spain	2002-10-04	2002-10-04	2007-05-03	2009-03-12	2010-06-15	2010-06-21	(?)
Sweden	2002-06-25	2003-03-27	2007-03-21	2009-03-11	2009-09-14	2011-04-15	(?)
United Kingdom	2002-12-17	2004-09-03	2007-10-16	2010-01-12	2010-04-20	2011-08-11	(?)
European Communities	2004-02-25	2004-12-21	2009-02-26	2010-03-29	(2013)4	(2013)	(?)
SAA entry into force	2004-04-01	2005-02-01	2009-04-01	2010-05-01	(2013)4	(2013)	(?)

(brackets): earliest possible date
¹Montenegro started negotiations in November 2005 while a part of Serbia and Montenegro (SiM). Separate technical negotiations were conducted regarding issues sub-state organizational competency. Mandate for direct negotiations with Montenegro established in July 2006. Direct negotiations were initiated on 26 September 2006 and concluded on 1 December 2006.

²Serbia started negotiations in November 2005 while part of SiM, with a modified mandate from July 2006.

³ Since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008 the EU has been divided on their policy towards Kosovo; some EU states recognise its sovereignty and others do not. The EU launched a Stabilisation Tracking Mechanism for Kosovo on 6 November 2002 with the aim to align policy in Kosovo with EU standards. On 10 October 2012 the European Commission found that there were no legal obstacles to Kosovo signing a SAA with the EU, as universal recognition is not required for such an agreement, and recommended for SAA negotiations to start as soon as Kosovo had made further progress on some remaining policy issues in the four areas: Rule of law, Public administration, Protection of minorities, and Trade.

⁴ Although ratified by all member states, the entry into force of Bosnia's SAA has been delayed due to the fact that Bosnia has yet to make the required constitutional amendments.

Visa liberalisation process

On 1 January 2008 the visa facilitation and readmission agreements between Albania and the EU entered into force. Albania received a road map from the EU for further visa liberalisation with Schengen countries in June 2008. On 8 November 2010 the Council of the European Union approved visa-free travel to the EU for citizens of Albania. The decision entered into force on 15 December 2010.

See also

• Enlargement of the European Union
• Future enlargement of the European Union

Further reading

• Albania and the European Union: the tumultuous journey towards integration ... By Mirela Bogdani, John Loughlin, 2007
• Delegation of the European Union to Albania
• European Commission - Enlargement: Country Profile.
• Albanian Ministry of European Integration
• Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• European Commission - Western Balkans: Enhancing the European perspective
• European Commission - Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges 2009-2010