BRUSSELS – The eighth Intergovernmental Conference (IGC) between the EU and Albania will be held tonight in Brussels, marking a new step in Albania’s accession process after the country fulfilled the interim benchmarks for Cluster 1 “Fundamentals”.
At the conference, the EU is expected to officially confirm that Albania has met the interim benchmarks in Chapters 23 and 24, related to the judiciary, fundamental rights, justice and security, allowing the country to move to the next stage of accession negotiations and begin the process of closing negotiating chapters.
The development follows last week’s approval by the Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) of the EU Common Position on Albania’s Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR).
European Western Balkans previously reported that Member States were close to reaching a compromise on the document after discussions within the Council Working Party on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU (COELA).
Under the revised enlargement methodology, no negotiating chapter can be closed before a candidate country fulfils the interim benchmarks under Cluster 1, which covers rule of law reforms, democratic institutions and public administration reform.
Albania thus becomes only the second candidate country, after Montenegro, to reach this phase of the accession process.
Following the COREPER decision last week, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama stated that the conference “successfully seals the introductory phase and opens the concluding phase of the accession negotiations”.
