BRUSSELS – Albania has closed Chapter 20 on rules regarding enterprise and industrial policy in the negotiations for accession to the European Union.
“Following the closure of the first three negotiating chapters last July, I welcome the closure of another chapter on enterprise and industrial policy, at this second accession conference with Albania under the Irish presidency”, said Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for European affairs and defence if Ireland.
According to him, this achievement reflects our commitment to advance Albania’s EU integration path.
“I strongly welcome this significant progress, and I encourage Albania to stay the course on core reforms to move forward in the process, in the coming months”, said Byrne.
European Enlargement Commission Marta Kos siad that this brings Albania closer to its ambition of closing accession negotiations next year.
“Today, we closed negotiating Chapter 20 on Enterprise and Industrial Policy. Reforms that will help Albania businesses grow and create more jobs… I am confident we can expect more good news from Tirana in the coming months”, Kos stated.
Prime Minister of Albania Edi Rama said that this is another step forward on the path towards European integration, emphasising that the government’s objective is to accelerate the process and close at least twice as many chapters by the end of this year.
In his speech, Rama stressed that the closure of Chapter 20 represents recognition of the reforms undertaken by Albania.
The closing of negotiations of this chapter (number 20) follows the provisional closure of another three negotiating chapters on science and research (25), education and culture (26), and external relations (30) in July 2026.
Albania has opened all 33 screened negotiating chapters in its EU accession negotiations and has now provisionally closed 4.
According to the negotiating principles endorsed by the Accession Conference, agreements reached in the course of negotiations on specific chapters may not be considered as final until an overall agreement has been reached for all chapters.
