2022 Report on Albania

regional policy and coordination of structural instruments. Albania has made some progress in agriculture and rural development, notably with the establishment of a farm register and better administrative capacity for rural development. Good progress was observed on fisheries, with the continued operationalisation of the Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and allocation of human resources to monitor and report on the activities of fishing vessels. Albania as a contracting party of the General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM) is fully implementing fishing effort recommendations. Some progress was made on financial and budgetary provisions. Progress was however limited on food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary policy, on regional policy and coordination of structural instruments. In this respect, inter-agency coordination for pre-accession assistance needs improvement, and issues need to be addressed as regards strategic planning, implementation and monitoring capacity of infrastructure projects under the Economic and Investment Plan. Albania has reached a good level of preparation as regards external relations, foreign security and defence. On the external relations chapter of negotiations, Albania made some progress as it continued alignment of legislation in the field of dual use goods and to implement CEFTA additional protocols. As regards the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, Albania maintained full alignment with all relevant EU decisions and declarations, including with the EU restrictive measures following Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. As a non-permanent member since January 2022, Albania has been actively engaged in the UN Security Council in promoting and defending the rules-based international order. Key dates June 2003: The EU-Western Balkans Thessaloniki Summit confirms the EU perspective for the Western Balkans. June 2006: The EU-Albania Stabilisation and Association Agreement is signed. April 2009: The EU-Albania Stabilisation and Association Agreement enters into force. Albania submits its application for EU membership. November 2010: The European Commission issues its Opinion on Albania's application for EU membership, including a set of 12 key priorities to be fulfilled in view of opening of accession negotiations. December 2010: Visa-free travel to Schengen area for citizens of Albania. June 2014: The European Council grants Albania candidate status for EU membership. February 2018: The European Commission adopts its strategy for 'A credible enlargement perspective for and enhanced EU engagement with the Western Balkans'. April 2018: The European Commission recommends that the Council decides that accession negotiations be opened with Albania in light of the progress achieved, maintaining and deepening the current reform momentum. May 2018: EU-Western Balkans Summits are relaunched, starting with a Summit held in Sofia, during which leaders confirmed the European perspective of the region and set out a number of concrete actions to strengthen cooperation in the areas of connectivity, security and the rule of law. June 2018: The Council sets out the path towards opening accession negotiations with the country, depending on progress made. May 2019: The European Commission recommends opening accession negotiations. February 2020: Revised methodology, presented by the Commission, to drive forward the enlargement process with a stronger political steer and in a more credible, predictable, dynamic way. March 2020: The European Council decides to open accession negotiations with Albania. July 2020: Presentation of the draft negotiating framework to the Member States. October 2020: The European Commission adopts an Economic & Investment Plan to support and bring the Western Balkans closer to the EU. May 2021: The European Commission informs the Council that Albania has met the remaining condition to be fulfilled prior to the holding of the first Inter-Governmental Conference of accession negotiations. July 2022: First intergovernmental Conference on accession negotiations (IGC) - the analytical

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