Negotiations
What are the accession negotiations?
EU accession requires the fulfillment of the"Copenhagen Criteria"which requires the candidate country:
- To provide for institutions to guarantee democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities (Political Criterion);
- To provide a functioning market economy able to cope with competition in the EU market (Economic Criterion);
- To have the administrative and institutional capacities to implement EU legislation and be able to assume the obligations stemming from membership.
Another criterion for membership is the EU's ability to absorb new members. The European Commission regularly monitors the fulfillment of these criteria, and the accession process goes through several key stages until the candidate country is fully considered able to join the Union.
Accession negotiations underlie this processThey include the undertaking on part of the candidate country to fully approximate the EU acquis, its implementation, as well as implementing other legal, political, economic, administrative and other reforms to meet the accession criteria.
Meeting the accession criteria leads to comprehensive political, social and economic development of the country.
Negotiations take place at intergovernmental conferences between ministers and ambassadors of the governments of the EU member states and of the candidate countries. The candidate country does not negotiate on EU legislation per se (on the acquis and on Union standards) but on modalities for its approximation and effective implementation.
Negotiations go through three main stages:
- Analytical screening of legislation (Screening);
- Opening and conduction of negotiations for each chapter of the acquis;
- Concluding negotiations on each chapter and signing the Accession Treaty.
Conducting accession negotiations is an endeavor that requires the maximum engagement of all state institutions in the country, the involvement of civil society and the business community, academia and the continuous information of citizens.
Stages of Negotiations
The Screening process, otherwise known as the analytical assessment of the level of alignment of domestic legislation with the EU acquis, marks the first phase of accession negotiations. Screening takes place in three steps: explanatory meetings, bilateral meetings and concludes with the screening report.
Negotiations are opened only after the relevant decision of the EU Council of Ministers and after the candidate country has met the opening benchmarks. Negotiations are conducted on the basis of 35 negotiating chapters. Only after closing negotiations for all negotiating chapters, the candidate country is ready for accession.
The formal closing of all 35 chapters marks the official moment of the conclusion of negotiations, which allows for the final step, i.e. the Accession Treaty between the EU and Albania. The Treaty entails all commitments of the country as well as transitional / interim clauses, as appropriate. It is then signed at the intergovernmental conference convened by the Presidency of the EU Council and ratified by Albania and every EU member state.
Negotiations Chapters
1
Free Movement of Goods
2
Free Movement of Workers
3
4
Free Movement of Capital
5
Public Procurement
6
7
8
Competition Policy
9
Financial Services
10
11
Agriculture and Rural Development
12
13
Fisheries
14
Transport Policy
15
Energy
16
Taxation
17
18
Statistics
19
20
21
Trans-European Networks
22
23
Judiciary and Fundamental Rights
24
Justice, Freedom and Security
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
Takimi Shpjegues i përfunduar
Takimi Dypalësh i përfunduar
Raporti Screening i finalizuar
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