The 27 EU member states are still discussing the state of reforms by Albanian institutions before reaching a common position on starting to close the first chapters in the accession negotiations, after opening 33 in November last year, reports dtt-net.com.
But at today’s meeting of their representatives from the Working Group on Enlargement and Countries Negotiating EU Membership (COELA), “three member states could not yet give the green light”, according to a member state source in Brussels, regarding the ongoing talks on the Interim Benchmark Assessment Report (IBAR) for Group 1 of the negotiating chapters, called ‘Fundamentals’.
Group 1 consists of Chapter 5 (Public Procurement); Chapter 18 (Statistics); Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights); Chapter 24 (Justice, Freedom and Security) and Chapter 32 (Financial Control).
The sources did not provide further details, including the names of the countries and the exact disagreements over the current state of reforms in five negotiating chapters, but said the 27 member state representatives from the COELA group will meet again on Friday (May 22nd) for further talks.
A second source confirmed the disagreements and the lack of a green light from all EU member states for now.
“No, not yet, COELA has not agreed yet at this stage. Only after the agreement, the file goes to the ambassadors…”, said the second source, referring by the word ‘ambassadors’ to the highest-level group known as COREPER.
The five negotiating chapters of Group 1 are related to the current situation in the country’s judicial system, and discussions by EU states are taking place at a time when high tensions between the opposition and the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama continue.
In addition to accusations of corruption, links to organized crime, embezzlement of state funds and electoral fraud, the opposition also accuses Rama of protecting the indicted by the Special Prosecution Office against Organized Crime (SPAK) former Deputy Prime Minister and former Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku, for suspected violations in two tenders in the construction sector and ongoing investigations into several others.
After strong pressure from the opposition and criticism from EU bodies and some members of the European Parliament (EP), Rama agreed to dismiss Balluk from office this year, but the prime minister still refuses to comply with the special prosecution’s request to lift her parliamentary immunity necessary for her arrest.
Albania has now opened all negotiating chapters for EU membership since it opened the first chapters in October 2024, and its government hopes for EU membership by 2030.