Under the leadership of Prime Minister Edi Rama, a meeting was held today with the participation of cabinet ministers, during which the current overview of the European Union negotiation process with Albania was presented.

The discussions also focused on the joint calendar with the European Commission, which requires the fulfilment of obligations without any delay. Prime Minister Rama commended the work of the negotiation team and the institutions involved, emphasising that the integration process significantly strengthens institutional capacities, reinforces the rule of law, and guarantees higher standards in the protection of citizens’ rights.

At the opening of the discussion, Prime Minister Rama stated: We have a presentation from the Chief Negotiator regarding the current overview of the negotiation process, which is very important in order to consider all the next steps, and especially the calendar, since based on the joint plan with the European Commission, we must proceed without missing any deadlines. On the other hand, the presentation will continue with the Growth Plan, which is linked to the reforms and the measures that need to be fulfilled.

Following the presentation of the Chief Negotiator, Prime Minister Rama continued with his remarks:

“We don’t usually hold open meetings here in this hall, but together with the Deputy Prime Minister, we considered it reasonable to make this presentation open, because it is very important that public opinion also understands the full complexity of this major national effort to successfully carry out the accession negotiations.

Meanwhile, what is discussed in public is very limited, either to very basic matters or to things entirely unrelated to this process.

Of course, the process carries a heavy burden and the entire negotiation team deserves recognition, led by the Chief Negotiator Majlinda and the Deputy Chief Negotiator Adea, just as the work of the ministers closest to this process deserves recognition, for well-known reasons. Only a few days ago, the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Interior, together with the Chief Negotiator, delivered a comprehensive presentation at the table of ambassadors of member states in Brussels, while the Minister for Foreign Affairs remains continuously coordinated with the two Ministers of State to provide the full political dimension of the process in our international communication.

What matters more than anything else in this process, in my view, beyond the completion of a measure or the adoption of a reform and its subsequent approval in Brussels, is that this process fundamentally increases the institutional capacities of the country. As is evident from the presentation, the process brings extraordinary benefits and is irreplaceable by anything else, because often the general tendency is to view EU membership in a very superficial manner and not to understand that, in reality, this is a historic process, as it transforms the Albanian state and provides state institutions with a strength and capacity to act that they have never had in our history.

The strengthening of institutional capacities inevitably brings about the reinforcement of the rule of law in all aspects, not only in terms of the exercise of an independent judiciary, but also in the functioning of every institution in enforcing law and guaranteeing citizens’ rights. Furthermore, this process consolidates justice institutions, which have now entered a new phase, having gained independence they never had before, and during consolidation must further improve professionalism, impartiality, and, naturally, the quality of their services.

At the same time, this process ensures the fight against corruption, not merely as a battle conducted on the front between justice institutions and the phenomenon of corruption, but also as a fight carried out through institutional modernization and transformation, and through building the capacity of the entire state to prevent corruption, to prevent activities that take place in grey areas or in the absence of secure institutional channels that guarantee fast and high-quality services and interactions.

Naturally, the greatest burden in this entire negotiation process lies with the economy, but this burden becomes clear in its full complexity when one considers how it extends to infrastructure, energy, finance, agriculture, and so on.

Two points stood out to me in the presentation.

The first is the necessity to move from limited progress in relation to EU standards to good progress, that is, to move from the red light to the green light in public procurement, where we have made significant progress compared to ourselves and the region, but are not yet within the framework of good progress, which means the full completion of this aspect as part of the conditions.

I bring this to attention because it is critically important that the work initiated for the further modernization of public procurement through artificial intelligence continues intensively and is brought to completion. Its completion will take us to an entirely different level and will make us a model country in this respect. This is not something that belongs to the next century, but something that must belong precisely to this timeframe within the negotiation calendar, and by 2027 we must have achieved this objective.

Another point that caught my attention, and which we discussed a few weeks ago, is financial control, where progress is also limited. Meanwhile, reform in financial control is essential, and for this reason we have already initiated preliminary work.

Without going into all other aspects, I will conclude with the challenge of all challenges, which is food safety and consumer protection.

Therefore, the inspection reform must continue, and the political direction of the reform by all ministries is key, in the sense of protecting the reform from party interference and political favours. It is essential that what has begun with the National Food Authority continues to be extended to all other inspectorates in order to guarantee quality human resources, or potentially quality ones, that is, young men and women who are ready to serve these challenges and who at the same time have the opportunity to benefit from training and continuous education within this process, so that the level of inspection increases significantly, as this is crucial to guaranteeing all the reforms being carried out in these areas, because ultimately the issue comes down to implementation, and implementation requires continuous monitoring.

A few weeks ago, Majlinda informed us about an inspection carried out by EU institutions regarding points where animals live are handled, namely livestock, which is one of the most delicate and difficult components of the EU accession process and has been so for all countries that joined before us. The inspections identified several tasks, the fulfilment of which advances progress and brings closer the fulfilment of conditions in this field, which requires very systematic and highly competent monitoring and control by our institutions.

I mention this as an example to underline why it is essential today to accompany this process with a meaningful increase in the quality of inspection, both in human resources and in technology, as we have begun to do and as we are attempting to develop digital technology models in other areas as well.

These are the points that I believe are sufficient for the public part. Meanwhile, we will continue with the remaining part, which is more closed, also because negotiations, as you know, have their confidentiality in relation to the other party that requires such confidentiality, until the matters negotiated are ready to be shared with the public.”