Dear Deputy Prime Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Yesterday, the European Commission adopted its 2022 enlargement package, including the annual report on Albania.

This morning, it is my pleasure to hand over the report to the government. Later today and tomorrow, I will have the opportunity to hand over the report to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs and to the State Minister/Chief Negotiator, as well as to the President of the Republic and the Speaker of the Assembly.

Next Monday, I will present the key findings of the annual report to the National Council of European Integration. I am also planning to present the findings to civil society organisations and business representatives next week.

The new geopolitical reality, with Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, has brought the EU and the Western Balkans closer together and has required full solidarity with one another. This situation has once again put EU enlargement to the fore of the European agenda. The war has demonstrated more clearly than ever that the perspective of membership of the EU is a strong anchor not only for prosperity, but also for peace and security.

The first fundamental point that I would like to emphasise is that in this challenging context, Albania has taken a very clear stance about its strategic orientation and about its role as a reliable partner of the EU.

As outlined in the Commission report, Albania has maintained its record of 100% alignment with the EU’s common foreign and security policy, including with EU sanctions following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. The report also acknowledges the important role played by Albania in the UN Security Council since January 2022 in defending the rules-based international order.

The second fundamental point of course is that on 19 July, with the holding of the first Intergovernmental Conference on accession negotiations, Albania opened a new phase towards its EU accession. This is a very important achievement and the result of years of reform efforts.

The Commission immediately moved to starting the screening process, which is the first step of the accession negotiations. Screening meetings are already well underway. We do not want to lose a single moment.

This year’s Commission report on Albania has therefore a particular relevance. It provides a fair assessment of where the country stands, outlining areas where there has been good progress, areas where more needs to be done, and -very importantly- it provides clear guidance on reforms steps that Albania should take to advance faster on its European path.

As a negotiating country, Albania enters the “premiere league”. This means that it has an opportunity to catch up, but it also means that it will be under increased scrutiny on reforms. Strong political leadership will be essential to deliver the reforms that will be required to advance in the negotiation process.

Overall, the report assesses that Albania has continued to maintain overall focus on the EU reform agenda, despite the challenge of addressing the economic and social consequences of the triple shock of the 2019 earthquake, the pandemic and of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

On EU-oriented reforms, the report underlines the Albanian Parliament’s decision for a time-limited constitutional extension of the vetting bodies mandate and that it passed a number of laws aimed at alignment with the EU acquis.

The report acknowledges recent changes in the EU integration structures, with a Chief Negotiator with State Minister rank and increased resources. It also calls on the government to continue, through its policy priorities and its communication, to focus firmly on advancing the EU reform agenda, together with the opposition and all segments of society.

In the area of rule of law, the report assesses that the continuation of the justice reform continued, that the vetting process has advanced steadily, resulting in good progress overall. The report also outlines key areas that require particular attention, notably to increase the efficiency of the justice system including by putting into effect the new judicial map and improve the training for magistrates.

Albania has made some progress in the fight against corruption. The report notes, notably, that the SPAK Court delivered several important final decisions on high-ranking state officials.

On the fight against organised crime, the strong and fruitful cooperation with EU Members States, Europol and Eurojust has led to tangible results. Good progress was made on the seizure and confiscation of assets, and must continue in the future. Rule of law reforms must continue. Now that all new institutions are in place, what is needed is progress in developing a track record. This is all the more important now that Albania has started the accession negotiations process. As you know, negotiations on the fundamentals cluster, which includes rule of law issues, will open first and close last.

One important area where this year’s report continues to raise concerns is freedom of expression. The report notes that the independence of media and the quality of journalism remain hampered by an intersection of business and political interests, and that disinformation is a recurrent concern.

The report deplores that the atmosphere of verbal attacks, smear campaigns and acts of intimidation against journalists has not improved..

We will continue to follow very closely developments in this important area.

The report also calls for enhanced efforts to consolidate property rights through the registration and digitalisation of cadastral data and resuming the compensation process.

The remaining by-laws on the rights of people belonging to minorities also remain to be adopted.

Moreover, further actions need to be taken to strengthen data protection and adopt the new legislation which has been finalised, to align with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

As regards the economic criteria, the report considers that thanks to a broadly appropriate policy mix, Albanian economy showed resilience and rebounded faster than expected in 2021, making up for most economic losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has hit the Albanian economy indirectly through higher commodity prices and lower growth in its main EU trading partners, but did not translate into a negative impact on growth in the first quarter of 2022.

As Commissioner Várhelyi announced yesterday, the Commission is working on an energy response package for the region, focusing on immediate, short term and midterm needs.

Deputy Prime Minister, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Albanian people’s desire for Europe is overwhelming.

EU integration already delivers results on the ground, it is already happening every day improving the lives of so many Albanian people.

With the start of the accession negotiations, Albanian institutions have an opportunity to show leadership by shifting gear and accelerate EU-related reforms.

The Commission’s report provides clear recommendations in this regard. I invite the government and all responsible institutions to follow up on them, in a cross-party spirit and in consultation with the wider society.

Let us always remind that the reforms we are talking about here are not only necessary for Albania to meet the EU accession criteria. They are about bringing Albania up to EU standards and therefore about improving the life and well-being of people in Albania.

The EU Delegation will continue to support Albania on this arduous task. We look forward to continue our close cooperation with the government and other key institutions.

Thank you.