Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has called on the European Union to make an early political commitment to Western Balkan membership, arguing that candidates could be integrated progressively while completing the technical stages of accession.
Rama presented the proposal at an interparliamentary conference on enlargement held in Tirana on 28 September. The meeting brought together representatives of Albania’s institutions, the European Parliament and national parliaments from EU countries.
Under the approach outlined by Rama, candidate states could gain participation rights in individual EU policy areas after successfully opening and closing the corresponding negotiating chapters. Full membership would come only after all requirements had been met.
The prime minister argued that political inclusion should begin before the very end of the process. His intervention reflects growing discussion of phased accession, under which candidates receive some institutional or economic benefits without immediately obtaining every right attached to full membership. Exit Explains
European representatives at the conference responded with cautious support for Albania’s progress but emphasised implementation. David McAllister, chair of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, identified judicial independence, sustainable anti-corruption results and effective public institutions as central tests.
Parliament’s Albania rapporteur, Andreas Schieder, said opening negotiation chapters was only an initial step: chapters must also be closed and the adopted rules applied in practice. EU ambassador Sofia Moreira de Sousa similarly argued that legislation alone is insufficient, particularly as scrutiny intensifies near the end of the accession process.
Albania aims to conclude negotiations in 2027 and become an EU member before 2030. Parliamentary Speaker Niko Peleshi has described that timetable as a strategic national objective. European representatives did not, however, give an unconditional guarantee that either target would be met.
The country’s accession effort has accelerated, but judicial reform and the prosecution of senior officials continue to generate both support and controversy. Progress will be assessed not merely by the number of negotiating chapters opened, but by whether courts, prosecutors and public bodies demonstrate durable independence and effectiveness.
The Tirana conference therefore exposed the two complementary sides of enlargement. Albania wants a stronger political signal that sustained reforms will lead to membership, partly to maintain public confidence and limit competing external influence in the Western Balkans. EU institutions want evidence that reforms produce measurable results before surrendering the leverage created by conditional accession.
Phased integration may offer a compromise, but its details remain unresolved. The principal question is what participation rights candidates could receive before membership—and what safeguards would apply if reforms subsequently stalled or reversed.
