European Commission has underlined that "Albania needs to further strengthen the protection of fundamental rights, including media freedom and freedom of expression, and to consolidate property rights in a transparent manner".

In its Annual progress review, the European Union underlined that it looks forward to opening the first negotiation cluster, which covers chapters on the judiciary, fundamental rights and justice, as soon as possible, but it did not set a concrete date.

Lack of a date for the opening of chapters for Albania due to the two main issues, Greece's intervention regarding the "Beleri" file, but also the political situation in our country.

In the Annual progress review, it is emphasized that:

Every year, the Council adopts conclusions on enlargement and the stabilisation and association process, which take stock of progress made in each of the EU candidates and partners on their European path.

In the latest conclusions, which were adopted in December 2023, the Council welcomed the progress of reforms Albania made in the past year, including the successful completion of the screening meetings. As the next step in Albania’s accession process, the Council looks forward to opening the first negotiation cluster, which covers chapters on the judiciary, fundamental rights and justice, as soon as possible.

The Council welcomed Albania's progress on the rule of law and the continued implementation of reform in the justice systems and public administration. The Council also took note of progress made on the fight against corruption and organised crime but underlined that Albania must step up efforts to cooperate on investigations, including with the European Anti-Fraud Office.

Albania also needs to further strengthen the protection of fundamental rights, including media freedom and freedom of expression, and to consolidate property rights in a transparent manner.

The Council welcomed the resilience and strong recovery of Albania’s economy and encouraged the country to further meet the requirements of the EU’s internal market and to cope with competitive pressure and market forces. It also strongly commended Albania’s consistent cooperation on foreign policy issues and its full alignment with the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy.