By Melike Pala
BRUSSELS (AA) - The European Union on Monday opened the final accession negotiating cluster with Albania, covering resources, agriculture, and cohesion, during the seventh meeting of the accession conference in Brussels.
The current cluster includes key areas such as agriculture and fisheries, food safety, and cohesion policies, marking the last step in Albania's EU accession negotiations, according to a statement.
"Accession of our Western Balkans partners upon completion of the necessary reforms is very important. Today's step of opening the last negotiating cluster with Albania demonstrates the country's commitment to further advancing its path towards EU membership," said Marie Bjerre, the Danish European affairs minister.
This development follows the opening of several previous clusters with Albania, namely fundamentals, the internal market, competitiveness and inclusive growth, the green agenda and sustainable connectivity, and external relations.
The EU Council said it will continue monitoring Albania's alignment with and implementation of the EU acquis – the collection of common rights and obligations that constitute the body of EU law – and relevant European standards throughout the negotiations.
Benchmarks for the provisional closure of the chapters within Cluster 5 have also been established, with discussions to return to this cluster at a later stage.
Albania applied for EU membership in 2009, while its accession negotiations began in 2022.