"The Ministry of Defence has submitted to parliament a draft law on state control of international trade in military goods, which meets the closing benchmarks for Chapter 30 within Cluster 6 – External Relations," Defence Minister Pirro Vengu said during a debate on the document at the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee.
This chapter focuses on aligning Albania’s foreign policy with the foreign, security and defence policy of the European Union.
In November, Albania opened the last remaining cluster in its EU negotiations - Resources, Agriculture and Cohesion - following the European Commission’s assessment that the country is on track to conclude negotiations by 2027, provided it maintains the pace of reforms.
In October last year, Albania opened the first negotiating cluster, Fundamentals, which is also the last cluster to be closed. Clusters covering External Relations and Foreign Policy, the Internal Market, Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth, as well as the Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity have also been opened.
When all clusters are closed, the European Union and the candidate country draft and ratify an Accession Treaty which, after approval by all member states and the candidate country, results in formal EU membership.
Albania applied for European Union membership in April 2009, received candidate status five years later, and began accession negotiations in July 2022.
(EUpravo zato)
