Albania has taken another step towards European Union membership, closing its fourth negotiating chapter as Brussels accelerates enlargement talks with Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova. While Tirana aims to complete accession negotiations in 2027, North Macedonia remains unable to advance because of its unresolved constitutional dispute with Bulgaria.
BRUSSELS, Oct. 13 (BalkanView) — The European Union and Albania provisionally closed negotiations on enterprise and industrial policy on Tuesday, bringing the number of completed negotiating chapters to four as Tirana seeks to conclude its EU accession negotiations next year.
The decision was announced by the Council of the European Union following an accession conference held under Ireland’s presidency of the Council.
Chapter 20, covering enterprise and industrial policy, is intended to bring Albania’s regulatory framework and industrial development policies closer to EU standards, supporting business competitiveness, investment and employment.
The agreement follows the provisional closure of three chapters in July covering science and research, education and culture, and external relations.
Albania has now opened all 33 screened negotiating chapters and provisionally closed four, according to the Council.
European Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos welcomed the development, describing Albania as one of the countries driving progress in the EU’s enlargement process.
“Albania is proud to be among the frontrunners driving the strong progress on EU enlargement this year,” Kos said.
She said the reforms associated with Chapter 20 would help Albanian businesses expand and create jobs.
Albania targets completion of negotiations in 2027
Kos said the latest agreement brought Albania closer to its ambition of concluding accession negotiations next year.
She also expressed confidence that further progress could be expected from Tirana in the coming months.
However, the provisional closure of a chapter does not mean that negotiations on that subject are irrevocably completed.
Under EU accession rules, agreements reached on individual chapters remain provisional until an overall accession agreement has been concluded.
The EU may reopen chapters if necessary.
Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, Thomas Byrne, welcomed Albania’s progress and urged the country to maintain its reform efforts.
Byrne said the latest development demonstrated the EU’s commitment to advancing Albania’s integration.
He emphasised that continued progress on core reforms would be necessary in the months ahead.
Montenegro also advances as EU enlargement accelerates
Albania’s latest negotiating milestone follows further progress by Montenegro.
According to Kos, Montenegro provisionally closed three additional negotiating chapters on Monday evening.
The commissioner also announced plans to open two negotiating clusters each with Ukraine and Moldova on Tuesday.
The developments reflect a broader effort by the European Commission and EU member states to accelerate enlargement while maintaining conditions related to democratic institutions, the rule of law and alignment with European policies.
Kos said the EU was discussing how to ensure that enlargement strengthened the Union’s institutions rather than weakening its ability to function.
The Commission has proposed stronger safeguards to protect the rule of law and reforms intended to improve the effectiveness of an enlarged EU.
North Macedonia remains outside the latest accession progress
The developments highlight the widening difference in the pace of European integration between Albania and North Macedonia.
The two countries began accession negotiations under the EU’s revised enlargement framework in 2022, but their paths have since diverged.
Albania has opened all 33 screened chapters and started provisionally closing them.
North Macedonia, meanwhile, has yet to advance to the next stage of negotiations because it has not implemented the constitutional amendments required under its negotiating framework.
The amendments would explicitly include Bulgarians among the communities recognised in the country’s constitutional preamble.
The government in Skopje has sought additional guarantees that Bulgaria will not introduce new bilateral conditions after the amendments are adopted.
Sofia maintains that North Macedonia must implement the commitments already accepted under the EU negotiating framework.
Kos did not mention North Macedonia in her latest remarks about the accession conferences involving Albania, Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova.
The absence of progress does not mean North Macedonia has lost its candidate status or that its accession process has been terminated. However, the country remains unable to move forward at the same pace as some of its regional neighbours.
Why enterprise and industrial policy matters
Chapter 20 focuses on the policy environment for enterprises and industrial development.
EU standards in this area seek to support competitiveness, entrepreneurship and a business environment conducive to sustainable economic growth.
For Albania, alignment with European industrial and enterprise policies is part of the broader effort to prepare its economy for participation in the EU’s single market.
The reforms are intended to improve conditions for domestic companies, strengthen institutional capacity and support investment.
However, the closure of the chapter does not by itself guarantee new investment or employment. Those outcomes will depend on implementation, broader economic conditions and continued reforms.
Rule of law remains central to accession
The European Commission has stressed that enlargement cannot be separated from democratic standards and institutional accountability.
Under the EU’s revised accession methodology, negotiating chapters are organised into six thematic clusters.
The Fundamentals cluster, which includes key rule-of-law and democratic governance requirements, is opened first and closed last.
Progress in this cluster determines the overall pace of negotiations.
Kos said the Commission had proposed stronger safeguards to protect the rule of law as the EU prepares for potential enlargement.
She also announced that candidate countries would be welcomed into the European Centre for Democratic Resilience, an initiative aimed at strengthening democratic systems against threats including foreign interference and disinformation.
According to Kos, the experience of candidate countries in confronting hybrid threats could contribute to protecting democracy across Europe.
The Western Balkans face different accession timelines
Tuesday’s decision illustrates how the EU’s enlargement process is increasingly producing different outcomes for countries that have pursued membership for years.
Montenegro and Albania are advancing through negotiating chapters, while North Macedonia remains constrained by its constitutional dispute with Bulgaria.
Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo are also at different stages of the European integration process, reflecting distinct political and institutional challenges.
For Albania, the immediate priority is maintaining reform momentum and closing additional chapters as it works towards its 2027 negotiating target.
For North Macedonia, the central challenge remains resolving the conditions necessary to advance its negotiations.
Although the EU has reiterated its commitment to Western Balkan enlargement, the latest developments demonstrate that accession progress depends on both domestic reforms and the political agreements required under each country’s negotiating framework.
With four chapters now provisionally closed, Albania has recorded another measurable step towards EU membership.
But completing accession negotiations, signing an accession treaty and securing ratification by all EU member states remain separate stages.