Today, the sixth meeting of the Accession Conference with Albania marked the opening of negotiations on the so-called cluster 4: green agenda and sustainable connectivity. This cluster covers notably: transport and energy, the trans-European networks, and environment and climate change policies.
Enlargement is at the top of our priorities as a geopolitical necessity for the EU. I am happy that we took a next step today with Albania. This is another clear proof of the country’s path towards European integration. I look forward to holding more meetings in the coming months with Albania and with other candidate countries to move forward the EU’s enlargement.
Marie Bjerre, Minister for European affairs of Denmark
This opening follows the opening of the first cluster on ‘Fundamentals’, the sixth cluster on ‘External relations’, the second cluster on ‘Internal market’, and the third cluster on ‘Competitiveness and inclusion growth’ at the Accession Conferences with Albania held on 15 October 2024, 17 December 2024, 14 April 2025, and 22 May 2025, respectively.
Monitoring of progress in the alignment with and implementation of the EU acquis and relevant European standards will continue throughout the negotiations.
The EU also set benchmarks for the provisional closure of these chapters. The Accession Conference will return to Cluster 4 at an appropriate moment.
The European Union delegation was led by Ms Marie Bjerre, Minister for European Affairs of Denmark, on behalf of the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU, with the participation of European Commissioner for Enlargement, Ms Marta Kos. The Albanian delegation was led by Mr Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania.
Background
Following the introduction of the revised methodology for the accession negotiations in 2020, negotiating chapters are divided in 6 thematic clusters:
- Fundamentals
- Internal market
- Competitiveness and inclusive growth
- Green agenda and sustainable connectivity
- Resources, agriculture and cohesion
- External relations
Negotiations on the Fundamentals cluster are the first to be opened and the last to be closed, and progress under this cluster will determine the overall pace of negotiations.
