Albaniasigned a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) with the EU in June 2006. The EU Member States now need to ratify the agreement for it to enter into force. In the meantime, an Interim Agreement is in place to allow Albania and the EU to benefit from SAA trade concessions. Albania has entered a challenging new stage, with the EU examining closely how successfully it implements the Interim Agreement and then the SAA in terms of conducting trade smoothly and bringing its laws closer to those of the EU. The work of implementing the agreements well will itself help bring Albania further down its EU path.

Yes. The EU stands by the commitments made at the 2003 Thessaloniki summit in this regard. But the EU must equally stand by the conditions which must be met in order to move towards the EU. These criteria are tough, and are the same for all countries aspiring to become members of the EU. Albania will need time to fulfil them. There is no reason to doubt Albania’s ability to take the hard decisions necessary to successfully move towards EU integration, but much needs to be done. The next step for Albania will be to establish a sustained record of successful implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement. EU accession requires years of perseverance and very great efforts, but the goal is achievable.

The EU is strongly encouraging Albania in its fight against corruption and organised crime. The Albanian government has made clear that fighting corruption and organised crime are its key priorities. The Commission supports the government's efforts, underlining that Albania must use its laws fairly and impartially to achieve significant results. The EU is also funding concrete activities to assist Albania in this difficult task.

Human rights, including minority rights, are a key issue for Albania’s EU path. Albania has made some progress in this area over the years, but improvement is needed in a number of fields. Albania should demonstrate that despite its limited resources it is fully committed to achieving the highest standards in areas such as media freedom, property rights, improving the conditions of prisoners on remand and ensuring the full respect of minority rights. The Commission continues to monitor developments in these fields closely and to put pressure on the authorities to achieve concrete results.

The Commission is implementing measures to simplify travel by researchers and students, and local travel across borders shared with the EU. The Commission has also made proposals to ease visa requirements for the Western Balkans. Progress in this area will be linked to further progress in reforms to strengthen the rule of law. In particular, this means combating organised crime, corruption and illegal migration and improving border management and document security. The best thing Albanian political leaders can do to improve the situation is therefore to ensure concrete progress in these areas.