Eduardo González
The State Secretary for the European Union, Fernando Sampedro, conveyed this Tuesday to Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama Spain’s support for the opening of accession negotiations with the European Union regarding green and sustainable connectivity policies.
This Tuesday, the sixth meeting of the Accession Conference with Albania was held in Brussels, marking the start of negotiations on the so-called thematic cluster four: “Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity.”
This cluster covers, in particular, transport and energy, trans-European networks, and environmental and climate change policies. The European Union delegation was led by Marie Bjerre, Danish Minister of European Affairs, and included the participation of Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement. The Albanian delegation was led by Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Fernando Sampedro participated on behalf of Spain.
“At the Intergovernmental Conference with Albania, we conveyed to Prime Minister Edi Rama Spain’s support for the opening of Cluster 4 of the EU accession negotiations,” Sampedro wrote on social media. “Albania’s progress is proof of the credibility of the accession offer,” she added.
“Enlargement is one of our top priorities as a geopolitical necessity for the EU,” the Danish minister stated. “I am pleased that we have taken the next step today with Albania,” Marie Bierre continued. “This is further clear evidence of the country’s path towards European integration. I look forward to holding further meetings in the coming months with Albania and other candidate countries to advance EU enlargement,” she added.
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 ‘Growing Competitiveness and Inclusiveness’ at the Accession Conferences with Albania held on 15 October 2024, 17 December 2024, 14 April 2025, and 22 May 2025, respectively.
Throughout the negotiations, progress on the alignment and implementation of the EU acquis and relevant European standards will continue to be monitored. The EU has also set benchmarks for the provisional closure of these chapters. According to the Council, the Accession Conference will return to cluster 4 in due course. Negotiations on the ‘Fundamentals’ cluster are the first to be opened and the last to be closed, and progress in this cluster will determine the overall pace of the negotiations.