Book of Recommendations of National Convention for European Integration 2026

Beyond documenting the milestones of Albania’s EU accession process, this Book of Recommendations 2026 serves as a practical and analytical guide for understanding the country’s reform trajectory in relation to the acquis. The book is structured into three core sections, each dedicated to a pivotal chapter under negotiation within Cluster 1 – Fundamentals: Chapter 5 – Public Procurement, Chapter 23 – Judiciary and Fundamental Rights, and Chapter 24 – Justice, Freedom and Security. Each section begins with an overview of the current state of reforms, highlighting both achievements and persisting challenges, and situates these within the negotiation framework and benchmarks assigned by the European Commission. It then examines the legal and institutional foundations in place, alongside policy initiatives, strategic documents, and compliance gaps, to provide a comprehensive picture of alignment with EU standards. The heart of each section is the synthesis of expert roundtable discussions, where practitioners, experts, civil society representatives and other groups of interests contributed concrete recommendations tailored to the Albanian context within the Working Groups sections for Chapter 5, 23 and 24 within the National Convention for European Integration (NCEI), established by EMA since 2014. In the final section, the Book presents the monitoring of these recommendations and their follow-up by the relevant institutions. It assesses whether each recommendation has been fully or partially addressed, and provides the corresponding justification. This assessment is based on a review of relevant institutional reports and documentation, complemented by continued communication with the institutions concerned.

Book of Recommendations of National Convention for European Integration 2026

This material was produced within the project “Building Partnership on Fundamentals: Empowered CSOs for the EU accession process”, with the financial support of the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of the European Movement in Albania and the authors, and does not necessarily reflect the views and positions of the European Union.

The project “Building Partnership on Fundamentals: Empowered CSOs in the EU accession process” is being implemented by the European Movement in Albania (EMA), with the financial support of the European Union – IPA Civil Society Facility 2021, in cooperation with the Academy of European Integration and Negotiations (AIEN), Slovak Foreign Policy Association (SFPA) and the Center for Transparency and Freedom of Information (CTFI).