The European Commission (EC) monitors Albania’s progress and level of preparation in meeting EU membership requirements on an
annual basis. The country is working on the transposition of the Acquis according to the National Plan on European Integration (NPEI),
which serves as a tool for fulfilling the obligations arising from the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA). The First
Intergovernmental Conference held on July 19, 2022, marked a major milestone for Albania, symbolizing a key technical step in the EU
integration process. This conference set the stage for the European Commission’s approval of the negotiation framework and initiated
the groundwork for the screening process. With the screening process completed in November 2023, Albania reached another
significant achievement on October 16, 2024, by officially opening negotiations for Cluster 1 – Fundamentals.

This Scorecard on Albania’s Progress and Level of Preparation towards EU membership takes as its starting point the situation described
in the EC 2023 Country Report and reflects the development throughout the reporting period crystallized in the EC 2024 Country Report.
It aims to display in a more simplified way 1) the Political Criteria 2) Chapter 23 (Judiciary and Fundamental Rights) and 3) Chapter 24
(Justice, Freedom and Security).

The Scorecard presents an assessment concerning the main fields of each chapter. The evaluation includes an elaboration on
progress and preparation in each area, as well as a graded assessment (where 10 is the highest grade and 4 the lowest), taking into
account the terminology used in each case in the European Commission Reports for progress and level of preparation.

This study was conducted by the European Movement in Albania (EMA) in the framework of the project “National Resource Centre for Civil Society in Albania”, with the financial support of the European Union through the Delegation of the European Union in Albania. The information and views expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union.