Rama: There is no slowdown in the EU integration process, luck is smiling on Albania
Prime Minister Edi Rama said there is no slowdown in the negotiation process for Albania's membership in the European Union, in a conversation with students.
According to Rama, Albania is at a positive historical moment, while he rejected the idea of a slowdown in the European integration process.
"This idea of slowing down comes from media outlets which unfortunately are generally very suspicious in what they say, write and speak because the world has become so fast, the time of information has become so rhythmic and everyone's effort to get attention has become so frenetic that there is no longer any time or interest in verifying the things that are said, the things that are written but are simply thrown out there to get attention. Even outlets are in competition with each other and these are things that greatly paralyze the quality of information", Rama said.
"We are at a moment when, for the first time in history, fate is smiling on Albanians and Albania. I am bringing an example of the slowdown, so that we can understand why we are not currently in conditions where there is a slowdown," said Rama.
Rama explained the decision-making mechanism in the EU, emphasizing the role of the European Commission and the European Council in this process.
"The report of a non-EU member state is a report that goes through two floors. The first floor is the European Commission, it is the result of the European elections, Europe holds elections, elects the parliament and then, based on agreements between political forces, the president of the commission is elected and each member state has its own commissioner, so to speak, it is the EU government. The EU government is the only government that does not have a single square meter of its own. It deals with the budget and programs that are all extra beyond the national budgets. This government also has a territory that it oversees, which is the territory of relations with those others who want to come and become members, with the aspirant countries, candidate countries, countries that are negotiating and so on. The European Commission has 35 thousand people who work in all areas and some deal only with us, the countries that wanted to enter the EU. For this reason, they also have a representation here that deals every day with what we do, what we do with justice, with the environment, with the economy, with the media, with education and they write," Rama explained.
"Meanwhile, since we are a candidate country and intend to start negotiations, they give us tasks and tell us we have to do this and that. The commission is a very objective pedagogical body. There is no subjectivity there. The commission does not deal with politics. The commission does not care who governs in Albania," said Rama.
Rama emphasized that the final decision-making belongs to the European Council, which requires full consensus from all 27 member states.
"The Council is the second floor, on the second floor are the leaders of the 27 member states. They gather and look at the Commission's report. The Commission says to open negotiations with Albania, there are 27, one person only needs to say 'no' and they don't open. The EU is an organization that functions by consensus. One person only needs to say 'no' and the thing doesn't get done. We have been proposed 3 times to open negotiations and we have been rejected three times. The Commission has proposed to us that we have done all the tasks to open negotiations. We were rejected because a member state did not want us", said Rama.
The head of government added that the process slows down when the candidate country "starts to make mistakes and is placed in an unfavorable position and then the Commission starts raising reservations or the politics of one country or another raises reservations." However, according to Rama, Albania is not in these conditions.
Rama described the current moment as an opportunity that should not be missed. Rama said that although the "door" for EU membership is currently open, this situation could change.
"The question we must ask ourselves is how much time we have. Because not every generation is destined to make history. The door has been opened to enter the EU, but the door can be closed. It is important that we do not become the reason for the door to be closed, but the door can be closed, because they can return to a situation where they say "wait a minute". We must do the maximum in these years that we have before us where it seems that the door is clearly open. Our only great policy is to become part of the EU. Let us not miss this historic moment. Because it is truly a historic moment and we must be focused on this", said Rama.
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