Do you agree Albania should be allowed to join the EU

Poll

Should Albania be allowed to join the EU

Confirmed by the EU that talks with Albania will begin- http://euobserver.com/news/121805 with Tony Blair leading their campaign to join http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24387295

Do you think Albania should be allowed to join given the poverty and rampant crime. UKIP have already stated they plan to vote against them joining

Albania?

Naaahhhh

Yes, if that if want my friends from Albania want, they should have.

Reply 3

Clessus

Eventually, Albania is a lovely country. Though not yet, as the country is quite poor and suffers from considerable problems of organised crime and corruption. I think that Romania and Bulgaria joined before they were really quite ready.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

Arbolus

Eventually, yes. Not sure if they're quite ready just yet, but that's why membership talks are only just beginning. By the time they're finished, which might take ten years or more, hopefully Albania will have sorted itself out.

Reply 5

bds3454

Eventually yes, but the argument that we should either 'accept all European countries into the EU' or that Albania is 'too poor with too much crime' is way too simplistic.

Albania is moving towards fulfilling the main criteria required for EU admission. It is important that these criteria can be seen to be fulfilled effectively over a substantial period of time. This is why it took Croatia (this is just an example, Croatia and Albania are and were in very different situations) ten years to be admitted from making an official application.

As for these criteria that Albania must fulfill, yes the 2013 parliamentary elections were widely considered free and fir, but there are still issues over the level of control that parliament has over executive government and whether it is effective at passing and updating legislation. Corruption is also rife, across pretty much everything from political party funding to the judiciary system (i.e. bribes to influence the courts) and in the health and education sectors and so on. This is clearly a major problem which requires significant reforms before Albania could join the EU.

There is a lack of resistance to organised crime (it really isn't 'how many criminals' which is the issue per se, but the extent to which criminal operations are resisted which is important), in part once again due to corruption and bribes, but also due to ineffective policing measures. That said, there are ongoing reforms of the courts and government institutions which are making some progress to tackling these issues.

Human rights are generally good, although there are some worrying levels of discrimination against certain groups (such as roma, homosexuals).

Economically the country is definitely improving, with a relatively effective market economy with low inflation, fairly low state aid and fairly liberal trade. However there is some way to go, as unemployment is very high (although that is the case in other EU countries too), whilst much employment is unofficial (ie cash-in-hand). There are also concerns over a narrow export base, poor infrastructure and a poor education system which leaves the population ill-qualified for many forms of employment.

As for fulfilling the requirements of EU membership, Albania is doing ok: its taxation, education, enterprise policy, foreign policy and budget can realistically be improved in the near future to EU levels. However there is still much concern over infrastructure, energy supply, agricultural policy and development, monetary policy, financial services, freedom of movement for workers and many other factors, which are all very much lagging behind the level required.

All in all, I would of thought EU admission by 2020 is a reasonably realistic goal for Albania. To anyone interested on the subject I would definitely recommend having a look at this report on Albania's admission to the EU, by the European Commission: http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/key_documents/2010/package/al_opinion_2010_en.pdf

Reply 6

The Dictator

No one should even consider joining it.

Reply 7

CEKTOP

Original post by Ace123

Of course not, the country is clearly disfunctional.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 8

Rakas21

Original post by Ace123

I don't see any harm in Albania becoming an applicant and joining in the future once conditions alluded to by BDS3454 are met however for now Albania is certainly too poor (i'd rather countries joining were close to the EU average).

Additionally, from a personal of view i'm undecided as to whether we should allow majority Muslim nations to join or whether Turkey, Bosnia and Albania (with others in the region) should form their own block given some of the cultural differences. On the other hand, if they abide by EU law and practice western human rights values then i can see how they may eventually be allowed to join.

Right now, the EU should focus on improving its internal structures and getting Iceland, Norway and Switzerland into the fold.

Reply 9

Alfissti

I'm against the enlargement of the EU as this simply means more money from wealthier countries being poured into a 3rd rate country that is geographically situated in Europe, Albania = the Nigeria of Europe, full of conmen, crooks and criminals.... starts from their leader who uses a car stolen from Germany or UK.

Reply 10

Kylewalker346234

Nope. and not to be rude, but I really don't want them to join.

At the end of the day, the EU should strengthen every country that is a member of it, not working down to the most common denominator while everyone else suffers.