The Impact of the European Union on the Endorsement of the Justice Reform in Albania

Abstract

European integration has been the primary goal of Albanian foreign policy since the collapse of the communist regime, regardless of the ruling political party. The political elite and the Albanian people embrace and support the integration process. Also, the European Union has grown as a transformative power in Albania, fostering democracy, influencing structural reforms, and impacting the rule of law through the promise of future accession. However, the enlargement process has been slow due to internal and external factors. The article analyzes the EU as a transformative power and the use of Conditionality in Albania as an essential diffusion channel of the EU's values and norms, using the adoption of justice reform as a key study. The article's objective is to examine how the EU perspective membership has influenced the endorsement of justice reform in Albania. The paper argues that the EU approach has succeeded in fostering compliance with formal accession criteria but has yet to implement the justice reform due to internal factors and a not linear enlargement perspective. Progress Reports, literature, surveys, and media articles will be analyzed to fulfill the paper's objective. Received: 10 February 2024 / Accepted: 20 April 2024 / Published: 5 May 2024