TIRANA, March 30 – During a meeting with ministers on Albania’s EU accession progress, Prime Minister Edi Rama stressed that financial control reform is essential. He said the country must meet key requirements by 2027 to complete its EU accession process within this decade.

Rama acknowledged limited progress so far and said preliminary work on financial control has begun. He linked this reform closely to food safety, emphasizing that inspection reforms must continue and remain politically independent.

“The inspection reform must cover all relevant agencies to ensure quality human resources. Inspection standards must rise significantly. Implementation and continuous monitoring are critical,” Rama said. He added that the reform should start with the Food Safety and Consumer Protection Agency (AKU) and extend to all other inspectorates.

Rama also referred to EU audits on livestock management, one of the most sensitive areas in the accession process. He stressed that systematic and competent oversight is necessary. “We must accompany this process with a meaningful improvement in inspection quality, in both human resources and technology,” he concluded.

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