EuroAgro Albania 2025–2030, a practical step-by-step mechanism for preparation toward the EU

Albania is entering a new chapter following the opening of Cluster 5 at the 7th Intergovernmental Conference, which prepares agriculture and the food sector to join the EU single market, with Chapters 11, 12, and 13 at the core of reforms toward the European Union.

In this context, the National Platform EuroAgro Albania 2025–2030 was presented today, a strategic initiative that supports farmers, agri-food businesses, and local institutions in meeting EU standards, strengthening competitiveness, and opening new opportunities to access the single market.

Prime Minister Rama was also present at the launch event:

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Greetings,

After a very special meeting in Elbasan, we are here today for another meeting, this time a working meeting organized by the Ministry of Agriculture with some of the main protagonists of Albanian farming, to talk about the action plan and the necessity of interaction among us, so that Albanian agriculture can face the challenge of the European market in the context of Albania becoming a member of the European Union. I want to speak very openly to you by saying that this challenge has two sides: it has its dark side, if I may call it that, and its bright side.

The dark side is what awaits anyone who is not prepared for that day, because negotiations with the European Union and the accession agreement are not words, nor are they processes merely linked to what we write on paper. They are a very complex state contract in which every state actor and every social actor must comply with the contract. And the contract for agriculture, or the part of the contract related to agriculture, is the most difficult, as shown by the experience of other countries, just as it is also the most welcome for those who are prepared to face the conditions, to face the standards, and to face the controls that stem from the very high level of safety and product quality required to be part of the European single market.

But I have great faith in you, and I believe in all those who, under conditions incomparable to today, a decade ago were there on the land, facing an extraordinary survival challenge. Whoever overcame that challenge, I strongly believe, will overcome this one as well. They are different in nature, but at their core they are about the will to succeed. Because at that time Albanian agriculture was a completely abandoned sector. A little over a decade ago, the number of farmers receiving even symbolic support from the state was 5,600; today it is 67,500. And this is no longer symbolic support, it is support that truly weighs on a farm’s balance sheet.

Exports were limited to a handful of farmers who had managed to get there, and the trade deficit was a unique disaster in the region, not to mention Europe. For every euro exported, we imported nine euros of food. Today, our products reach 80 countries worldwide, exports have exceeded half a billion euros, and the deficit dropped from 1 to 9 down to 1 to 3. Our goal is to move toward 1 to 2.

As I said, the agreement with the European Union is a state contract involving all actors, institutional and social, all interest groups. For farmers, it is a contract that demands standards and quality, technology and digitalization, sophisticated organization, and of course support, support that will not only not be lacking, but will increase year after year.

With the increase in direct support, which we aim to increase it  to 100 million euros, with the support of the Development Bank, now registered and ready with a plan to begin implementing its activity, with the support of the Bank of Albania, which has made available an innovative credit line, with the support of agro-credit that has been reactivated, and of course with the support of Agency for Agricultural and Rural Development and the European Union through Agency for Agricultural and Rural Development, we will make available to Albanian agriculture and to Albanian farms, and to all those who want to live off the land, a simple fact: for no one will this be a matter of money or funds. For everyone, it will be a matter of having the right project and the right guarantees of knowledge to implement it. Any project that is sound and supported by the applicant’s knowledge will, without question, be financed in one way or another.

The national platform presented today, for which I want to thank the Minister, step by step delivers what I have asked of him: not only the spirit of someone who comes from the land and from working with farmers, but also the approach of an institutional authority who believes in innovation. “EuroAgro Albania” is not just another website. It is an instrument that all of you, and all those on the farms who invest, produce, increase exports, production, quality, capacity, and funding for their projects, must take, use, enrich, and turn into one of the tools of their daily work.

It is a roadmap for each of you at every step of the negotiation process and the path toward accession. It is a source of information on standards, deadlines, and concrete obligations. It is a dialogue channel where each of you can enter, communicate, ask questions, and receive answers on the issues you face. It is also a coordination tool that ensures continuous interaction among you and us, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Agency for Agricultural and Rural Development. I hope that UBT is on this platform, or if it is not, it should be included, because it is another door open to all of you. When I say a new door, I do not mean one that exists only from today, but one that has always existed and is now new because it brings a new spirit, a new approach, and new strength at your disposal. And unfortunately for me, I must thank for this a Democrat that leads the Agricultural University.

I want to tell you, and I want you to believe this, not because it sounds good to say it, but because it is a lesson drawn from what others have done before: do not let a single day pass without investing in the mind of your company, without investing in its human capital. Do not let a day pass without training and updating knowledge. Do not let a day pass without bringing something new into the company, however small, in terms of learning. Because knowledge, when it has been lacking, as seen in other countries’ experiences, has led to immediate bankruptcy the moment EU doors opened.

Today you are a farmer or exporter producing outside the EU, and you are checked before entering. Tomorrow you will be producing within an EU country. It is the same as producing in Lushnja for Tirana. From Lushnja to Tirana, no one checks you again. If you are a food safety problem in Lushnja, you are blocked there and it ends. But the control instruments and the way farm life operate in the European single market are incomparable to what we do today in terms of strictness, rigor, precision, and quality. That is why you must prepare every day, starting today, for that day. And that is why we must prepare together, because we also have our share of responsibility.

What will we do concretely? We will implement the integrated administration and control system. We will finalize national registers of farms, parcels, and animals. The work has started and we will complete it. We will complete EU-accredited laboratories. Today we are at a completely different level of analytical quality, as you know better than I do, but we must finish the full laboratory project. We will push hard for advisory services in the field, relying especially on the Agricultural University of Tirana, where we have every reason to believe that year after year, we will have increasing capacity to guide us, as the public sector, and you, as the private sector.

I thank you sincerely for everything you do. Since we will not meet again this year, except through your products, I wish you a very successful New Year, full health for you, your families, and your employees, who are also your family. And I want you to strongly believe that if we do the right things, the single market will be a blessing for you.

Thank you once again, and I wish you a productive day with the panels and deeper engagement in this process in which you should have no doubt, we will be increasingly committed to providing you with all the necessary information you need.

Thank you very much.